Since December 27th, events have been moving so fast and the situation in Kenya also changing at an alarming speed. I have hardly had time to examine the situation among Kenyans in Stockholm which has also been changing with equal speed.
Prayers continue to be held by different denominations, a demonstration has been held outside the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm, new organizations have been formed, hate SMSes have been circulated by supporters of Mr. Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan bloggers have written and linked up different stories about post election violence, representatives of groups have appeared on Swedish National TV stations to explain the crisis in Kenya, debates on telephone have escalated while Vasa, the Kenyan drinking hole, has been the centre of hot gossip, rumours and dirty propaganda from both sides.
From Reports so far filed by KSB agents in the field, there are three major camps that have emerged in Stockholm. The first one is the camp that believes that the Presidential vote was rigged in favour of Kibaki. Then there is the group that believes that Kibaki won the vote while the third group (dominated by men and women of religion) believes that it doesn’t matter who won or who rigged elections because Kenyans are dying in large numbers and something needs to be done.
The taking of the above positions have led to the creation of two organizations seen to be diametrically opposed to one another. The first group to be formed is called “United for Humanitarian Cause for Kenya” (UHCK). The group has stated in its propaganda that it is purely a humanitarian group and has nothing to do with politics. However, it is headed by Mr. Githuku wa Muirani, the leader of “Kibaki Tena” lobby group which campaigned for Kibaki.
Another top pro-Kibaki personality which sits in the Committee is Mr. Daniel Mwaura, the Chairperson of Narc-Kenya Scandinavia who has been styling himself as a “Kibaki Damu” politician and circulating mountains of anti-Raila emails to contacts in Stockholm. Another key pro-Kibaki personality in the group is Mr. Bryan Njoroge aka Njoro who works with Muirani in the Kibaki Tena Lobby group. Mr. Njoro also runs a pro-Kibaki blog which has become a platform for Raila bashing at every opportunity.
Both Muirani and Njoro have had serious political differences with Mwaura in Narc Kenya, differences which led to their suspension and expulsion from Narc-Kenya soon after they allegedly masterminded an abortive coup attempt against Mr. Mwaura. In the run up to the Kenya elections, Muirani reportedly converted to Christianity, made peace with Mwaura and called for peace and reconciliation among Wakenya in Stockholm. Many Kenyans viewed Muirani’s change of tact as an act of courage because the move (together with his reconciliatory public utterances) amounted to repentance of sins in readiness for a new order.
TWO ORGANIZATIONS SET UP AFTER ELECTION RIGGING
The installation of Kibaki as President has brought together previously warring factions within the Kikuyu community. What has puzzled observers is that despite his conversion to Christianity, Muirani has continued to publish lethal and anti-Raila ramblings which, in the eyes of Raila’s supporters, mean that his newly found Christian affiliations may be a cover up for the sake of making peace with his political enemies within Narc-Kenya and members of the wider Kikuyu community he might have wronged in the past. Muirani is an expert when it comes to manipulating the political emotions of the Kikuyu community in Stockholm and at the moment, what is selling is that members of the “House of Mumbi” are in power “Wapende Wasipende”.
Almost a week after UHCK was formed, the “Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in Kenya (MOREDEK)”, was also set up. Incidentally, MOREDEK did not know about the formation of UHCK at the time the initiative takers sent a message through KSB to attend its inaugural meeting held on Sunday last week. Unlike UHCK which has limited its mandate to humanitarian issues, personalities behind MOREDEK believe that the crisis in Kenya has deep political roots which cannot be ignored.
The agenda of MOREDEK is both political and humanitarian. The Movement has a Committee of seven with myself (also ODM-Scandinavia Secretary) being the Chair. Beryl Otumba, the Secretary, views herself as a Kenyan concerned with the deteriorating democratic and Human Rights situation in Kenya. She has no political affiliations. Other Interim Committee members hail from Uganda, Sudan and Sweden.
An interesting aspect of the emerging organizational arrangement in Stockholm is that Mr. Samson Mande, a Ugandan and worker with the International red Cross, sits in both the MOREDEK committee and the UHCK Committee where he is the Vice secretary.
The permanent position of MOREDEK is that Presidential election in Kenya was rigged and this position is significant because it might define the future relationship between MOREDEK and UHCK in the future. Another key position of MOREDEK is that it is not a pro-Raila group. It believes that the major issues in the situation in Kenya is the open and blatant abuse of hard-won democratic principles which, by virtue of the rigging of elections, means that Kenyans have lost the possibility of changing the Office of President through elections. Violation of human rights is also a key plunk of MOREDEK whose leadership recognizes the need for humanitarian assistance by different organizations inside and outside Kenya.
DIFFERENT POSITIONS AT CANDLE LIGHT AND DEMO AT EMBASSY
The good news is that MOREDEK is seeking to work with UHCK although the key problem is that there is no conduit at the moment to facilitate “talks between the two groups”. The view within MORDEK is that Kenyans must come together to address the democratic, humanitarian and human rights aspects of the crisis in Kenya regardless of their ethnic origin or political affiliations.
So far, there is no evidence to show that there is animosity between Kikuyus and other ethnic groups in Stockholm. There have been incidences where it is clear that there is ethnic polarization but only at the political level.
For example, a “Candle Light” that was organized at Sergels Torg a few days ago was never attended by Luos and a KSB agent reported that the handful of attendees were mainly Kikuyus. A Kenyan from the Luhya community who attended the Candle light, was reportedly rebuked by a top Narc-Kenya official at the function, forcing him to leave. He was accused of being pro-Raila. Likewise, when a demonstration was organized at the Kenyan embassy in Stockholm by ODM-scandinavia, many Kikuyus boycotted the function because they are comfortable with Kibaki as President of Kenya.
At the personal level, nothing has changed much and it could be safe to posit that Kikuyus with friends from other communities are unlikely to cut off these links because of the situation in Kenya. In the same token, many Luos say that they do not believe that the rigging of elections will cost them their long standing Kikuyu friends in Stockholm.
There is bitterness among Luos in stockholm that Kibaki has sent security forces specifically to kill Luos and other pro-Raila youth in Kisumu and other parts of the country. Similarly, there is equal bitterness among Wakikuyu that members of their community are being killed by other communities in different parts of Kenya.
However, the political consciousness appears to be high among Kenyans in Stockholm where those I have spoken with think that it is unlikely that hatred between communitieswill develop as a result of the situation in Kenya.
What is certain is that the political differences will remain with pro-Raila Kenyans insisting that elections were rigged and pro-Kibaki groups insisting that Kibaki won. Some Kikuyus have privately admitted to me that Raila won elections although they believe that they have to stick to Kibaki as the winner for the sake of not antagonizing fellow Kikuyus. In other words, private and public positions have emerged in the situation and this is the reality in Stockholm upende usipende.
At the end of the day, both UHCK and MOREDEK need to put aside serious areas of disagreements and find common points where agreements can be reached in the interest of Kenya as a Nation.
Okoth Osewe
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