Snail Mail to Kenyan Parliamentarians

including Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, can be sent to, or dropped off directly at, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy. They will deliver it directly to the pigeonholes of MPs in parliament.

POSTAL ADDRESS

Centre for Multiparty Democracy
PO Box 9903 - 00100
Nairobi
Kenya

DROP-OFF LOCATION

6th Floor, International House
Mama Ngina Street
Nairobi

Tel: + 254 020 221 5731
+ 254 020 221 5782
+ 254 020 221 6118

Talk to Kenyan MPs and Ministers

Kenyans for Peace With Truth and Justice (KPTJ) have launched a SMS campaign to urge politicians to fight against a bloated Cabinet. Given the current impasse, there is still an opportunity to urge OUR elected representatives to stop being selfish and to put the nation's interest before their personal interests.

This is the first step to creating a culture of political accountability in Kenya. MPs need to hear our outrage. Below are all the contact numbers we've been able to obtain for the 10th Parliament. The fact that less than 30% of parliamentarians have made their contact details available to Kenyans is, in itself, a tragic statement on the feudal thinking prevalent in Kenyan politics.

Some examples of messages you can send are below. It adds strength to your sms if you personalize it by addressing the MP directly. e.g. "Mr. Saitoti, Kenyans want a lean, clean cabinet." Feel free to craft your own!

Mawaziri Majambazi!

Siasa Ya Pupa
Njaa Kwetu!

Kenyans Want A Lean, Clean Cabinet

Lean and Clean
Greed is Obscene

Cabinet Feasts
IDPs Starve

Do the Right Thing for Kenya
No More Than 24

Our Country Our Cabinet
No More Than 24

MP CONTACT INFO (last name, first names - constituency - party - cellphone, email)

Abdirahman, H.Ali - Wajir South - KANU - 0721-724746 / 0722-144999 ahassan@tradeandindustry.go.ke

Chiaba, Mohamed Abu - Lamu East - PNU - 0722-410177

Bahari, Abdul Ali - Isiolo South - KANU - 0733-289501

Balala, Mohammed Najib - Mvita - ODM - 0733 333500 /0724 - 650000 najib@mombasa.co.ke

Bifwoli, Wakoli Sylvester - Bumula - PNU - 0733-865323 Wakolib@yahoo.com

Chepkitony, Lucas Kipkosgei - Keiyo North - ODM - 0733-635894 / 0722816064

Ethuro, David - Turkana Central - PNU- 0722-526370 dethuro@yahoo.com

Gesami, James Ondicho - West Mugirango - ODM- 0733 826090

Gisuka, Machage Wilfred - Kuria - DP - 0733-451806/0725834575

Kajembe, Ramathan Seif - Changamwe - ODM - 0721 609777 Langoni@swiftmombasa.com

Kajwang', Gerald Otieno - Mbita - ODM - 0722-882787

Kamama, Asman Abongotum - Baringo East - PNU - 0731-583303

Karua, Martha Wangari Gichugu - PNU - 0721 623 342 / 0733-747551

Kenneth, Peter Gatanga - PNU - 0722 512996 andykenneth@hotmail.com

Kenyatta, Uhuru - Gatundu South - KANU - 0722 463 891

Keter, Charles Cheruiyot - Belgut - ODM - 0722 530555

Khalwale Boni - Ikolomani - NEW FORD-K - 0721 318722

Khaniri, George Munyasa - Hamisi - ODM - 0722-859341

Kilonzo, Julias Kiema Mutito - ODM-K - 0722-513605 kilonzo@wananchi.com

Kilonzo, Charles Mutavi - Yatta - ODM-K - 0734-621593 ckilonzo@crystalvaluers.com

