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What's going on in Kenya is crazy, to say the least. As the human Rights Commission comes out and declares they have evidence of the violence being preplanned and financed by some known opposition members, few if any are surprised. The one thing that is clear to anyone thinking clearly is that Kenya will never be the same again, not for another entire generation and perhaps two.

2007 is not 1963
Hear me clearly Kenyans. It is ridiculous and rudimentary to attempt to resolve disputes from some then prominent members of our country that emerged in 1963, or 10 years after that in this way. I am told Kalenjins are fighting for land that was given to kikuyus in the rift valley, yet the rift valley belongs to them. A few considerations I'd like endorsed to this argument.

History
Let it be noted that I write this article with great awareness that kikuyus came across formal land documents and other formal documents much sooner. However, I've said it before, that kikuyus were direct beneficiaries of the colonialist. As much as they had been the greatest oppressed by the same. That history has kikuyus as the overwhelming majority of the mau mau warriors, is a direct result of these facts. They affect everything else and thus cannot be ignored.

1.Assuming that it is true kikuyus were given land in rift valley, a few factors need to be considered. First and foremost, those who now own land in rift valley have mostly bought it from other owners. They cannot be expected to relinquish their hard earned investments and think that everything is fair and just. Secondly, the land if assigned was assigned as unclaimed land. I don't recall anyone complaining that people were kicked out. Given the population then, this makes sense. And what does it mean that the Rift Valley belongs to the Kalenjins? Rift valley was divided based on the fact that Kalenjins lived there? what about the other tribes?

2.Issues of inequality from prior regimes are common in every community. The one point that's evident in this issue is that it has never been possible to resolve it within different generations. It is why the blacks of the US never got 40 acres and a mule. Because to do that, one would have to take land away from others who own it to compensate those who think they deserve it. Two wrongs never a right made.

3. Justice, really? Say this land had been given to more than just kikuyus as a tribe, who is to say that your grandfather or other relative, you the regular mwananchi, was going to be allocated land? To get my point, how many kikuyus had land allocated to them? So you tell us this is a tribal thing. We tell you grow up! This is an elitist thing. People looking after each other as they know each other. Standard in every community, modern or otherwise. Comparison? Ask George Bush's cronies about the past 7 years. But more to my exact discussions. When the violence is aimed and targeted at regular kikuyus, who were not related or friends of Kenyatta, who have had to earn every penny of their livelihoods, never were allocated land, how then do you justify this to them?

4. My opinion? People are being used to fight personal wars. It is possible that Jaramogi should have been allocated land as part of the inner circle but had a fallout with the powers that were. Hence the feeling that he was robbed which he successfully passed on to his relatives. True. He might have been "robbed" by his cronies, as quite frankly was every other regular Kenyan, kikuyu or not. So when you're all out with machetes drawing innocent blood, remember this has nothing to do with you. You have been used to settle an old score. And not even as a brave heroic person would. As cowards and idiots. If this war is about being robbed off land by Kenyatta, take it to the Kenyattas. You'd still be wrong then (people cannot be held accountable for their father's mistakes), but at least you'd be closer to making sense.

Missing Link:
I've had my ear on the ground and I must say after I've heard everything from insiders of both parties, campaigners and affected persons and other people involved from various circles, I fully think that I have the whole story. As we all know by now, this bloodshed was coming regardless of who won elections so hopefully we've all stopped hiding behind the facade of this being election violence.

Intriguingly, the one thing that does not make sense is this. What is it that makes people who were ODM supporters unable to condemn these killings out loud and clear as the norm? why the double standards? Through inductive reasoning as I've listened to many speak, Ive come to believe that there were huge promises made to a section of the non kikuyu educated younger elite. what fuddles me completely is having picked on how ludicrous some of these promises might have been, how were these people brainwashed to believing them possible? I'm talking about promises of ridiculous positions in internationally owned companies amongst other "slips of the tongues' that have given some of this stuff away. The missing link is what exactly was promised and how was it going to be achieved? Because to any smart mind, even a dictator couldn't achieve most of these promises for anybody. How then, were these people I would consider somewhat smarter deceived to this extent?

or is it possible that educated persons could actually think of ethnic cleansings as acceptable in this day and age?

Lazy not oppressed:
Many will be offended by the following, but it's my honest opinion. Assuming people weren't being paid ksh 200 a day to pick up machetes and go kill others, and they were out because they really believed they have been robbed off land and whatever else, I'd still hold the sentiment that these are lazy persons. Considering point no. 3 above, where I have stated that if unfair land allocation was done by Kenyatta, it is likelier that your clan would still have gotten nothing (it aint about tribes, just friends). So instead of watching your neighbors wealth, start thinking about how to make your own. Stop trying to get rich the easy way. Start working at getting rich. Which means this:

Sequester yourself as an individual in your mind. Analyze your current position. then your intended position and situation. Then identify the obstacles between your and your goals. And then devise plans to tackle obstacles (training, loans,...) and then embark on this journey. Let your only comparison be to yourself, where you're coming from and where you're headed to.

Remember that there always will be those richer than you, as well as those poorer than yourself. So stop comparing yourself to others and live your life.

Taking what people have worked hard for on any given day is theft. Killing them for it, well...

Cultivate a desire to work hard for your wealth, your promotion. The very same reasons we fight corruption. Leave the free things. They're never that free in the long run.

I strongly believe adopting this attitude would make one less susceptible to the opinions and propaganda dished out in daily life and more importantly, would engage one's mind into the needs of humanity, not adjectives that describe human beings (such as tribal inflections). Hence would make a better human being altogether.

I'm aware how much better likable this post would be if it was calling for the coming together of people et al. Well, truth be told, we are past that point, the real issues have to be addressed. There is hate in Kenya. And its origins have to be identified if these issues are ever going to be resolved.

There's also a need for people to stop trying to be right (especially about events of the 1960s, where there is no way to evidence truth), and start working on being effective. It's the difference between successful regimes, countries and individuals and those not.

And then there is the simple point of probability. You know, the if there are 30 green balls, 10 red and 5 blue in a jar, which are you likeliest to pick reasoning. Applying this to work places in Kenya might explain why they seem to be more kikuyus in work places. Especially when you not only consider population, you also consider proximity to the city hence their numbers in the city as compared to others.

I'm struggling with the total loss of all reasoning I'm observing by many educated people. It's either that or the fact that I've been mingling with some folk filled with real hatred for my tribe, completely unaware of it, and I am now in many ways traumatized by human behaviour,; one of these two scares me the most about Kenya right now.

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In a nutshell...

Posted: January 28th, 2008, 7:40pm CST