{"id":3270,"date":"2022-06-26T05:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T05:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=3270"},"modified":"2022-08-18T05:21:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T05:21:57","slug":"tribal-tensions-challenge-christian-unity-during-kenyan-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=3270","title":{"rendered":"Tribal Tensions Challenge Christian Unity During Kenyan Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Dr. Robert Carle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a history of bloody elections, Kenyans are praying for a peaceful one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands gathered in tents in the center of Eldoret, Kenya, to hold an all-night prayer meeting, known as a \u201ccaravan,\u201d to foster a calm voting season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General elections are scheduled for August 9. Voters will elect the president, members of the National Assembly and Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a movement of repentance and dedication of our land to the Lord,\u201d said Margaret Kimani, treasurer of the Eldoret Gospel Ministries Association, which hosts the ecumenical prayer meeting. She said the caravan takes place in every county in the country. \u201cWe have had lots of wars and bloodshed. Our message to politicians is: Don\u2019t be an influence to fight and shed blood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret and her husband, Matthew, are ethnic Kikuyus. They had to flee Eldoret, the largest city in the Rift Valley, when it dissolved into Kalenjin violence against their Kikuyu neighbors following the 2007 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHatred found an opportunity to kill, burn houses and destroy property,\u201d said Peter Simwa, chair of the Gospel Ministries Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memories of the violence that followed the 2007 election haunt the religious leaders of this region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2007, opinion polls showed that opposition candidate Raila Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe, had a comfortable lead over incumbent president Mwai Kibaki, who is Kikuyu. Still, the final vote tally showed that Kibaki had won the election by a narrow margin. International election observers reported widespread manipulation in vote counting and declared the election was illegitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifteen minutes after Kibaki declared victory, ethnic-based violence erupted in many parts of Kenya. At least 1,300 people were killed, and 600,000 people were driven from their homes. The Rift Valley was the epicenter of some of the worst violence. Kalenjin youth traveled around in trucks, evicting hundreds of thousands of so-called Kalenjin foreigners, most of whom had lived in the Rift Valley for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Kikuyu sought protection in an Assemblies of God church in Eldoret,<\/a> Kalenjin youth barricaded the door of the church from outside and set the church on fire, killing 30 women, children and elderly people. Most Kikuyus in the Rift Valley ended up fleeing their homes and settling elsewhere in the country. In other parts of Kenya, Kikuyu youth committed atrocities against Luo and Kalenjin residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lake town of Nakuru, a Kikuyu criminal organization circumcised Luo men<\/a> before beheading them. The bloodshed destroyed Kenya\u2019s image as a peaceful, stable African country. Tourism and foreign investment came to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simwa said the church was crucial in bringing peace back to the Rift Valley in the wake of the election violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the killing was going on, we stood our ground,\u201d Simwa said. \u201cWe were doing peace brigades. We were telling people they should not fight. Healing did not begin with politicians. Healing began with grassroots repentance and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis time,\u201d Simwa said, \u201cWe are being proactive rather than reactive. We are praying before, not after, the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the lead up to the 2007 elections, church leaders erred in dividing sharply along partisan political lines,\u201d said Gideon Mudenyo, general secretary of the association. \u201cThis blunted the ability to be a force for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time around, denominational leaders are remaining politically neutral in their public statements.\u00a0This empowers the church to be a force for civility and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want all politicians to know that we pray for them,\u201d Kimani said. \u201cIn case of disputes, we are in the middle. We can be mediators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this year\u2019s election, class is emerging as a factor along with ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raila Odinga has the support of President Uhuru Kenyata, and William Ruto, a Kalenjin, is running a populist campaign that defines him as a representative of the downtrodden working poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruto claims to represent the interests of \u201chustlers\u201d \u2014 Kenya\u2019s vast hardworking underclass \u2014 and not the interests of the \u201cdynasties,\u201d like the Kenyattas and Odingas. In Ruto\u2019s narrative, the dynasties have created a corrupt, manipulative \u201cdeep state\u201d that serves the interests of oligarchs and must be dismantled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, polls show Ruto and Raila in a dead heat, and the Eldoret Gospel Ministers Association expects the election outcome will be ambiguous. \u201cWe already know that somebody will say there was cheating and rigging. But they should pursue challenges through peaceful, not violent means,\u201d Simwa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One resource that Kenya has in 2022 that it did not have in 2007 is an independent judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simwa described Kenya\u2019s Chief Justice Martha Koome as a \u201ccourageous and godly woman who does not have a heart of corruption.\u201d Koome enjoys bipartisan respect in Kenya. During her tenure, she has been as likely to rule against the government as to rule in its favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is one reason things are changing for the better in Kenya,\u201d Kimanai said. \u201cWomen are assuming positions of power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, the Supreme Court had little credibility because it was perceived as a tool of the government. \u201cNot anymore,\u201d Simwa said. \u201cIf there are election irregularities, the Supreme Court will issue a ruling on them, and Kenyans will respect the ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter this year\u2019s election, some of us will be happy; some of us will be disgruntled. But we don\u2019t have to fight our brothers and sisters because of the election.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The church is in a unique position to be an agent of healing and reconciliation. In Kenya, churches are a mix of ethnicities. Church services are rarely held in tribal languages. Instead, churches conduct services in a mixture of Kiswahili and English, sometimes peppered with phrases from Sheng, Kenya\u2019s hip new urban language. Churches are a melting pot \u2014 ethnicities are blurred, and Christian identity transcends ethnic identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKenya is bigger than politicians,\u201d Mudenyo said. \u201cBut God is bigger than Kenya.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the author: Robert Carle is a professor at The King\u2019s College in Manhattan. Dr. Carle has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, The American Interest, Religion Unplugged, Newsday, Society, Human Rights Review, The Public Discourse, Academic Questions and Reason. Carle is reporting from Eldoret, Kenya.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Produced in association with\u00a0<\/em>Religion Unplugged<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Published without changes from Zenger News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Robert Carle With a history of bloody elections, Kenyans are praying for a peaceful one. Thousands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[104,109,108],"class_list":["post-3270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-express","tag-africa","tag-election","tag-kenya"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3272,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270\/revisions\/3272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}