Roundup: Kenya yet to fully reconcile after 2008 post election polls - NCIC
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E-mail Xinhua, February 15, 2013
Kenya is yet to achieve full reconciliation five years after the end of the 2008 post-election violence even as the east African nation gears for the first elections under the new constitutional dispensation.
National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia told journalists in Nairobi that several private and government bodies have undertaken reconciliation efforts but is yet to reach the critical mass required to bring Kenyans together.
"I am hoping that whoever becomes the next president will lead reconciliation and justice efforts to all the victims of the post elections violence," Kibunjia said during the launch of a peace building and conflict management book in Nairobi on Wednesday evening.
The book was jointly authored by Kenyan and German university students under the leadership of Dr Johannes Michael Nebe of the University of Trier in Germany.
The aim of the book was to study the civil conflict management of the post election violence of 2008 as well as to document lessons learnt.
Kibunjia cautioned Kenyans against burying their heads in the sand instead of confronting critical issues head on as it could come and haunt them in the future.
"We should use this time as an opportunity to solve national problems so that the country can move forward," he said. The chairman said that after the elections, Kenyans will begin crafting a new nation almost 50 years after it achieved independence.
"All Kenyans should take a seat in the vehicle that will solve the issues that have bedeviled Kenya since independence as it is not the sole responsibility of state or the commissions created by the constitution," he said.
"So, when you hear politicians inciting Kenyans don't ask where the NCIC is but censure them," he urged the public.
Kenya plunged into the brink of civil war after the disputed elections late in 2007 led to weeks of protracted violence that uprooted 600,000 people from their homes and left 1,300 people dead. A national healing process is underway in the East African nation.
The March 4 elections come amid far reaching institutional reforms that have seen new officers take oath of office after an elaborate appointing procedure.
The elections are planned for the President, members of the newly created Senate, Parliament, governors for 47 county governments, members of the regional Parliaments and representatives of youth and women.
Analysts say the 2007 and 2008 experience was a reminder of the significance of building strong institutions of governance.
Both President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga played a crucial role in ending the 2007/2008 post election violence by negotiating the formation of the Grand Coalition Government.
Analysts say the new law also marked the most significant milestone in the implementation of the reform agenda of the coalition government, which both partners had committed themselves to when the National Accord was signed in early 2008.
The new constitution was created as a tool to avoid a repeat of the violence that was also blamed on the lack of a transparent political structure and credible state institutions, including the courts.
The NCIC said that out of the eight presidential candidates garnering for the top post only one will emerge as the winner and urged Kenyans to observe peace after the declaration of the results.
"In order to ensure that Kenya is peaceful and united after the polls, the losers must embrace and support the winner," Kibunjia said and urged the voters to also respect the outcome of the polls.
"It may happen that your candidate does not win but I appeal to Kenyans to work with the new leaders and not go to the streets," he said.
The country's electoral body has stressed that the March polls have generated unprecedented interest locally and abroad as the country transition to a new political order.
Experts have also shared similar sentiments and warned that electoral malpractices are major cause of civil disruptions in Africa.
The NCIC has trained over 100 monitors to oversee the cohesion status in the country during and after the March 4 elections will help bring harmony amongst Kenyans.
This is in a bid to facilitate cohesion and integration in hotspot areas so as to maintain peaceful co-existence threatened by the ongoing competitive electoral process.
Kibunjia said that the monitors are drawn from all the 47 counties and will help to detect any form of discrimination and incitement.
He also emphasized that Kenyans must accept the rich ethnic diversity in the country. "If you imagine that you will wake up one day and find only members of your tribe in Kenya then you will be disappointed and so I appeal to everyone to embrace each other irrespective of their tribal origins," he said.
Kibunjia called on the youth to desist from being used by politicians to cause violence during the electoral process.
"The natural thing to do is to choose only leaders who stand for peace so that an enabling environment for creating employment opportunities is established," he said.
"Instead of banishing politicians we must ask if Kenya has the right values," he said, adding that government has taken steps to avoid a repeat of electoral violence as the public now has the opportunity to report incidences that could affect peace. Endi
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