MOYALE: CAUSE OF TENSION AND INSECURITY.

Recently the unrest in Moyale was getting all kinds of attention from the national media houses, a 16 year old girl was brutally raped, looting was rampant and a few  lost their lives amid the tribal hatred.

Fast forward two months latter, two people were brutally murdered as they traveled from Marsabit to Moyale, just a few kilometers from an army camp in Moyale. This happened on Sunday 14, August,2011.

A day latter, Monday 15^th, three people were arrested with more than 180 rounds of ammunition strapped
on their bodies and pistols in their pockets crossing the border check on Boda Boda motorcycles, broad day light. Their arrest was purely a work of luck; no checks are normally carried out, this I have seen.

There is no wind of this in the media houses, such killings don’t warrant their attention and incidences like this is not news unless it happens in Othaya, Nakuru, Kisumu, Mombasa or any other part in Kenya except Northern Kenya. The people of Moyale are an isolated lot.

Lets focus on the killings first, this is a common occurrence, it did not start yesterday, no! it happened in 1910 as it happened in 2010, it probably will happen again, if the locals don’t take a genuine initiative inspired by their own thinking to end such kinds of killings instead of only looking at the government to intervene and solve this problem, it probably will happen next year, next month or even tomorrow if the locals don’t stop seeing one another as threats. The ethnic killings can only be stopped by the local people themselves if and only if, they start seeing each other as brothers and people who share a common history, common problems and a common background and heritage, begin to embrace their diversity and make tolerance part of their lives.

The colonial reports at the Kenya national archives has a detailed account of such inter tribal killings in the northern frontier district (NFD), the biggest tragedy is that history doesn’t seem to teach the people of this region,  they have made such killings part of their culture.

What actually contributes to insecurity and ethnic hatred in Moyale?

Contributors to insecurity in Moyale constitute a complex nexus that warrants a detailed study and research, my deductions are as follows.

Dialogue, peace and advocacy of non-violence are regarded as signs of weakness to those who thrive on anarchy, and in Moyale, they are in majority they include jobless youths sitting idle, who fan violence and loot amid the mayhem, in the May, 2011 incidence they broke into shops and looted. Some malcontents have been heard openly saying they don’t want peace and communal dialogue, they are people known to the locals but no action has ever been taken against them, these are the schemers and plotters of war within the region.

Ethiopians have been hired to execute atrocious acts within Moyale town, they have been hired to throw stones at one community or break into shops and steal, they add to the region’s insecurity.

The women seem to be the main means of directing hate speech, especially the market women are the rumor mills and they direct all kind of allegations and speculations which propagates the culture of suspicion and perpetual fear. They shout the most and they claim to be vulnerable. Men who don’t want to be seen as “weak” in the face of their women then act irrationally without any consideration.

Committing a crime and running for safety into Ethiopia is not a problem, anyone can acquire the Ethiopian Identity card at only 15 Birr, equivalent of only 45 Kenya shillings, no records, no birth certificates are needed, and most people of Moyale have identity cards to Kenya and Ethiopia. The porous border has added greatly to the Moyale problem.

Moyale is a center for illegal trade and acts as an arms transit center, it attracts people from the Somali region and the Ethiopian side and from as far as the Southern Sudan. The Ethiopian people bring in arms while those from Somali who have access to goods that are zero rated from almost anywhere in the world, sugar from Brazil, rice from Pakistan bring and sell them very cheaply to the locals in Moyale and Ethiopia. A combination of all these propagates insecurity: arms are available to the locals, cheap goods which find their way into the shops means that there are some very rich people who are willing to finance insecurity in this area.

The government’s inaction to the insecurity in Moyale, disarming exercise has not yielded any kind of progress in bringing security in this region; the number of people carrying guns in the name of home guards and KPR locals far outdoes the number of police men.

Politicians have a role to play in all this tribal hatred- they manipulate the locals and play one community against the other this includes inciting them to fight each other, financing acquisitions of arms, thus preserving their political positions. The community elders have always been used negatively by the politicians.

Its time the media highlights some of these issues, it is only then that the government seems to respond and wake up from their indifference and lethargy to the happenings in this region.

Its time the locals work out a comprehensive and long term solution to their tribal problems. The government’s intervention is not a long term solution; a genuine change of stereotypical and unwarranted negative competition between the communities is the solution. An eye for an eye only leaves both blind.

The national cohesion and integration commission (NCIC) seems to be failing in its mandate to promote peace and harmonious co-existence among Kenyans. As they set to embark on their county anti ethnicity forum they ought to give a priority to a county like Marsabit because the ethnic tensions and tribal hatred situation is quite rife.

Some NGOs in the region have embarked on peace advocacy among the youth through organizing football tournaments, this has been going on for some years now and only last month the Ethio-Kenya peace tournament was held bringing together teams from Marsabit, Wajir, Moyale (Kenyan and Ethiopian) and Megga in Ethiopia. Such kinds of initiatives should be held regularly.