Kimunya Amos Muhinga Kipipiri PNU - 0722518801 / 520936 kipipiri@wananchi.com

Kinyanjui, Lee Maiyani - Nakuru Town - PNU - 0722 842653

Kiunjuri, Festus Mwangi - Laikipia East - PNU - 0721 600 305

Kuti Mohammed Abdi - Isiolo North - NARC-K - 0733 235914

Lesirma, Simeon Saimanga - Samburu West - ODM - 0722-719946 simeonlesrima@yahoo.com

Magara - James Omingo - South Mugirango - ODM - 0722 911274 jomingo45@yahoo.com

Katoo, Ole Metito J - Kajiado South - 0721-640175

Midiwo, Washington Jakoyo - Gem - ODM - 0721 504 040 / 0733 421277/ 0722 935761

Mohamed, A.H.M - Mandera West - ODM - 0722-779942

Mohammed, Haji Yusuf - Ijara - KANU - 0722-709395

Mugo, Beth Wambui - Dagoretti - PNU - 0722-205753 bmugo@kenyaweb.com

Mungatana, Danson Buya - Garsen - NARC-K - 0722-411971 mungatana@wanainchi.com

Munyes, John Kiyonga - Turkana North - PNU - 0721-339094 johnmunyes@yahoo.com

Murungi, Kiraitu - South Imenti - PNU - 0721-240863 waziri@kenyaweb.com

Musila, David - Mwingi South - ODM-K - 0722 571117 davidmusila@yahoo.com

Musyoka, Stephen Kalonzo - Mwingi North - ODM-K - 0722 523 872 / 0735 161 588

Mwangi, Onesmus Kigumo - PNU - 0722-778581 kiharamwangimp@yahoo.com

Mwatela, Andrew Calist - Mwatate - ODM 0733 719 871

Mwiria, Valerian Kilemi - Tigania West - PNU - 0733-657562 kilemimwiria@africanonline.co.ke

Ndambuki, Gideon Musyoka - Kaiti - ODM-K - 0720-384553/0734-758567 gndambuki@wananchi.com

Githae, Robinson Njeru - Ndia - PNU - 722514837

Nkaisserry, Joseph Kasaine - Kajiado Central - ODM - 0721-356786 nkaisserry@wananchi.com

Nyong'o, Peter Anyang' - Kisumu Rural - ODM - 0733 454 133 pan@africaonline.co.ke

Odinga, Raila Amolo - Langata - ODM - 0733 620 736 railaaodinga@yahoo.com

Oginga, Oburu Bondo - ODM - 0733 818517/ 0724-105493 oburu_oginga@yahoo.com

Odeke, Sospeter Ojaamongson Amagoro - ODM - 0733 967345 / 0722 813819

Ojode, Joshua Orwa Ndhiwa - ODM - 0722- 514830 Ojode7@hotmail.com

Okemo, Chrysanthus Nambale - ODM - 0733-608895 Chrisokemo@yahoo.com

Olweny, Patrick Ayiecho - Muhoroni - ODM - 0722-734187/0733-784633

Onyancha, Charles - Bonchari - ODM - 0722-248190 jonyancha2002@yahoo.com

Oparanya, Wycliffe Ambetsa - Butere - ODM - 0722 521856

Osebe, Walter Enock Nyambati - Kitutu Masaba - N LP - 0722 724 556

Poghisio, Samuel Losuron Kacheliba - ODM-K - 0722-520663 / 0734-200836 poghisio@wananchi.com

Ruto, Samoei William K. - Eldoret North - ODM - 0722 517 997 info@williamrutto.com

Shaban Naomi Namsi Taveta KANU 0722 814 412

Shitanda, Peter Soita - Malava - NEW FORD-K - 0721-341241 soita-shitanda@yahoo.com

Sugow Ahmed Aden Fafi KANU 0721-596726

Twaha, Yasin Fahim - Lamu West - NARC-K - 0722-925108

Wekesa, Noah Muhlanganga - Kwanza - PNU - 0722-774374 noahwekesa@hotmail.com

Were, David Aoko Matungu - ODM - 0722 707548/0733 569180 scorpionwere@yahoo.com

Wetangula - Moses Makisa Sirisia - PNU - 0722 517 302 / 806 363 mwetangula@hotmail.com

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF KENYA

Amos Wako 0722 772 453

Your Greed Is Obscene. Shame On You.

