election | Diakonia bloggar

Waking up in a peaceful Kenya

2013-03-12 av Julle Bergenholtz 1 Comment

Purity Kagendo is excited about how peaceful the election has been up to this point, but she still worries that the representation of women remains low in decision making processes in Kenya. Photo: Markus Marcetic

We continue our blog marathon about the Kenyan election with entry numer four, from Purity Kagendo, program officer at Diakonia’s regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. In this entry, she expresses her reaction to the results of the election, and the peaceful manner in which it has been conducted.

It’s about 7:00 AM on a Sunday morning and I can’t wait to tell the world that I slept and woke up in a peaceful African country that just released the final results of a general election. I am very excited, and I am very proud to be Kenyan this morning; not because my presidential candidate won, and not because our electoral body was fault free (though they did their best and have learnt lots of lessons for the future), but because of the peace and patience demonstrated by my fellow countrymen.

I salute each and every Kenyan for this, the Kenya Police for being a ‘service’ and not a ‘force’, the local media for focusing the nation to peace and managing politicians, the religious fraternity for their prayers and call for peace and friends of Kenya who crossed their fingers for us in those tense moments. Asanteni sana! I am also very proud of our partner organizations in the Kenya Country Program who worked tirelessly to contribute to this peace in various parts of the country. These are great people changing the world.

Although the results have been declared, the election is not yet fully over since one of the presidential candidates is discontent with the results and will be moving to court. This makes me quite happy since every Kenyan has an opportunity to exercise their constitutional right and more so, we are confirming the existence of a strong judicial system that we have faith in. This is very different from the past where we did not have faith in our institutions, making it easy to settle it in other ways, most often with violence. But now, we can go back to work and build this nation in a peaceful way!

What makes me alittle bit sad in this joyous moment is when I reflect on the International Women’s Day that was commemorated on Friday the 8th of March. We are yet to analyse the representation of women as a result of the election, but as I have been scheming through the numbers, they are not as encouraging as I expected and hoped for. But then I remember what Mama Africa (Miriam Makeba) sang, ‘aluta continua’, meaning we will continue. And that is really appropriate for this situation; we will continue with the struggle to have gender equality in decision making positions.

Purity Kagendo
Nairobi

The election in Kenya: Counting the days and hours

2013-03-01 av Julle Bergenholtz Leave a Comment

We have now reached the third entry in Diakonia’s blog marathon about the elections in Kenya. Today, 3 days before the election, Purity Kagendo from Diakonia’s regional office in Africa writes her thoughts about the election process, and lifts the important work that several of Diakonia’s partner organizations in Kenya is conducting for a just election process.

Purity Kagendo is a program officer at Diakonia’s regional office in Africa, based in Nairobi. She is excited and hopeful for the Kenyan presidential election on the 4th of March. Photo: Markus Marcetic

Here in Kenya, things are good. The topic on everyone’s mind right now is the election on the 4th of March, and I am right now counting down the days and hours to the elections. The context is developing very fast and in my view, there might be a peaceful time ahead on the 4th March and thereafter as well!

On Monday the 25th of February, we had our second presidential debate with all the 8 candidates and it was fun seeing them being ”grilled” and sweating out explanations on their past corruption scandals. That was a great thing to watch, and I’m really happy that it happened. The fact that the presidential candidates have shared a podium for three times is a strong indication for a fair election, and a bold statement to the citizens regarding the need to maintain peace during this time.

Our partners organizations have also done some fantastic work around the elections. One of them, The Legal Resources Foundation, successfully filed a petition regarding the right for prisoners to participate in the elections. A ruling has been made but the elections body (IEBC) is yet to comply. Still, our partner organization is pushing very hard for their cause, bravely challenging the system. We at the Diakonia office support them completely, and we really hope that their lobbying will be fruitful.

Another partner organization, FIDA, has lobbied for the lowering of registration fees for female candidates, which has been halved by the political parties. FIDA will also launch an interactive portal on their website that will allow women to report Gender Based Violence cases during this elections. These are very interesting developments, and I definetely see this as an improvement compared to the last election. When the election is over, we will hopefully be able to share the outcome of this, and several other highlights and success stories that our partner organizations have been a part of with regards to the election.

Right now, I love what’s going on in my country. In fact, I have never been more politically alert as I currently am, and as actually most Kenyans are. Even my 4 year old son can identify 4 of the 8 presidential candidates, and I think that says a lot!

We really are hoping for the best on Monday the 4th and the days after. My personal wish is that we get a clean win in the first round so we won’t have to go through a second election round. If that happens, it will just create unnecessary tensions and the probability of violence will surely go up. Still, I pray and hope for the best; this election will be different.

Purity Kagendo
Nairobi

BAFOPE: Why history must not repeat itself

2013-02-15 av Julle Bergenholtz Leave a Comment

Collins Ongwen is the head of Diakonia’s partner organization BAFOPE, and one of the many people that actively for a peaceful election in Kenya this Spring. Photo: Markus Marcetic

During the upcoming weeks, the Diakonia blog will feature blog entries related to the Kenyan election the 4th of March. The first entry is written by Collins Ongwen from Diakonia’s partner organization BAFOPE (Baghdad for Peace). BAFOPE’s main purpose is to promote justice, peace and sustainable development through capacity building, advocacy, leadership and youth mentorship.

Right now, Kenya is perparing for historic elections on the 4th of March, and the expectations and anxiety levels of the people are high. The elections of 2007 lead to the loss of over 1100 lives, massive destruction of property worth millions of Dollars, and serious polarization of a once united country. No one wants that to happen again, and that is why BAFOPE is right now working around the clock to make sure that it won’t.

With only 22 days to elections, the official campaigns have started. Kisumu, where BAFOPE operates, is considered a political hotspot and the community around Kisumu is enthusiastic about the election and hoping for the best for the local candidate Raila Odinga that represents the CORD coalition. Everybody in Kisumu is confident that the CORD coalition will win the elections.

My worry is that the people of Kisumu are too confident. Right now, there are no major worries in the city, but if the Kisumu candidate would lose the election, it is highly likely that it will be difficult for the people to accept the defeat. This will particularly be the case if the candidate loses against Uhuru Kenyatta, who has been put in front of the International Criminal Court for his crimes in the violent aftermath of the last election. Kenyatta’s candidacy is therefore a major factor in the election, and if he and his running mate end up winning, it will definetely increase the risk of violence and deaths related to the election.

People might wonder if it matters who will win the election. And I can assure you, it absolutely matters. If the ICC suspect wins, Kenya might not only be facing chaos after the election. We might also be facing international sanctions, and our country may become ungovernable. The image of Kenya will be tainted and it is my personal belief that the people of Kenya may not be content with such a government.

Bafope engages and encourages young people to participate in the mission of securing a peaceful election in Kenya. Photo: Evans Otieno

It is very important to prepare the youth who are the main perpetrators of violence for a peaceful and credible transition to avoid a repeat of the violence from the last election. Kenya is currently divided on tribal lines and it is only if the elections are free, fair and credible, that Kenyans will remain peaceful and united. With all this in mind, Bafope and several other organizations will do our best to ensure that the 2013 election will be remembered as an election of peace.

Collins Ongwen, BAFOPE

Waking up in a peaceful Kenya

The election in Kenya: Counting the days and hours

BAFOPE: Why history must not repeat itself

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