VALUES AND MORALITY LESSONS.

                                 Lets see things together:

                                 But since u see better and more

                                 Fill up the gaps in my seeing

                                 Lets speak out to the land, together,

                                 Lets speak out to Africa, together…

                                 To the new Africa especially,

                                 Lest the falling pot bangs her dead.

                                                        Joseph Kagimu

Our societies are losing values and morals, in the wake of globalization, in the age of technological development and in this age of modernism. We, thus, need to draw lessons that will help us forge ahead in these turbulent times and in this era of socio-political deceptions. We need to recreate our societies, recreate our values and beliefs to fit in the changing times. You agree that in this times standards are falling, culture of materialism is common, double talk and hypocrisy is part of our everyday life, the increasing deceptions, killings, rapes, muggings, corruption, outright lies and so many other negative cultures are slowly creeping into our societies and eroding the values and morals of the larger Kenyan society.

The alleged classic FM message made public, the death of the six infants in Thika all point to this, if we don’t realize this and act appropriately, this will eventually be our greatest undoing, Kenya has a pride that it needs to safeguard, the once hospitable and polite people are now becoming intolerant and irate, easily flared up by an unwarranted hatred of ones brother and baseless political emotions, divisive politics is diminishing the little that is left.

the r/ship between values and vice.

Following all this, we need to have timeless lessons that will have relevance to all generations; every socio-economic, political, religious cultures and every ethnic group will find the unity of their beliefs and values. Lessons that apply to all, lessons that will help us be in touch with the humanity in us, lessons that will help us embrace ethics and morals. The following are some of these desirable lessons that every individual in Kenya should strive to embrace and manifest in his/her life for a peaceful and united Kenyan society.

1.      Dialogue.

Kenyans should talk to each other, about their problems, plight and share in the joy of one another. We can resort to solve our differences by words instead of weapons.

2.      I am my brother’s keeper.

Kenyans should see themselves as one larger bloc. The plight of one should be felt by all- we should be our brother’s and sister’s keeper- the KENYANS 4 KENYA initiative that has managed to collect more than 500 million shillings in a few weeks time is an indicator that we have the ability to pull together when we see each other as being in the same boat.

3.      Integrated persons, lets own Kenya.

Many among us Kenyans play spectator roles where active and popular participation is called for, we watch as the direction of our future is shaped and only start complaining when the conditions become unbearable. While some take the role of only criticizing every decision, policy without providing alternatives and other suitable solutions. We need to be integrated into the political process, policy making, and the implementation process too, as integrated persons we will be able to transform and shape Kenya as our responsibility; we will be the subjects of the transforming process. We won’t be subjected to the choices of others when we take initiative: guided by our own thinking.

stop vandalism

Don’t remain as mere onlookers, objects and spectators of the transformation of Kenya.  Stand up and be counted as the true sons and daughters of our beautiful land.

The government resources are our own, lets take care of them the way we care for our own, it beats logic seeing people vandalize resources in their care because of claims such as “it is the government’s”, who is the government? Every citizen constitutes the government. Two things are apparent in the use of government resources: carelessness and recklessness.

4.      Reflection and action.

We need to think and deeply reflect about our roles as the citizens of Kenya. Action without reflection has pulled us back, when we act without considering the consequences of our actions then we are doomed. The 2008 Post election violence was a result of action without reflection. Stop, look back, reflect and see what you can do that will have a positive outcome not only on you but also on the people around you. It’s the only way to prevent rash counterproductive actions.

5.      Tolerance.

Kenya has diversity in cultures, ethnic groups, religious beliefs and political ideologies. Despite all this we have shared goals, desires and national decisions binding and bringing all this diversity into one larger dream, the dream of prosperity and development of the nation of Kenya. How can we co-exist and live peacefully together accommodating all the diverse cultures, beliefs, values and divergent ideologies to realize this bigger dream? By exercising TOLERANCE, it is only through tolerating and respecting other people's decisions, cultures, beliefs, desires, values, goals and ideologies that we shall work towards our shared dream. It’s only through tolerance that we can avoid negative ethnicity which has had and still continues to act as a major impediment to our achieving development.

6.      Avoiding fanaticism.

Taking political stands without deliberations, making subjective decisions and general fanaticism leads to underdevelopment because it separates us, our communities and creates hatred, intolerance and the culture of negative unwarranted competition between individuals, political groups and ethnic groups.

The shoe shiner’s place and barber shops political analysis shows just how fanatic Kenyans can be when it comes to politicians- we need to replace all these common place political discussions that perpetuates rivalry, tribalism and hatred with decisive lessons of development and civic lessons on issue based politics.

Recently Barrack Muluka in an interview said that as Africans we need to “Objectify our subjectivity and subjectify our objectivity”- we need to have shared objectives.

