Post-Crisis Reconciliation

As many of you have heard, the two opposing political parties in Kenya have agreed to a plan for reconciliation and power sharing. While getting to that point was a protracted battle, now comes the really hard part of agreeing to the specifics of sharing power between bitter rivals who have each other’s blood on their hands. But, at least the country has come back from the precipice of disaster, with most of the tribal fighting having stopped. Much of the credit for getting this far goes to Kofi Annan’s persistent diplomacy and some subtle but clear threats from the US and other donor countries. After initially (and unfortunately) siding with the incumbent party, the US came to its senses and actually played a constructive role, which included some serious arm twisting by Condi Rice.

So now the country is calm and hopeful, but still bitterly divided. One of the saddest, and perhaps most dangerous, aspects of the crisis is the massive internal migration that occurred on the basis of tribe. Areas that were once ethnically-mixed have become homogenized. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the areas where they have lived their entire lives to resettle in their ancestral tribal homelands. That is, if they are not still stuck in an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp. The picture above is of an IDP camp near Lake Naivasha, which is a couple of hours from Nairobi.

The coming months will determine Kenya’s path for the foreseeable future. More squabbling and disagreement could lead the talks to break down and ensure an extremely tumultuous way forward. On the other hand, a lasting political settlement could actually strengthen the country’s democracy and provide an increasingly prosperous and hopeful future. The hardworking Kenyan people deserve leaders that can see past their own interests and put the best interests of the country first. Of course, this is a very hard thing to do when you’re one of the highest paid and most corrupt governments in the world.