Press Release

Nairobi, April 5th, 2008
Contact: Rosemary Tollo, Africog, 0737 463166

The National Civil Society Congress (NCSC),
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) and
The Movement for Political Accountability (MOPA),

launched the NO MORE THAN 24 MINISTERS Campaign to ensure our government delivers to the people of Kenya their fundamental rights. In the aftermath of the post-election crisis, our agenda is for Kenya to realize:

- sustainable and fundamental reforms,
- national reconciliation and
- economic, physical and social reconstruction.

Mr. Kibaki and Mr, Odinga::

As Kenyans, we gave our mandate to ONE of you to govern this country for the next five years. However, the OTHER one of you attempted to STEAL this mandate. Massive and brutal repression of protests ensued. Hundreds of lives were lost. Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans were displaced. They remain so to this day. To prevent further killing and disruption of lives, Kenyans accepted the imperfect but timely solution offered by the mediation process. This gave you both a LIMITED AND TRANSITIONAL mandate for reform, reconciliation, and reconstruction. However, we now see politicians misusing the crisis to create illegitimate sinecures at our expense.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

SHAME ON YOU BOTH.

We emphasise the following points:

1) Kenyans reject blackmail

There is an unstated threat that if Kenyans do not accept the greed of the ruling class, then the country will once again be allowed to descend into anarchy. This is our country. We will not allow Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga to mobilize the political class to blackmail us.

The overwhelming majority of Kenyans want NO MORE THAN 24 MINISTERS. Some have endured tear gas for this demand.

94% of Kenyans reject the appointment of corrupt officials and urge vetting of prospective appointments.

We urge all MPs with a conscience to join tax payers in rejecting the blackmail.

The time has come for a TOTAL RENEWAL OF LEADERSHIP and for the people's voice to be heard and respected.

2) Kenyans reject impunity

We note the attempts to entrench impunity in this country by the current elected officials. It is now clear that the ruling class in Kenya has solidified to the point where politicians think that they have a right to rule, even without our consent.

Kenyans reject the abuse of public office by politicians

In the democracy we are building in Kenya, we, the people, are the masters. Elected politicians and public officials are the servants. Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga have negated this fundamental principle. They want to bully Kenyans to accept servanthood. We reject this subversion of our sovereignty.

3) Kenyans will not pay for the greed of the political class

21 million Kenyans live on less than Kshs. 60 a day. Inflation has hit the 21% mark and is still rising. The cost of unga, kerosene, petrol, fares, house rent, milk and sugar has already risen beyond the means of the masses of Kenya. To alleviate this situation, we propose that;

· All MPs pay taxes, like other Kenyans

· VAT be reduced to 4-5% on food and consumer goods, like cooking oil, petrol and kerosene

· The lower limit for taxable income be raised to Kshs. 20,000

· MP salaries be cut from Ksh. 800,000 to Kshs. 400,000

· The number of Ministers be fixed at a maximum of 24, but ideally, less

· Only one Deputy minister, with a clear job description, be assigned to each ministry

A cabinet fixed at a maximum of 24 accommodates the need for political negotiations in the post-election crisis. It is an EMERGENCY TRANSITIONAL measure. As an urgent measure of Constitutional reform, Parliament must establish a lean cabinet with defined portfolios in keeping with Section 16 of the Constitution.

Mr. Kibaki, Mr. Odinga:

The people of Kenya will not be blackmailed, bullied, or looted, by you and your political allies. For you to build wealth and political power on the bodies of over a thousand Kenyans killed, on the suffering of half-a-million Kenyans who are refugees in their own country, is an obscenity that beggars description.