7.      Quality Service from all and to all.

The culture of mediocre performance and falling standards in the provision of services is one that needs to be addressed by all citizens. In whatever level that you are servicing, give what you expect, be your own supervisor- give your best, serve with all your heart, selfless service will improve the culture values and morals.

8.      Free thinking.

We need free thinking, broad-minded individuals and people driven by the good of the whole society and not by selfish interests. The culture of materials leads to the disregard for others interests. Mob psychology is a recipe for eroding morals.

Oliver Goldsmith captures just how important morality and values are in the well being of a society through this quote “Ill fares the land where wealth accumulates and men decay”.

AFRICA GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP CONVENTION: EXCERPTS FROM OBASANJO'S SPEECH

Kenya institute of management (K.I.M) in partnership with the African Leadership Forum (A.L.F) has organized a convention on AFRICAN GOVERNANCE and LEADERSHIP to discuss, share and deliberate on issues of leadership and governance in the African continent, to shape the future of the African continent through examination of the private sector and public sector partnership in ameliorating the African condition , the theme of the convention focusses on “claiming the second decade” of these century, the convention kicked off today with very prominent people gracing the two day event. Former Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo and his South African counterpart Thambo Mbeki, KACC director P.L.O Lumumba, a representative from the UNDP, Peter Mutuka of the kenya commercial bank group, hon ministers from the kenyan government and many development stakeholders in the African continent were present .   

After very insightful opening remarks from the CEO of K.I.M and A.L.F, Dr. Reuben Mutiso the chairman of Tecura international began by giving some brilliant historical perspectives on the contribution of Africa to civilization and development.

Thabo Mbeki was the next on stage. His was a short but realistic introductory remark, from the conventions theme of claiming the second decade, Thabo Mbeki pointed out that we might possibly be loosing the second decade and stated that things are happening to support this. He called on the various governments and stakeholders to convey the lessons from the convention to the rest of Africa and to continue teaching the outcome of deliberations to answer how we can claim the second decade of our century.

Olesegun Obasanjo

Olesegun Obasanjo being the patron of the convention gave a very powerful and educative speech which is the focus of this post. He began by saying that Africa has a lot to learn and share about leadership, understanding its challenges and ensuring that the outcome of the many ongoing deliberations has an impact on the continents well being. He clearly pointed to the fact that quality leadership was the major step for African development. He urged the people to evaluate the impact of leadership, identify what Africa has done right and how we can continue doing this.  He emphasized on how we need to put into perspective the outcome of this convention so that we can claim the second generation. He identified coup-de-tats, racism and tribalism as some instances of managerial deficits and how this resulted into intimidating challenges for Africa.

Africa's sub regions

He revisited  how at independence, nearly five decades ago, optimism was the driving force, how everyone believed that Africa would develop at quantum levels, how after independence Africa sat back almost with her arms folded only to realize that we didn’t have the political kingdom we thought we had. At the time Africa was viewed as a continent of dereliction and decay- moving backwards in a world moving forward, he substantiated all this claims with some very empirical evidence on the GDP, per capita income and export statistics.

He continued elaborating how our economies have preserved the colonial mood and received directions from quarters that bear no context to the African story. African union, NEPAD and African Peer Review Mechanisms were responses to solve this great undoing according to Obasanjo. He again gave some empirical statistics on the progress that is manifest in the new development of Africa.

Increased collective GDP -1.6 trillion dollars equal to that of Russia, The increased consumer spending in Africa, The democratized economy, How African government’s is implementing policies to enhance investment, How Africa is experiencing more reforms than the Middle East and Asian countries.

He called for value driven and interpretive leadership armed with clarity of goals. He asked Africa to build consensus on shared values which will enhance good governance at the continental level because of the structural and psychological outcomes of the shared values. He gave the following as some consensus on Africa’s shared values. Sense of communal solidarity, Our shared humanity, The drive for protection of the weak and elderly in our communities, The belief that we are our brothers and sisters’ keepers, Our common African destiny, Resistance to tribalism and racism.

He gave the link between the management, leadership and governance, how these concepts can help in building a continental synergy in creating a developmental phase to usher in a united Africa. His explanations on the need of private and public sectors partnership to overcome the challenges facing the public sector in the developing countries and its necessity in establishing cost effective leadership . He placed particular emphasis on how development can not be achieved without participation of the private sector.

The next decade will be an interesting one, an era of opportunity, but without adequate preparation, without a sense of urgency and speed we will not be able to realize this opportunity, this is where leadership matters a lot is the massage of Obasanjo. As part of the adequate preparation to enjoy the benefits of these opportunities Africa needs to invest in its youth, to imbibe a culture of entrepreneurship, job creation and be prepared for leadership. He asked the institutions of education to focus on producing job creators and not job seekers. Gender balance in governance and leadership is an area that should be fully incorporated into development plans.

Such is the form of discussion going on, such is the conventions that shape the direction of a nation, a region, a continent and the world at large. Africa and other third world states need to meet regularly and discuss their problem, exchange ideas and help forge a bright future for their people and regions.