Planting Seeds of Peace

In the last ten days of January, as the violence in the Rift Valley spread from Eldoret to Nakuru and then Naivasha, the nature of the aggression changed. From political, the rationale became personal – and as a result wildly out of control. By the beginning of February, as helicopters circled Naivasha, the outskirts of Nairobi were in flames. Thika rioted, and angry protesters besieged Limuru. Closer into town, Tom Oketch, walking to his home near Kibera from a long tough day struggling to implement peace initiatives with a blindly angry public could only watch when two people were lynched in front of him.

At this point, he nearly gave up. Eighteen hour days, seven days a week, full of talks, discussions, peace meetings; all of it seemed pointless as he watched the irrational murder taking place a few feet away, unable to help the victims or remove himself from the situation.

“I felt it was all futile,” explained Tom. “I knew I could spend hours in discussion with someone who promised to remain calm, but could and did turn to violence just as easily and irrationally the following day, his eyes and ears blind for the brief moments it took to snuff out another life, to loot or burn houses and businesses. I was watching it happen”

It was as if a madness had affected everyone and it was out of control, resulting in gruesome killings countrywide.

Fortunately Tom didn’t give up. The following day he attended the regular Peace forum organised by CCP, and reported on the grim state of affairs. He returned to the regular beat of peace meetings, and kept trudging, kept working.

Tom is a volunteer – both with the Lavie Foundation that came into being in 2000 when the Nubians clashed with Luos over rents in overcrowded Kibera, and of the Nairobi Peace Forum that drew together 33 groups during January 2008 in a bid to coordinate a cohesive strategy to cope with the post election violence across the slum areas of Nairobi.

A practiced peacemaker his experience at Lavie, made him wise to the signs of burgeoning unrest. Walking the mud-rutted tracks of Kibera before the election he saw more markers of dissent as tribes polarised -He heard tough talk at the regular Sunday meetings in Kamakunji on a Sunday where Luos would meet and discuss both politics and local affairs. The split began to form – Luo’s with ODM and Kikuyus with PNU. He knew a crisis was close at hand.

On the day of election tensions were running extremely high. Many Luo names were missing from the electoral register – including Raila’s. ECK chairman Kivuitu came to visit Kibera and told people they could vote even if their names were not on the register, and even without ID’s. This cooled the situation down a bit. Tom and fellow volunteers circulated at the meeting, targeting leaders, asking them to talk to the few people they could, urging them to keep peace. “This approach, with time has impact and prevents too much agitation,” he said.

But there was little Tom or any of the volunteers could do in the fretful uncertain days following the election. The violence surged up and around them. They went from Kibera, to Mathare persuading people to stay calm but tempers ran too high.

“All we could do was inform police of what was happening,” said Tom “It wasn’t helpful because the police were so biased as well as liberal with the teargas and bullets.” They often called off planned actions – like in Toi market where a crowd threatened to burn them and they had to run from the meeting they were trying to set up. They couldn’t even go to places like Katwekera because of the militant way the Luos there held out and fought against anyone who tried to enter.

At about this time the Nairobi Youth Forum came into being. A conglomeration of organisation working in slum areas, it was formed to provide a comprehensive network of activity across all the poor urban settlements and it elected Tom as its representative.

Each day NYF responded to calls for help. “One time we had a gang stopping people at night and robbing everyone. They had taken over a road in Korogocho and forced all passers by to pay each time they entered or left. We were able to scatter them with the help of the provincial administration.”

As things began to calm down they held forums, mixing all tribes in often heated discussions, allowing people to air grievances. They did street talks – stopping at a cobblers or groups playing chess and engaging them in conversation “Everyone wants to talk politics,” he said “we would add to the debate by asking what sort of peace they were creating and reminding them of their role in the atmosphere of the place they lived. That sobered them up and often resulted in people reflecting on their role in the violence.”

Still he feels that their work – even though it consumed him night and day – is just a dribble in the sea of humanity squished into the densely populated parts of Kibera, Mathare and Kawangware where he works. “We might reach 100 people in a day – in a place where there are 800,000. It’s a long and slow process.”

It was often disheartening. Tom met many dishonest peacemakers, particularly pastors who would say one thing to him, and then incite violence from the pulpit with their followers.

“I learned that people can do anything,” he said “We are all very civil and then we turn into animals in a moment. It has been a revelation to me – anybody has that potential. I even saw clergy looting – carrying things away from burnt-out shops.”

