It has been about six months since Kenya's infamous surge of violence that left hundreds of Kenyans dead, and thousands without homes. Now, we watch as young high school boys burn down their facilities in an attempt to get their way. Is this the new culture? Are we teaching our youth that the only way to negotiate is through violence?

Join in on the discussion with some of kenyaImagine writers as they address this crisis:

• Kamale T discusses his experience as a high school student at the Starehe Boys' Center here.
• Capt Collins Wanderi is an educator. Here, he addresses poor parenting and policies within the education as factors that are to blame for the current crisis in Kenyan high schools.
• In the cane and our culture of violence, Barasa Simiyu proposes that perhaps it is not such a surprise that our children have grown into such violent young adults.

The scene from his hotel room screen in Nakuru still fills his mind. Let's call him M. He's from Muranga, he still drives the Datsun 120 Y that he bought in 1972 when he was a twenty two year old boy.

He's got a family in the outskirts of Eldoret where his wife runs the family farm (cows and wheat) that he bought in 1982 from a white man fleeing the coup that "never happened," as he is fond of saying. "So I got the farm cheap."

Read more from Tony Mochama here.

After a bloody post-election crisis, Kenya has found a political solution. Once again, we have found ourselves resolving or countering a political impasse by throwing high paying jobs at a select few. To stop politicians from interfering with our day to day lives, and using Kenya's hordes of unemployed, embittered and disillusioned youth as canon fodder in their power struggles, we have offered them plum jobs. We have a negotiated solution that will see the cost of government go up in a country which, already, "devotes a disproportionate shares of its taxes on administration and wages at the expense of provision of services."

Read more from Charles Matathia here.

Tomes have been written against the violence in Kenya, poems have been composed and most of us have lamented the fact that our countrymen are taking up arms against each other. What we have neglected to condemn, is the idea that specific parts of Kenya belong to specific tribes.

Read more from Patrick Gathara here.

In African folklore, there is a character that looms large for its polished deception, which guile often results in sizzling dramatic irony. The story usually culminates in a situation where the devious, meek-looking carnivore is entrusted with the care of the docile herbivores, often depicted as sheep.

There is likelihood that lore might imitate life in the on-going dialogue over the Kenyan crisis, particularly given the appointment of people linked to tribal violence as negotiators and engineers of peace.

Read more from Muciimi Mbatia here.

Human Rights Watch investigations indicate that, after Kenya's disputed elections, opposition party officials and local elders planned and organized ethnic-based violence in the Rift Valley, Human Rights Watch said today.

The attacks, targeting mostly Kikuyu and Kisii people in and around the town of Eldoret, could continue unless the government and opposition act to stop the violence, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch called on the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leadership to take immediate steps to stop its supporters from committing further attacks. At the same time, Human Rights Watch said the Kenyan police should urgently deploy extra officers to the region to protect displaced people and resident Kikuyu communities.

Read more from the Human Rights Watch here.

Click here to read a press statement from the Kenya Tourism Board on the state of the country's tourism industry and the security situation for visitors to the country.

Kenya tourism officials are working diligently to ensure the safety and security
of visitors to the country. In order to keep the traveling public up-to-date on
the situation on ground in Kenya, we are sending out continual updates on the
current state of affairs within the country with regard to the tourism
infrastructure.

In reading Nanjala Nyabola's article of yesterday, I have found myself appalled at the myths that pass for truth in Kenyan discourse, and especially that such myths proceed to become the basis upon which political decisions and alliances are made.

Take for example the account on President Jomo Kenyatta and the opening of the New Nyanza Hospital in Kisumu. It is true that Kenyatta's bodyguards opened fire on crowds, but this was only after the crowd at the rally heckled and threw stones at him. The security forces certainly overreacted, but it is inappropriate and misleading to suggest that the victims were shot because they were Luo; the violence broke out because hotheads at the rally attacked first, because the bodyguard had reason to believe that its employer was in danger. This has clear implications for this year's riots as well, especially with politicians claiming that the police are aiming to kill members of certain tribes.

Read more from Daniel Waweru here.

If you read the newspapers, magazines or anything on the internet, listen to the radio, watch television, or take note of the chatter in the markets, at fireplaces in remote villages across the land, weddings or funerals one thing does come out clearly. Kenyans across the country are horrified by the wave of extremism death and destruction that has visited their country. There is no point in blaming one person, or the last government, or the one before for our present state. The seeds that led to this uproar predate these governments and go back 50, 70 even 100 years. Essentially, the root causes of this violence are not as significant as what this violence points at, the fact that Kenyans finally feel that they have the first roots of what it takes to be a representative democracy- to try their hand at majority rule, not the will of the few.

Read more from David Obura here.

While some of us grieve lost ones, and while thousands of Kenyans grapple with the reality of losing all their earthly possessions, it's time to reflect on how the violence escalated to these, previously unimaginable levels.

In my view the violenc and its drivers can be divided into several categories.

The spontaneous expression of outrage at the perceived flawed election.

Daniel Rubia has more here.

Kenya is in deep crisis. It is sitting on the precipice of a fully-fledged ethnic-based violent rupture. As death, mayhem, and possible genocide unravel, Kenyan politicians and leaders seem dangerously unwilling or unable to show genuine and effective leadership in ending the ethnic strife pitting their supporters.

In refusing to seek an immediate end to the ethnic strife, perhaps each side hopes to somehow gain the upper hand in the resolution of the post-election crisis. This is both dangerous and unacceptable. It is needlessly stoking tension and violence as innocent Kenyans get killed by overzealous supporters of each camp. Both the Kibaki and Raila camp must act immediately to end the madness. Everything else must come after that.

Read more here.
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Written by:

Prof. James Gathii is the Governor George E. Pataki Professor of International Commercial Law Albany Law SchoolProf.

Dismas A. Masolo is the Justus Bier Professor of Humanities and Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Philosophy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KentuckyProf.

Joel Ngugi is an Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington, Seattle

Ms. Atieno Caroline Odhiambo is a Human Rights Lawyer in Seattle

Dr. Kiarie Mwaura is a Visiting Fellow, Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School and Lecturer in Law, Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Prof. Sylvia Kang’ara is an Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington, Seattle

I consider myself a patriot, one true and pure in my love and devotion to Kenya. To understand how I got here, you would have to know my life story. Too long to be told here, but one that must be heard to understand my journey. I will not attempt to make you understand me, I fear it may be an impossible task. Besides, I may only have your attention for the next few minutes. Instead I will tell you about the two days that I came to realize just what being Kenyan is about.

Read more from Doris Sadera.