We, the people of Kenya, will use every peaceful and democratic means available to us to build the Kenya that so many have suffered and died for. Our first steps in a sustained ongoing campaign of pressure:

1) We will petition all international donors, and the international community, to withhold every form of non-humanitarian aid to Kenya

2) We will create platforms and forums for Kenyans to have the substantive debate they should have had at Independence on the number and portfolios of ministries Kenya really needs. They were deprived of this debate by the greed of politicians.

3) We will launch a national and international sms and mail campaign, for Kenyans and friends of Kenya to say directly to every parliamentarian:

YOUR GREED IS OBSCENE. SHAME ON YOU.

Exclusive Indiba-Africa Performance, March 31, Durban

Presented by the Indiba-Africa Group, March 31st, Durban

An exclusive performance by SHAILJA PATEL, followed by a dialogue on the post-election crisis in Kenya.

Time: 6pm

Venue: Cinema 11, Nu Metro Theatres, Pavilion

Tickets: This is a FREE performance. Limited seats available. To reserve seats, please email giving@indiba-africa.org.za by March 21st. Or sms name and number of tickets to Please confirm by RSVP to 0823198269. Or take a chance and arrive early for this special FREE performance!

Generously sponsored by Videovision Entertainment, NuMetro, United International Pictures (South Africa) and the Centre for Creative Arts

Support Human Rights In Africa

THE INDIBA-AFRICA GROUP IS RECELLULAR'S OFFFICIAL OVERSEAS COLLECTION AGENCY FOR USED CELL PHONES. SO BRING YOUR OLD CELL PHONE WITH YOU AND DROP IT INTO OUR COLLECTION BOX! WE WILL HAVE IT REFURBISHED AND DONATED TO ORGANISATIONS SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

Time of The Writer Press Release

Media Contact: Sharlene Versfeld
Tel: 031 201 1650
sharlene@versfeld.co.za

Eighteen writers from ten countries touch down in Durban for a swirling week of books, words, ideas, and talk at the 11th Time of the Writer International Writers Festival, which takes place from 25 to 30 March. Hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal), the festival enters its second decade with its customary extensive week-long programme of activities. Aside from Australian guest John Pilger of Australia whose acclaimed journalistic commentary is astutely global, the festival, features an exclusively South African and African presence this year, with a diverse gathering of novelists, short story writers, investigative journalists, publishers and political commentators, presenting their ideas in the public arena.

The eclectic mix includes the considered and provoking words of celebrated South African writer, poet, painter and essayist, Breyten Breytenbach. Breytenbach, who was instrumental in initiating the festival 11 years ago, will also deliver the festival's keynote address on Opening Night, Tuesday 25 March. Scholar, activist and writer, Mbulelo Mzamane (South Africa), whose fiction and poetry was banned by the apartheid government and who academic scholarship is widely acclaimed, adds his experienced voice. Mzamane was described by Nelson Mandela as a "visionary leader, [and] one of South Africa 's greatest intellectuals." Other South Africa voices include Angelina Sithebe, a geologist by training, whose dreamy, disturbing debut, Holy Hill, has been receiving critical praise. Kopano Matlwa, winner of the EU Literary Award for 2006/07, is a young South African writer whose debut novel, Coconut, is part of a new wave of post-apartheid fiction. Joining her is Jo-Anne Richards, author of the immensely popular The Innocence of Roast Chicken, which topped the South African bestseller list for 15 weeks.

Richards, who launches her fourth novel, My Brother's Book, during the festival, is one of three participants launching books. Another is Durbanite Michael Cawood Green who launches his much-awaited and impeccably researched new novel For the Sake of Silence, a work of historical fiction which examines with impressive insight the nineteen-century Trappist endeavour in nineteenth-century South Africa. Kirsten Miller's ( South Africa ) prose makes for remarkably compelling reading, be it the fiction of her debut novel All Is Fish or the non-fiction of Children on the Bridge: A Story of Autism in South Africa.

David Evans, who was banned and imprisoned by the Apartheid state, is the author of an oeuvre of novels, short stories, and plays whose narratives are remarkably engaging. Another brave voice is Max du Preez, perhaps the best known investigative journalist and political commentator in South Africa.

Africa is well represented at the festival with a particularly strong Kenyan and Zimbabwean presence. This comes at a time when Kenya is undergoing perhaps one of its most politically volatile periods in recent memory, and with Zimbabwean elections.taking place during the festival period. In a Writers SpeakOut slot, Kenyan poet, Shailja Patel, last in the country for Poetry Africa 2007, will present a special Kenyan Bulletin, which will articulate the crisis facing her country. Dayo Forster, though Gambian by birth, is now a resident in Kenya and she too will no doubt add insight. A scientist by training, Foster's debut novel Reading the Ceiling is a structurally daring exploration of the role of chance in a young woman's life. Kenyan publisher, writer, and scholar Henry Chakava is perhaps the most famous African publisher of his generation. He, amongst other achievements, led the successful acquisition of Heinemann in East Africa by a group of Kenyans, localizing it and was also the only publisher to give a voice to the works of Ngugi wa Thiong'o in the 1970s and 1980s. Joining Chakava is the celebrated Zimbabwean editor and publisher Irene Staunton, whose Weaver Press has developed an award-winning catalogue of Zimbabwean fiction and non-fiction. Fellow Zimbabwean Charles Mungoshi, long respected as one of the region's foremost writers, has over the years written novels and short stories, both in English and Shona, that are awash with poignancy, power and gentle humour.

Mauritian writer, poet, essayist, and screenwriter Ananda Devi, author of nine acclaimed novels, is recognized as one of the major francophone writers from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean. Fellow francophone novelist and playwright, Emmanuel Dongala, was forced to flee his home country of Congo (Brazzaville) after the civil war. Part of a trio of writers with scientific backgrounds at this year's festival, Dongala, who has a PhD in Organic Chemistry, is a giant of contemporary African fiction. His latest novel Johnny Mad Dog, explores with remarkable depth the child soldiers of Sierra Leone. Angolan born Simao Kikamba's riveting debut novel Going Home, winner of the Herman Charles Bosman award for English fiction in 2006, is based on his experiences as a political refugee from Angola and his subsequent life as a black immigrant in South Africa.

The world acclaimed investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger (Australia) brings this year's festival to a close with a Sunday evening of rousing discussion with Mail & Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee and UKZN academic and writer Patrick Bond. Presented as a Centre for Civil Society Harold Wolpe lecture entitled Truth, Propaganda and Power, the evening is prefaced with a sneak peak at Pilger's new film The War on Democracy and will end with an audience Q&A session. Pilger will receive an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University in Grahamstown on 28 March. A festival of documentaries by John Pilger, with post-screening discussions facilitated by the Centre for Civil Society, begins on 3rd March.

The multiple Grammy awarding-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo will present their special brand of magic as the musical finale on opening night. Musical interludes will also be presented during the festival week by Azannah, Vusi Mkhize and Guy Buttery.

A unique experiment at this year's festival is the Writers Parliament - Notes Towards a Cultural Policy for Durban session on Friday, 28 March, at the council chambers of the Durban City Hall. Attended by all the festival writers, and open to the public, the parliament will, in a quick-fire morning session, attempt to hammer out a basic architecture required for an effective cultural policy for Durban. Time of the Writer hopes also, through this experiment, to reinvigorate the idea of parliament as a site of debate and speaking out, not just for politicians but for everyone.

Time of the Writer's extensive schools programme will this year, due to school holidays, be replaced with a Youth Roadshow. Festival writers will engage with learners and interested public on the following dates and venues:

Wednesday, 26 March (10h00-12h00) at KwaMashu Teachers Centre,
F 892 Dalmeny Road, Ntuzuma (Next to KwaNozaza), 031 509 4955

Thursday, 27 March (10h00-12h00) at Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre,
B25 Giya Road, B-Section, KwaMashu, 031 504 6970.

