Kenya: Options as Death Toll Climbs
January 7, 2008
More people died in Kenya's post-election violence than first thought. A government official says nearly 500 people have been killed in the past week or so. And the violence has left more than a quarter of a million people homeless.
It is for this reason that opposition leader Raila Odinga canceled planned rallies, afraid to trigger another mass bloodletting. Odinga says he wants to give mediation a chance in the wake of Kenya's disputed elections. Sounds like a good idea.
Here's how I see it, Odinga has two choices:
1. Odinga could push for more protests. Make this a "revolution" won in the streets. It would be a bloody conflict that would surely leave many thousands dead. Unfortunately, this seems to be one of the only truly "effective" methods for bringing about change in some countries. This option however would completely disrupt all relief work done in the country. Kenya is also the home base for bringing relief to many of its neighbors as well. An all out civil war would effect not just Kenya, but relief work for all of the Horn of Africa.
2. Odinga could "play along" with Kibaki's offer of a diplomatic solution, possibly form a coalition government. However, Odinga says that's an offer Kibaki has no business making. Until the election results are settled and there's a clear winner, I just don't see how a coalition could be formed. It does seem as though Odinga is choosing this route though. In choosing to cancel the rallies, he is saying "give diplomacy a chance." This will make for a longer peace process, but the infrastructure of the country would remain mostly intact...to say nothing of the lives that would be saved.
But what solution is there for the sense of hopelessness that seems so pervasive in Kenya at the moment? One person I spoke with over the weekend who lives in Nairobi put it like this..."the people finally had hope for change and now that hope is gone."
The Bible says in Proverbs 13:12 that "hope deferred makes the heart sick." Another translation of the verse says, "when hope is crushed, the heart is crushed."
I heard on National Public Radio on Sunday morning that many Kenyans were heading to church to pray for peace. Certainly that is a beginning for curing the sense of hopelessness.
Here's the good news, the rest of Proverbs 13:12 says, "a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Please join with the Kenyans praying for Divine intervention to peacefully bring about change.
I'd like to know what you think about what's happening in Kenya. Please e-mail me your thoughts.
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