Tom hasn’t flinched in telling truths, however painful. He is not the sort to use the expression “a certain community”

He reported on the partisanship of the Red Cross in distributing aid, and on how Martha Karua and Beth Mugo took food to Jamhuri IDP camp and insisted it be served only to Kikuyus. He’s taken umbrage with the violence perpetrated and organised in Kamakunji by the Luos.

In his regular updates at the CCP meetings Tom aims to represent the mood of the slums as accurately as he can.

“Most people living in these areas don’t live as they would have wished to. They can’t find work, can’t bring people to visit especially if they are from a more upmarket estate. So they get trapped in their villages getting drunk and angry. They do without food or health services, struggle with water and suffer many indignities.”

He spends much time currently trying to help with employment. He leapt at the opportunity to use 100’s of black plastic crates generously donated by a flower company to help small businesses start again using them in a variety of ways – for storage, carriage, and construction.

He spends much time correcting myths – “People don’t believe there aren’t jobs available and think that Kibaki is hoarding all the high and low paid for Kikuyus. Of course that creates enmity. Many people regard jobs in town in offices or factories as real work, while running a kiosk or a small business is considered temporary until a “proper” job can be found. We teach them to see their entrepreneurship as valid and important since they have created a job for themselves.”

Right now he is actively searching for funding for small organisations who do strong grassroots work but don’t have the right legal set up to access established funding streams.

“Tom is so busy,” said a co-worker. “He has given so much time, energy to bringing about peace and harmony.”

“There won’t be papers written about me,” he said modestly, “but I know I contributing to helping this bad situation. “I wrote statements, made calls, walked the streets, and worked on conciliation. This is my passion. Right back to school and college I was the sort of person that challenged and questioned issues. I liked working with others and I liked dealing with social problems. This has been the biggest challenge of all, but if one person responds and lays down his panga, then I know I have helped clearing a way forward.”

Power, passion, pride – Bamburi Rugby Super Series

The weekend of the 28th and 29th of March 2008 was a positive one for Kenyan rugby internationally and locally. Across the world in Hong Kong, Kenya beat China, Portugal and Scotland to finish top of their group and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament. In the process Dennis Mwanja scored his 51st try to become Kenya’s leading try scorer in the sevens version of the game, and Kenya moved up one place to 5th in the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series table. Kenya is now an established and respected side in Sevens World Series with a reputation for athletic, fast and strong players.

As the rugby world in Hong Kong was falling asleep after a hard day’s work, the rugby world in Nairobi was waking up in tense anticipation for the most important weekend in the rugby season so far – the semi-final weekend of the Bamburi Rugby Super Series, the elite 15-a-side competition.

The Kenya Rugby Football Union (KRFU), the governing body of rugby union in Kenya, had a vision to transform Kenya into a leading international rugby-playing nation not just in sevens but also in the full 15 player version of the game. To realise this vision KRFU had to do a couple of things. First of all KRFU had to establish who the best rugby players in the country were, and secondly KRFU had to have those players participating in intense competition against each other. The Rugby Super Series was born. As the proverb goes, uhukuma mu luhya, nuwahuka hango, “to have respect in the world you must first be respected at home”.

The annual Rugby Super Series, sponsored this year for the 5th year in a row by leading local cement manufacturer Bamburi Cement, brings together the top 180 rugby players in East Africa. Club teams pick their top players and merge these players with the top players of their partner club to form a Rugby Super Series franchise for a total of six franchises, five franchises from Kenya and one from Tanzania, all named after different animals.

In a day of hard fought battles the Rhinos (made of players from Kenya Harlequins RFC and Mwamba RFC) defeated the Cheetahs (drawn from the players of Impala RFC and Nondescripts RFC), while the second semi final saw the Lions (made up of KCB RFC and Mombasa Sports Club RFC) defeat the Sharks (a Nairobi universities select side). The Buffaloes (made up of Kenya upcountry rugby clubs Nakuru, Kisumu, Bungoma, Egerton University, Maseno and Moi University – Eldoret) defeated the Twigas (a Tanzania select side) in the 5th place playoff.

The true winner of the day was the game of rugby. Fans were entertained, battles were fought on the pitch, standards of play increased and perhaps most importantly friendships were cemented not only between team mates but also between players on opposing sides.