These venues are ideally placed for learners and aspiring writers based in the Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (PINK) areas.

Readings, discussions and book launches will take place nightly at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A broad range of day activities in the form of workshops, a day-long forum on publishing issues, and a prison writing programme, are formulated to promote a culture of reading, writing and creative expression.

With this wide-ranging programme of activities and culturally diverse line-up of writers, Time of the Writer 2008 is set to deliver a lively literary platform for dialogue and exchange on wide-ranging subjects from historical and social issues to political and personal affairs, offering insights into the motivations and processes that inform the complex art of writing.

Tickets are R25 for the evening sessions, R10 for students, and can be purchased through Computicket or at the door one hour before the event. Workshops and seminars are free.

Visit www.cca.ukzn.ac.za for biographies and photos of participants or contact the University of KwaZulu-Natal 's Centre for Creative Arts for more information on 031 260 2506 or e-mail cca@ukzn.ac.za

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), the 11th Time of the Writer festival is funded principally by the Department of Arts and Culture, Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (HIVOS), Stichting Doen, French Institute of South Africa, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, and City of Durban.

yup, it's been a while

I'm sorry. Got immersed in my residency at UCSB, and now getting ready to travel again.

Keeping a sceptical and unconvinced eye on the "power-sharing" agreement in Kenya.

A poem that's humming through me today, from an unpublished manuscript called Blue Watermelon, by Mary Freericks, an amazing poet who came to my workshop in Santa Barbara:

TO HAFEZ

It is hard to start all over. Nothing can moor me now.
The sky is a glass sea I shatter. The turtle is the earth,

not to be endured. I will hold your hand, flowing. Body
to body we are passing through each other.

From its silent tree the nightingale lifts one song.
Ruby throated, the hummingbird has two voices.

Bones weigh me from within, hold down as rocks.
What if I could lift myself, Meykhane waits.

Neutrinos pass through steel, through the center
of the earth to the other side.

Where is the stained glass window opening to your world?
The pigs are shaking their muddy legs.

There will be more blood letting. We will abandon
this dry crust of land, the ship that pilots the Milky Way.

Constellations vibrate, their skirts show the underside
of the creature. A cicada darkens my screen.

Is the strident voice a decoy from a needle bill? I feel
six hundred and fifteen year long wings grow on my back.


Notes

meykhane - Persian. The taverns run by Zoroastrians in Persia / Iran, after the advent of Islam. Considered sacred places that poets frequented.

six hundred and fifteen year long wings - the time span between the poet, Mary Freericks, and Hafez

Contact poet at maryfreericks@yahoo.com

Where's your wailing pen?

asked South African Andile Mngxitama, in a letter which appeared in the latest issue of Pambazuka News. Below is her letter. My response follows.

I have been a great admirer of the contemporary Kenyan literary and intellectual movement for sometime now. As a relatively young South African, I have searched with no success for an equivalent development here at home.

I have been mesmerised by Wainaina's imagination and masterly use of irony. Mukoma's political insights which are many years older than him, I can't forget the dancing poetry of Shaila Patel. But when the election related bloodletting occurred, I'm afraid their wailing pens went flat. They have certainly written, they have initiated and joined the peace movement, but im afraid they haven't said anything. Maybe that is the cost one pays for success and international glory.

Why would these great minds of our time, appear like many Desmond Tutus presiding over the TRC collective mourning ceremony? Why have they banished from their pens, incitement to liberation and the attack on the neo-colony and its degenerate democrazy (apologies Fela)?

Every time I read these idols of mine, I hear "peace". What peace? I ask. The poor of Kibera are trapped in one of the most vicious structural violence known to humanity, every single day of their miserable existence. Haven't we felt the bitter tears of the surviving mau mau fighters? When we were in Nairobi for the WSF last year, we were told stories of state sanctioned mass killings of the poor youth, they apparently shoot to kill even for stealing a cell phone. And we talk peace? Is it not a great miracle that some people born in Kibera reached the age of 25? But for the majority of Kenyans life after Uhuru has not been a bed of roses, we also know of the never ending killings for land and forests.

