Post-election Violence; lest we forget.

This time of year takes me two years back in 2007 when post-election violence broke out in Kenya. Human beings stopped thinking and allowed themselves to be brainwashed by politicians. We thought we were fighting for change, and for what we believed in while in essence, we were fighting for the interests of a few politicians.

28th December 2007 (Friday)

We had voted the previous day (Dec 27th – Thursday) and on this day, all news stations in Kenya were broadcasting nothing else but the in coming results as they were being received from all polling stations across the country. I was by now 42 weeks pregnant, exhausted like crazy with not much energy to do anything but sit in front of the TV screen and follow the tallying of the votes. ODM was clinching most of the seats in the constituencies that were its stronghold. I was impressed by the zeal to vote shown by Kenyan’s this time round as most polling stations reported record-breaking voting numbers despite the rains and the chilly weather.

Even more impressive was the way the power of the vote was demonstrated as the results streamed in to the TV and Radio stations, and to our living rooms. Diehard politicians who had been in parliament for what seemed like forever were losing dismally as new politicians dominated the ballot boxes. Former Kimilili MP Mukhisa Kituyi and former president Daniel Moi’s son, Gideon, were among those doing poorly at the time of vote counting. I was happy to see that Stanley Livondo aka “Mr. Moneybags”, who was Raila’s opponent for Langata Constituency’s seat, had made no impact in spite of dishing out money and wowing the masses with his hummer.

I remember reading the following caption quoting Livondo’s hilarious accent at the height of his ‘popularity’ when he was declaring his candidacy; “I Sdanley Lifondo teclare here totay my inderest in te seat for te memper of barliamend for Kipera. I plech to remufu one Raila Otinka from his currendi stanting as MB in tis gonstichuensy,” piped Livondo. (I, Stanley Livondo, declare here today my interest in the seat for the Member of Parliament for Kibera. I pledge to remove one Raila Odinga from his current standing as MP in this Constituency).
Members of the Press had to remind Mr. Livondo that the constituency is called Langata, and not Kibera. I thank God that Kenyans did not take him seriously.

That evening, the results took an unexpected turn. Whereas ODM had been leading and PNU was lagging far behind, the gap between them started to narrow as PNU accumulated more votes in their favour. By the time I went to sleep at around midnight, PNU was slowly and surely catching up with ODM at an alarming rate. I had a bad feeling that something was not right, what had just happened?

Dec 29th 2007 (Saturday)

I woke up at 2.30 am to sharp abdominal pains. On any normal night, I would be confused and worried that something was wrong. But not on this night. I had read about the onset of this pain for weeks on end. I had asked experienced mothers all about it, had googled all websites to gather all the information I needed on what to do when this pains begin. I had hoped and waited for this pain to come sooner if only to be able to see my toes again. So at 2.30am on December 29th, 2007 my labour pains began. Little did I know that a few hours from then, Kenya would also go through so much pain for a couple of weeks.

At the hospital, I laboured for the rest of the early morning. The nurses on duty were following the vote tallying religiously in between checking up on me and other patients. At this point, I did not care much about politics. As I writhed and screamed at every bout of pain that was coming at intermittent intervals, the agony on the nurse’s face did not go unnoticed. In between the bouts, I learnt that she was worried for her children who were to go to town; she intimated to her colleague that she was unable to get through to her husband’s phone. Network issues! By that time, I gathered, the city of Nairobi was a no go zone for anyone who valued their life. Nairobi was up in arms and flames. And so was Kisumu, Eldoret; Kenya as a whole.

As a result, the Doctor on duty could not show up. He was unable to travel since the roads were impassable. Most Kenyans chose to stay indoors while those on the streets battled it out with the police; many of them lost their lives.
We could only hope for no complications during delivery.

It happened at 11.30 am. My labour bore fruit and our baby was born safely. I try not to imagine everything that could have gone wrong and I cringe at how politicians can really mess up our lives with their selfishness. Had I needed a C-section, no doctor would have been there to perform the operation. I depended entirely on the grace of God and a nurse who was worried sick about her family.

When I managed to get out of hospital, it was to lock myself up in the house for days with our family as no one dared to go anywhere. Basic commodities now became a luxury. Shops were destroyed and property worth millions was lost as people killed each other for days. Machetes were being wielded all over the city and in all these, tribe influenced survival. A neighbour you previously shared everything with now became an enemy simply because a politician said so. Roads were blocked by rowdy youth who insisted on seeing every Kenyan’s ID so as to know which tribe each person belonged to. Woe unto you if you belonged to the ‘wrong’ tribe. Bodies were strewn by the roadside, others on burnt vehicles, while others were murdered in their own homes. For days on end, Kenya self-destructed as weapons went up and people slaughtered each other like animals.

It was a sad period for Kenya.

I welcomed my child to a chaotic world. I had just received a bundle of joy but what was I supposed to feel? What kind of a world was I bringing her into? I sat for days watching the news while my little one slept through the chaos. When she cried it was because she was hungry or needed a change but never because of the massacre Kenya was going through. Blissful ignorance! We made phone calls to our relatives and friends every other day and sighed with relief when they confirmed that they were still alive. But for how long? This was one emotional muddle for all Kenyans.

If this happens again after the elections in 2012, more men, women and children in Kenya risk losing their lives. Help me understand what can justify the death of an innocent human being, some of them who have no idea what politics is all about, just to appease an individual’s political ambitions! Who knows if any of us will be lucky survivors the next time?

We have been used by our politicians every single time they need to fulfill their political mileage. What happened between December 2007 and February 2008 should never happen again; if not for our own sake, for the sake of our children. For all that is sacred, such atrocities should not happen again.
It should never happen again!