On Sunday morning Kenyan rugby fans woke up to news from Hong Kong that the national sevens rugby team had taken the fight to the mighty Fuji losing 10-0 in the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong sevens with national sevens team coach Benjamin Ayimba assuring fans that it is only a matter of time before Kenya claims that prestigious scalp as well.

Like their compatriots in Hong Kong, players from the national 15 a-sides team as well as players from all the Bamburi Rugby Super Series (BRSS) franchises had a busy Sunday in Nairobi. On this Sunday however, Kenya’s top rugby players would leave their mark not on each other but, in a positive way, on their community. BRSS Chairman Aggrey Chabeda, BRSS Tournament Director, Auka Gecheo, Bamburi Representative Sypie Nyinza, Kenya Rugby National 15s Team Manager Wangila Simiyu, BRSS Director – Events Management Josephine Were and BRSS CSR Officer Thomas Arigi together with over 20 players and fans paid a visit to the National Spinal Injury Hospital on Lenana Road in Nairobi. Following a warm welcome from Dr. Maurice Siminyu, his management team and curious patients the rugby players armed themselves with buckets, mops, brooms and bleach and proceeded to give the hospital a good scrubbing. This was an opportunity for the top rugby players in the country to contribute to their community as well as an opportunity for them to sit, talk and encourage and make new friendships with the patients and the staff of the National Spinal Injury Hospital.

Hong Kong to Nairobi, the rugby pitch to pitching in to help in the community, driving mauls, driving brooms, passing balls, passing buckets, up and unders to lifting spirits, this was a weekend in which rugby was the ultimate winner.

Mugo Kibati: Forward Into Excellence

Mugo Kibati sits in the office of East African Cables’ Group Chief Executive Officer, and looks like a modern-day young Alexander, always moving forwards searching for new worlds to conquer. It is not the office itself that gives this impression, it is sparsely furnished and restrained and about a quarter of the normal size of corporate chief executive offices in Nairobi. It is Mugo Kibati himself, who listens with his whole body leaning forward, vibrating with intensity. He didn’t always have this skill, apparently; it was his wife who taught him that other people had opinions too, and sometimes, some of them even made sense.

Mugo Kibati has always been the smartest guy in the room ever since he was about six, and finally went to a school that ranked its students. It was easier to ask him to remember the times when he was not #1 in his class. The first time he ever got a class ranking at all, he came in at number two, and mostly because he had just joined a new school where the classes were in English, and not Kiswahili, the language he knew. Before that, he had only ever spoken English in the half-hour English class at his previous school. He didn’t know anybody who actually spoke it all day, every day. Then, years later, he went off as a Form One Newbie to Alliance High School, and came in at number five that first term. He’d just finished coming first in his province in the national exams the year before, so that was a rude shock. His mother, chuckling at his puzzlement, said to his father ‘the young man may finally be challenged, after all.’

Challenged he was; it was after all, Alliance High School, where the incoming class is full of people who were first in their primary schools, or in their provinces, or in the country. The shock of adjusting to this level of meta-excellence and the pride in having been able to ratchet up his performance to meet this new expectation explain a lot about Mugo Kibati’s relationship to his former, and formative, high school. Alliance High School is one of the three most significant forces in his life: the other two are his parents and his wife. From his father, he learned about the fundamental injustice of arbitrary social hierarchies. It was at a family gathering when Mugo was still a tiny tot, but wanted to give his opinion about something the grown-ups were discussing. An uncle was about to dismiss his participation on the grounds of Mugo being a small child and thus preferably both invisible and inaudible. His father stopped that burgeoning form of oppression in the very bud. He said that his son, Mugo, had the right to speak his mind in his own home, and anywhere else for that matter—and that what was important was the quality of the statement and not the age or position of the speaker. Mugo Kibati never forgot that.

Mugo Kibati wins awards with “Young” as the first word of their titles quite frequently. He is accustomed, in addition to being the best, also to being the youngest of whatever peer group he is excelling amongst, and all of Kenya knows by now that he is the gold medallist equivalent of corporate stewardship, as well as being the youngest of the corporate heavy-hitters. I asked him for an instance of his failure. He told me of the time he did not get into the Imperial College of London (the MIT of the UK) but later got into MIT itself, where he again excelled.

He met his wife Laila in the United States, where she impressed him by contradicting him often and fighting hard to win her intellectual points against him. Laila, another over-accomplished Kenyan, has a strong sense of social justice and had turned down the lucrative possibilities of private law practice in the U.S. to work with legal aid organisations. She argued passionately with Mugo, and won, so, of course, he fell in love with her and married her as soon as he could convince her that it was a good idea. That was a few arguments later. Few Kenyan men could ever sound so happy about losing major points—to a woman. Few Kenyan men of that level of accomplishment listen to other people’s points, on anything at all. Laila’s mind is a very big deal to Mugo Kibati, and he talks about her often: his intense large eyes open wider when he does.

Mugo was School Captain of Alliance when he was a student there, and now he chairs the Alumni Association and sits on the Board of Governors for his old high school. He is the youngest Board of Governors member they have ever had, of course. I ask him what this high-flying trajectory is in aid of—what drives the effort behind his own excellence? When he went to university he was the student chair of his faculty (his first election win), in the U.S. he worked as a Congressional Intern (for a Republican Senator); he is the youngest person ever appointed to the position he now holds and he has just won the Young Global Leader 2008 award. Why is Mugo Kibati running this high-performing high-stakes excellence race, seemingly mostly against time and against himself?

His answer is the reason that he is a GenerationKenya Juror. Mugo Kibati wants to build a society based entirely on merit—a meritocracy, now, in his lifetime and preferably next week. He has a burning passion to make ours a society in which the best rise, no matter their background, or gender, or economic conditions, or creed, or colour, or anything else. Mugo Kibati wants a society in which excellence is the only measure by which we allow ourselves to discriminate amongst ourselves. It is not so surprising, considering his own life, but what often goes unsaid in listing his many achievements is how strongly he feels about the need to inculcate moral courage and positive, active social engagement in our citizens. Knowledge, or intelligence, is not merely a passive process of taking in what swirls around you—for Mugo, it is an energetic, active process of perpetual finding-out, aggressive seeking of new skills, new understanding, new perspectives, new possibilities, new futures. He is a man in a hurry, to excel, and to find and to promote excellence in all he does. He is GenerationKenya to the core—he will know how to identify other Kenyans with his type of mind.

Mugo Kibati, GenerationKenya Juror. Forward Into Excellence

Editors note: Mugo Kibati resigned as group CEO of East African Cables in June 2008.

Position Filled. Generation Kenya Internship

Update: This position is now filled. Thank you for your interest.

Praise Poem – Stephen Derwent Partington

We praise the man who,
though he held the match between
his finger and his thumb,
beheld the terror of its tiny drop of phosphorous,
its brown and globoid smoothness
like a charred and tiny skull
and so returned it to its box.

So too, we hail the youth who,
though he took his panga on the march,
perceived it odd within his fist
when there was neither scrub
nor firewood to be felled,
so laid it down.

An acclamation for the man who,
though he saw the woman running, clothing torn,
and though he lusted,
saw his mother in her youth,
restrained his colleagues
and withdrew.

We pay our homage to the man who,
though his heart was like a stone
and though he took a stone to cast,
could feel its hardness in the softness of his palm
and grasped the brittleness of bone,
so let it drop.

We laud the man who,
though he snatched to scrutinise
the passenger’s I.D.,
saw not the name – instead, the face –
and slid it back
as any friend might slide his hand to shake a friend’s.

And to the rest of us,
a blessing:
may you never have to be that man,
but if you have to,
BE!

Praise Peom was written in Kenya, January 2008. Stephen Derwent Partington is a teacher in Kenya, and a poet. He lives and works just outside Machakos and is a member of Concerned Kenyan Writers. A collection of poems, SMS & Face to Face, was published by Phoenix, Kenya. Stephen is the Exhibitions Consultant for Generation Kenya.

Painting With Light: Capturing The Faces Of Post-Independence Kenya

Photography is an intimate art. At some level, photographers must capture the souls of their subjects on film. This often requires a level of empathy and intuition besides a love of the art itself.

From 1963 till his death in 1989, my father, Kulwant Singh Warah, popularly known as Mr. Singh of Studio One, was one of the most popular photographers in Kenya. Portraits had become a craze during this time and every home had a special wall dedicated to family photos – of weddings, graduations and all the other important events that marked Kenyan lives. My father was often there to capture these moments. He was also known as the photographer most popular with Kenya’s political elite; almost every politician has been captured by him on film.

Here are some of the faces of both well-known and ordinary Kenyans my father painted with his camera. To me, they tell a story that could not be possibly be described in words.