My gripe more than anything is predicated upon the spectacular failure to raise an alternative voice which is not hobbled by international NGO humanitarian discourses deeply trapped in liberal democratic appeal. I yearn for a voice which would confidently redirect the violence consuming the poor of all tribes, which is organised above by the democracy elites whose sole purpose is looting. Why I don't hear someone talk about revolutionary violence? Why I don't hear someone say death to Kibaki and Odinga! Unity amongst the poor! Why? Because we are now struggling for peace? Not even a little justice?

The people of Kenya has every right to chose who will rule over them, in short which elite group must come in and eat as they seat in the grand stand cheering on. That's democracy ala our new colonisers. But surely we can warn them that they need not kill each other so that their respective leaders may eat. We have a responsibility to point out that the so called democracy is really not worth dying for, maybe we should point out that it's a little better to die fighting for your own freedom against the tyranny of money now embodied in Kibaki and Odinga.

Please let's stop the talk of peace, which is nothing but a call to return to the abnormal normalcy of elite rule predicated upon the perpetuation of structural violence against the poor. Here in SA, it was interesting to watch through eyes burning with tear gas and gun power, how the apartheid monster turned the terms of our liberation movement into a negotiations for peace after unleashing untold violence against the blacks using black hands like the Inkatha Freedom Party thugs (remember the misleading talk of black on black violence?). So we negotiated a peaceful transition which ensured the perpetuation of black suffering.

Shailja's Response:

Dear Andile,

I hear your disappointment - and share it.

Which is why I work with Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice. This is a coalition of over 40 legal, human rights, and governance organizations (including grassroots collectives representing the youth of Nairobi's slum areas), and individual Kenyans, such as myself. Prior to the elections, many of these organizations were already ferocious advocates for justice and equity for all Kenyans. Their leaders are the Kenyans I respect and admire most, for their uncompromising commitment to Kenya's voiceless and unrepresented citizens, no matter what the personal cost to themselves.

From the outset, KPTJ has insisted that any resolution of the crisis must address the injustices at all levels - historic, and current - which precipitated this catastrophe. KPTJ has categorically rejected calls for "peace" and "dialogue" from the parties who are really seeking violent suppression of the poorest and most disenfranchised Kenyans, so that "normal life" may resume for the wealthy.

KPTJ continues to offer an analysis of the violence in Kenya that traces each strand of violence to its source, and to hold the initiators of each form of violence accountable. When we say "peace", we mean the excessive use of police violence, and "shoot to kill" orders, must stop. When we say "peace", we challenge the uneven and selective policing that allowed Nairobi slums and marginalized areas of the country to burn, while police ringed an empty Uhuru Park to prevent peaceful assembly and protest. When we say "peace", we name the militia mobilised in Central, Rift Valley and Nyanza provinces, by individual political actors, to evict, loot, rape and terrorize poor Kenyans, and we describe their operations.

Relevant excerpts from KPTJ statements that speak to your concerns:

Calling for peace is not enough. We will only slide into civil war if we cannot see through this. We must resist the fear, name the problem accurately and desist from the build up to the declaration of a state of emergency, the deployment of the military or, worse, the usurpation of civilian governance by military governance. (Muthoni Wanyeki, ED, Kenya Human Rights Commission)

The cause of the current political crises in Kenya is two pronged. First, the poorly managed electoral process dealing with the Presidential Poll result. This acted as a trigger for the Second more entrenched and deep rooted problem that manifested itself in the explosion of violence of a magnitude unknown in post-independent Kenya. The simmering anger that was ignited is a result of a combination of historical injustices from the time of Kenya's colonial past, and the failure of successive governments of Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki to address comprehensively the problems of inequality of its citizens.

