DEBATE: Auditing the peace efforts in Kenya's Rift Valley
Kenya goes to elections again in about a year’s time, but already concerns are being raised that there could be a repeat of 2007/2008 when a disputed presidential election left more than 1,000 dead and over 600,000 homeless.
The savage bloodletting was only stopped when the international community got involved, resulting in President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga sharing power in a coalition government.
Some leaders have warned that political tension persists in Rift Valley, the region which bore the brunt of Kenya’s post election violence in 2008. Bishop Cornelius Korir cited the fact that some people have chosen not to spend the nights in their homes because of the tension.
President Kibaki’s advisor on ethnic relations, Raphael Tuju, has blamed joblessness amongst the youth and the failure of the Kazi kwa Vijana programme as providing tribal lords with idle youth to recruit into their armies.
Are you in the Rift Valley? Do you have friends or relatives in the Rift Valley? What evidence of this tension can you share? Are any peace building efforts by Government or leaders visible on the ground? Please share by commenting below:
