On Kenya: Let the Healing Process Begin

We have a deal!

With those words, Kofi Annan announced recently that Kenya’s leaders had agreed to share power in a coalition government. I was on my way back from Embu when the radio DJ interrupted Rihanna’s “Umbrella” - a favorite here - to announce the news. My taxi driver, Samuel, pulled over and gave me a big hug and we both got choked up. “At last,” he said with a huge grin. After weeks of anxiously watching violence and then negotiations, celebration erupted in the streets and bars of Nairobi and Kisumu.

Spirits are generally high at the moment, though not everyone is celebrating yet. I sent my friend Alex an IM: “Good news?” “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he replied. The 2-page document signed by Kibaki and Odinga is big on symbolism, but not on details of the way forward. It remains to be seen if the two men, who ran on very different platforms, will be able to agree on anything. And as a colleague pointed out: “What makes you think Kibaki will follow through this time?” (Kibaki backed out on a power-sharing agreement with Odinga in 2002.)

It has been a shocking 2 1/2 months for Kenya, and there is a long road ahead. Hundreds of displaced people have to return home to areas that have become highly segregated. A colleague in Kibera describes that many non-Luo left the slum. In Nakuru in the Rift Valley I was told the opposite — Kikuyus have driven other tribes out in retaliation for events in western Kenya, where Kikuyus were attacked first.

This return home requires dialogue and trust-building in areas where people are angry and scared. Tensions over land remain particularly high in the Rift Valley, where Kikuyus were given land by Kenya’s first post-independence president, Jomo Kenyatta, leaving Kalenjins and Luos resentful.

Healing these divides will take time, and tangible action to resolve the issues that lead to violence in the first place: a complex mix of poverty, inequality, ethnicity, land disputes, and politics. There must be processes of justice, truth, and reconciliation – with leadership from the top, and participation from the entire country. I’m still trying to understand my own place in all of this.

But the ‘deal’ the first step and we’re all enjoying the first piece of good news in a while, and the fact that life is slowly getting back to normal. Uhuru Park in city center re-opened, the Sunday Masai Craft Market was full of shoppers again, and traffic is as bad as ever. At my Tae Bo class (think Jane Fonda meets Jackie Chan) everyone greeted each other: “Happy New Year!” Parliament re-opened for the first time.

I have been able to continue with my plans at work and have traveled to Kibera, Nakuru and Embu in the past few weeks. The impact in each place is different, though it is consistently the lowest-income communities who have been hardest hit. In Kibera, a little three year old named Meshah sums up the tragedy of the past 2 months. I spent an afternoon with him at Wema Clinic; he didn’t leave his dad’s side because he is afraid of “guduki” – gunshots - a word all the kids know now.

Many people have asked me if the Acumen Fund model can work during a time like this. The challenges are obvious: disruptions to supply chains, distribution channels, and customer incomes mean that it remains difficult to make deliveries and keep businesses stocked, and people have greater difficulty paying for services. On the other hand, people who I meet through work represent some of the reasons why I am confident that Kenya will emerge from this a stronger country. Nurses like Millicent and Dorah have been through hell since the election, yet remain determined to keep their businesses open, and did throughout the conflict. Some of that is a result of their personal strength, but some of that is their business sense — they are highly aware of the fact that any day they close means loss of business and loss of the confidence and loyalty of their customers. As Dorah told me: “The government clinics were open on and off. It doesn’t matter to them; they are not answerable to anyone. Me? I’m answerable to myself and my customers.” As an organization, we need to figure out how to make sure that these entrepreneurs – who are committed to building peace within their communities and proud of their communities and country - don’t bear the burden of recent struggles alone.

I’m sure the news from Kenya will fade out at home now, but please keep watching – it’s more important now than ever. As Annan said, shortly after announcing the deal, “Now we are just beginning.”