Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “Kenya is now faced with the same dilemma that other countries face after a violent political confrontation: how to maintain peace, which has finally been reached after a long struggle, with the demands of truth and justice, bringing out in the open the responsibility of those who have been involved in the conflicts,” Agenzia Fides was told by a source from the local Church in Nairobi, following the presentation of the investigatory commission's report on the post-electoral violence. The Commission, which is presided by Judge Philip Waki, is leading the investigation to determine those responsible for the wave of violence that broke out following presidential elections on December 27, 2007, won by incumbent Mwai Kibaki and challenged by opposition leader, Raila Odinga. For two months, various areas of the country were marked by chaos from fighting that broke out between rival groups. The Waki Commission has affirmed that the violence, far from being a random chain of events, was organized and that the security servicemen (who had alerted the government of the possible outbreak of violence) were negligent in responding to the situation. The crisis was finally overcome thanks to mediation efforts from former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who managed to reach an accord declaring that Kibaki would remain President and Odinga would become Premier.
The accord called for the formation of the Waki Commission, which this past week issued its report to the President, the Prime Minister, and to Kofi Annan. Annan was also issued a sealed envelope with the names of the instigators and financiers of the violent groups. “These names are known to the newspaper editors and the other mass media, because a preliminary copy was leaked to the press, with the warning not to reveal the names of those accused of the violence,” Fides' source explained. And now the debate begins: amnesty for the guilty, or let justice take its course? President Kibaki has made it clear that he prefers amnesty. Odinga has said that those responsible should pay the consequences of their actions and that the victims should be compensated. Annan affirms that justice should take its course, and that if local magistrates do not intervene, the case will pass to the International Crime Court in the Hague.
“The debate is all part of a political game: neither of the two parties is completely right, because both sides hold responsibility for the violence,” Fides' source said. “The people are afraid that another crisis will break out, and none of them want to relive the tremendous events of January and February. It is certainly a good thing that the politicians are speaking to one another, because it is only thanks to an accord between the President and the Prime Minister that the bomb that was at the point of turning back the clock for Kenya, was detenated.”
“I think that a good example for Kenya would be the Truth and Reconciliation Committee instituted in South Africa immediately following the end of Apartheid, to shed light not only on the responsibility of the racist regime, but also on the liberation movement and on all those who held a role in the war in South Africa,” our source concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 21/10/2008)
