My Bags Are Packed

I’m leaving for the airport in two hours to go home.  My two months here have been amazing.

Kenya is a country of extremes.  Hope and hopelessness, fear and laughter, despair and delight.  There are moments when the weather is so perfect – so perfect – that I literally throw out my arms and thank God for this moment in time.

But, in the end, it’s all about the people.  Their stories make your soul sing and your heart weep.  They are so worth the investment. 

So my trip is at an end, but I think maybe the journey is just beginning.

Kwaheri!

Corruption, Impunity and Ambassador Ranneberger

I actually stopped eating my breakfast this morning and re-read this again to make sure I got it right:

         

“Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi yesterday rallied central Kenya voters for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta [one of the Ocampa 6 indicted for crimes against humanity].

“She criticised those planning to oppose him in the 2012 presidential election.

“'I think they should be locked up during the next election and released after we elect the president of our choice.'”  (Emphasis added.)

I had the same reaction last week when I read that another Kenyan Minister publicly told the Anti-Corruption Commission that it shouldn’t concern itself with crimes, graft and corruption by elected officials in the past, but only in the future, on the basis it would be a waste of time and resources.  Kind of a “what’s past is past” philosophy.

Sometimes I don’t know what is more astounding, the incredible and undeniably wrong things that politicians say and do here in Kenya every day, or the fully informed public’s tolerance of those demagogues.  Corruption and impunity, Kenya’s unrelenting demons.

Our outgoing ambassador to Kenya is Michael Ranneberger, a controversial figure here, primarily for his outspokenness regarding Kenya’s political corruption and his efforts to engage Kenya’s youth (officially defined as ages 18-35) in the governance and economy of their own county.  The horror!  At one point, enraged politicians unsuccessfully tried to censure him in Parliament.

He became even more a focus of political wrath when Wiki Leaks released many of his communiqués to Washington which candidly described the same issues he publicly decries within Kenya.  His confidential email described how Kenya’s “culture of impunity” perpetuated by Kenya’s political and economic elite – that links directly to President Kibaki and PM Raila – continues to frustrate genuine reforms that could lead to yet more civil violence.  This summary, for example, seems right on:

“While the culture of impunity and the grip of the old guard political elite on the levers of state power and resources remain largely intact, hairline fractures are developing in their edifice.”

I found Amb. Ranneberger’s comments, both publicly and in his confidential summaries, insightful and refreshingly honest.  I’m also impressed by his behavior after the confidential information was released by Wiki Leaks – he fully embraced all he reported and stood behind his assessments with no apology or embarrassment that he somehow misstated or overstated the issues as he sees them.

I think Kenya will miss him, although he plans to keep close contacts.  He is currently very involved with a Kenyan woman, whom he describes openly as his “soul mate” and his “queen” (gotta love him just for that).

Last week he left this final message for Kenya:

“The agenda for change cannot and should not be imposed from the outside. . . . My message to the Kenyan people is simple and direct:  Hold leaders accountable, reject hate speech, insist on prosecution of corruption and the imprisonment of those found guilty.  Insist on full implementation of the Constitution.”

He’s one of the good guys.

"How Obama got Osama"

That’s the front page headline in today’s Daily Nation here in Nairobi, along with the sub-title “US President’s greatest moment.” 

It’s always interesting to see how countries outside the U.S. report the news.  The coverage today on Osama’s death was non-stop most of the day. 

Both written and oral reports are mostly supportive of the U.S.  Kenya is very pro-Obama and many commentators are touting this as a personal victory over Bush.  One editorial, though, noted:

“As President Obama proclaimed victory in the war against terrorism from the safety of a televised White House address – and no doubt immeasurably boosted his re-election prospects – he blithely ignored the fact that his armed forces had turned prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner.”

Kenya has no great love lost for Bin Laden.  212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 wounded in a bomb attack at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998.  Terror attacks in November 2002 killed 15 people near Mombasa and seriously injured another 80.  

Nonetheless, there already are reported death threats against Obama’s grandmother, who lives in western Kenya, near Lake Victoria, and she has been given additional security.  There are general concerns about retaliation and warnings for U.S. citizens to be cautious.

Kenya's Muslim population is relatively small -- about 10%. 
Not unexpectedly, there are more negative reactions coming from the Middle East. 

I, for one, slept a bit easier last night.

Hopeful Visit to the Rift Valley

Last week I spent a few days in Kenya’s Rift Valley, where much of the post election violence occurred in 2007 and 2008.  Signs of the devastation are everywhere.

I spent my time, however, visiting youth groups determined that it will not happen again.

Kenya officially defines “youth” as people between 18 and 35, roughly 40% of Kenya’s population (less than 20% is over age 35).  Youth groups are relatively new.  President Moi, whose autocratic rule lasted 24 years, didn’t allow them to exist.

The local communities, with the support of the government and NGO’s such as Mercy Corps, use a variety of tools to involve the youth age group in their own future and to encourage integration and acceptance of ethnic/tribal heritages.  Those include registered youth self-help groups, trainings to develop life and economic skills, “cash for work” programs, and income generating activities. 

In Eldoret and Kericho, I attended a leadership program, toured income generating operations, and visited a youth center.  I came back to Nairobi with renewed hope that Kenya can and will become a better place for its people. 

There are about 180 youth groups in the Rift Valley, with total membership of about 3000.  Many of the members were involved in the violence in their community and view their participation as a way to pay back for the damage they helped cause.  The groups include members from the different tribes who participated in the mayhem. 

Although much in the minority, the groups actively seek to include women.  That is an ongoing challenge.  In addition to barriers caused by lack of education and tribal culture, many of them are married and mothers by the time they qualify to join (there is literally no family planning in the area).  Those who do participate, however, are very involved and quite capable of holding their own.

The leadership program included about 30 local youth leaders in Eldoret.  Well aware of the daunting problems and hurdles, they are determined to find answers and ways to move forward together, ranging from integrated local sports teams, a collective refusal to be used again by the politicians and creation of jobs where unemployment for their age group exceeds 40%.

One of the income generating groups in Eldoret is composed of carpenters and apprentices.  Under the auspices of a professional carpenter and two housing engineers, its ethnically diverse 27 members find the trees, cure the wood, and design, manufacture and upholster furniture, which the group sells from its single facility located in the Kaybosa slum.  The group also does local carpentry and roof work, and manufactures building bricks.   

With no electricity, everything is done with hand tools.  They have one treadle Singer sewing machine.  They are obviously proud of their work and looking for ways to expand their operations.

In Kericho, another youth group that varies between 25-50 members built and now operates a green house that grows tomatoes.  The group harvests 3 crops a year.

Kericho’s Jericho Youth Center is run by Dan, who was a high school teacher for a year and is now working on a masters in business.  The center was full of young men reading the newspapers, playing pool and watching the local news on TV. 

The center includes an HIV clinic.  Attracting women is, again, a challenge.  The Youth Center created a group called “Chick Flicks,” which is focused on ways to get them more involved.

This age group, once it discovers the power it has, can change Kenya’s future.  The people I met last week seem up to the challenge.  I pray they succeed.