In particular the challenges presented by landlessness, gender inequality, youth unemployment, the widening gap between the extremely wealthy and extremely poor citizens and the marginalization of some communities. Further political campaigns hyped up expectations of Kenyans in promising to redress these issues overnight whereas a structured and systematic approach with realistic time-lines is required to do so. Resolving the issues around truth and justice, particularly around issues of corruption and past violence also meant that the political class on both sides of the divide would have to give up their own in a "no sacred cows" policy which neither was/is willing to do.[1]

(Njoki Ndungu, speaking before the US House of Representatives)

The KPTJ roadmap to a genuine resolution of the crisis includes:

- electoral and constitutional reform, to ensure all Kenyans are represented in decisions about the allocation of the country's resources

- land redistribution

- transitional justice

- the implementation of a Marshall Plan for the huge segment of Kenyan youth who have been locked out of Kenya's much vaunted 6% economic growth in the past 5 years

- addressing the crisis of masculinity that has funnelled so many young Kenyan men towards militia activity and gender-based violence, to create a new model of Kenyan manhood based on gainful employment and equal relationships

The extent to which KPTJ threatens what you so aptly term "the abnormal normalcy of elite rule" is clearly demonstrated by the fact that our leaders and spokespeople have been labelled "traitors to their ethnicity", are receiving death threats, and have been warned that they are targets for assassination by the state machinery.

To join the KPTJ mailing list, send an email to dmalombe@khrc.or.ke

Thank you for caring deeply about truth and justice for all of us on this continent. And for holding me, personally, accountable to my words.

In community,

Shailja Patel

Letter to The Economist

Sir,

Your February 7th article, Ethnic Cleansing in Luoland, is dangerously misleading, and omits crucial information about the ongoing violence in Kenya.

The term "ethnic cleansing" is both inaccurate and unhelpful to Kenya's current crisis. It fuels the build up by the Kibaki (PNU) camp to the declaration of a state of emergency, the deployment of the military or, worse, the usurpation of civilian governance by military governance.

Unquestionably, victims of the current violence experience the violence as being directed at their ethnicity. But the violence is politically-instigated. It finds ethnic expression or manifests itself ethnically because Kenyan politics are organised ethnically.

The first wave of violence in Western Kenya took the form of spontaneous, disorganized protest, against the announcement of a presidential result that both domestic and international observers have judged to be deeply flawed and lacking in credibility. It was met with a second form of violence, extraordinary force by the police and GSU paramilitary forces. Data collected by civil society and human rights organizations show the majority of deaths in Nyanza and Western provinces to be the result of extra-judicial killings by police and GSU, not civilian attacks on other civilians.

The third form of violence in Western Kenya is organized militia activity, directly traceable to specific leaders, in both the PNU and ODM. You neglect to mention that in the week preceding this article, two parliamentarians of the ODM party were murdered, in suspicious circumstances that carried all the hallmarks of political assassination. And that 25 Kikuyu civil society leaders, who have spoken out against human rights abuses and electoral malpractices, have received death threats.

Much of the destruction to businesses and property in Kisumu could have been averted by the speedy deployment of security forces to Western Kenya, in the immediate aftermath of the election, to restore law and order. Instead, the majority of Kenya's police force and GSU security force were diverted to surround Uhuru Park, the City Mortuary, and the slum areas of Nairobi, to prevent civilian assembly and peaceful protest. The "government" clearly made a decision to let Kisumu burn, and to leave its overwhelmed, outnumbered, and exhausted police force to resort to bullets in the absence of support or relief.

Kenya's hope lies now in the ongoing mediation process, led by Kofi Annan. All forms of international pressure that keep the PNU leaders at the negotiating table - such as the recent US travel ban on hardliners - should be encouraged. The responsibility of journalists, and publications like the Economist, is to name the violence correctly, hold the initiators accountable, and present the conflict in Kenya for what it is - a politically-instigated catastrophe, with a political solution.

Shailja Patel