TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
asudi's Blog
asudi's Blog
PEACE BUILDING AFTER POLL VIOLENCE;RE INTEGRATING KENYAN YOUTH
Related to country: Kenya

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

One time USA President, JOHN FITZGERALD, earnestly declared, "Absence of war does not signify presenceof peace." It is therefore of paramount importance to critically correlate peace, violence and calmness in a society and the underlying connotations among Kenyan youths especially in the run up to and the blood chilling events after the 2007 disputed presidential elections.
As a witness of and victim of post poll crisis, the gloomy and horrific era in modern Kenyan history, my article will attempt to explore the situations that might have made neighbor to rise against neighbor, father against non tribe wife and country man against country man.
Secondly, I will strive to offer various alternatives that could be employed to curb any future potential causes of violence.
Similarly, from my experience and interaction with fellow youths I will propose a national reconciliation and patriotism-building venture. Violence in Kenya especially before elections spring from socio-economic woes that is sedimented by ear appealing political tribal rhetoric.

The politically funned tribal violence have systematically grown into a monster with every post independence governments doing very little to address the deep underlying issues if not being responsible in away in their multiplication .Kenya, it is true, has registered impressive rating in the literacy level. Today, we have 29 universities apart from numerous colleges that offer certificate, diploma and degree courses.
However, the policy makers have never been much appalled by the bulging number of the unemployed youths. The human resource development policy in Kenya, to me would read, "Let natural attrition play its role" –the aged will retire or resign or die to give room for fresh graduates. To sustain themselves, youths engage in violence, robberies and crime to make ends meet. During campaigns, they become goons for hire ready to kill lest life become unbearable for the fellows who live from hand to mouth. As a result, they view life as being too short with nothing to lose in case of havoc.
Truly, what will a ghetto dweller lose as much as Muthaiga counter part in case Kenya goes up in flames? The realistic challenges I believe are to be blame for the birth of dangerous local tribal gangs like mungiki, sungu sungu, Taliban, SLDFs among others. Equally, it is common wise man wisdom that blood is thicker than water. Therefore, to prove thae unbroken African kinship of negative ethnicity, these gangs under pretext of community policing to protect their own do unleash grave terror on fellow citizens whose mistake is not speaking their tongues. Therefore, any feeble whistle blow by a nationally imaged politician to the warriors will spontaneously without any thought spark violence. Ignorance and unquestionable oaths also serve to bind the gangs.Firstly, combating Kenyan gangs lie on addressing to feel and firmly fill the deep-rooted void of tribalism that the brutish British colonials and unfeeling successive regimes have shaped.

This can be done through massive civic education targeting the syllabus, curiculun, adult education and the mass media.Every Kenyan youth need to be brought up with a sense of nationalism and patriotic pride. Education will also help erase tribal stereotyping, tribal halo effects and warrior like ethnic pride. We must candidly put in place ethnic relations and national cohesion strategies to end age old opinion of some citizens as; arrogant and proud… thieves.. Uncouth and uncivilized, unfit to lead…more senior than others..
"Secondly, we must strengthen our institutions with a view to creating checks and balances, accountability and independence and devolution of power. Most African youths have rebelled against their own governments due to ‘winner take it all’ electoral outcomes, exclusion of some people from economic participation and unfair distribution of resources these facts if rained of ethnicised minds of desperate youths will surely cerate inter tribal tensions. In Kenya, the weakness of the electoral body and the judiciary are mainly to blame for the violence. When hopeless youths have no alterative, their anger will surely turn to violence as a commutating strategy.

Institutional independence will also end our national way of life of impunity. Thirdly, we need local grown solutions to some of the challenges. Imposing solutions negotiated by the apex politicians in Nairobi may not sometimes work just like forcing tribal cohesion at a gunpoint. Dialogue among all opinion holders in war prone areas should be employed. This will promote collaboration., iron out mistrust and strike out a workable arrangement in sharing local resources. In the end, mutual harmony will be fostered as stepping -stone to forgiveness and reconciliation.Similarly, community based youth organization should be developed with government and NGOs assistance. Trainings on self employment, financial management and poverty alleviation should be offered with a view to youth empowerment.

This enable the idle youths to be employed and acquire income. Infrastructure like irrigation, power and roads should be established in rural areas to promote agriculture and Asian tigers style ICT among the youths. With reliable power supply, creative youths will gainfully express their thinking faculties intelligently and objectively in running of information centers like the global village initiatives.A youth run leadership and ideas exchange program should also be formed. This will promote youth participation in communal affairs like CDF Allocations, youth empowerment and leadership.

This program will also promote peer education and counseling to help those who are mentally tortured following election violence. The program dubbed Kenyan peace ambassadors should craft civic awareness through youth run peace road show, radio programmes peace extravaganza, sports , cultural shows, workshops and roundtable forums.Finally to rehabilitate the youths who participated in the ritual killings, a broad based emotional assistance should be put in place. It is a plain truth that if this group is neglected now and rejected or branded as villains they can easily fall back to the practice of murder and crime life. The government and NGOs should not only reach out to the political victims but also offer psychological and moral support to the very perpetrators of ethnic killings.

These initiatives will therefore ensure that calmness we enjoy is turbaned into sustainable peace through- and -round the youths.
A serious nation will truly insure the youth’s future and end their political exploitation as mere rubber-stamping objects.

MICHAEL ASUDI,

KENYATTA UNIVERSTY STUDENT,

2008 ITU YOUTH ALUNI.

July 3, 2008 | 7:53 AM Comments  2 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


Comments

ioanap Ioana
July 3, 2008 | 9:48 AM
very well written article!
I thought your article was very interesting and the solutions that you have proposed are sensible. But why aren't any of these solutions being implemented?
asudi ASUDI MIKE
July 5, 2008 | 3:29 AM
MORE SUGGESTIONS, LITTLE ACTION
HI IOANAP
I think in some way they are being implemented. Most kenyan youths have become active peace ambassadors and advocates.
The stumbling block alaways are resources, fear by exploitataive politicians of youth awakening negative ethnicity and insessitive sucessive regimes.
If you what I have done , I will you exactly what my article says. That what I do in the university, home, town and wherever I go.

ASUDI
www.africanthirdaway.blogspot.com
ASUDI MIKE's Profile

ASUDI MIKE's Friends


Latest Posts
TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT...
SANCTIONS TO ZIMBABWE...
PEACE BUILDING AFTER...

Monthly Archive
July 2008
August 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
condolence

Filter By Type
Events
Travel
Topics

Friends
Adhiambo
Annpreet M
davyk
Elvis O. Aigbogun


1123 views
Important Disclaimer