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RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Life goes on, even in a crowded camp for Kenyans fleeing the ethnic violence that has gripped their nation.
Mothers wash clothes and prepare food — if they have any food to prepare. Children play. Parents watch over their families. Young men sit around, talking and passing the time. But life is anything but normal for the more than 250,000 people driven from their homes in Kenya since Dec. 27, the day a disputed presidential election brought submerged ethnic hatreds roaring back to the surface. Hundreds have died in political and tribal clashes in the weeks since.
Many Kenyans hope and pray the rage will die down before it gets worse. Some are putting feet to their prayers — such as three Baptist women from different tribes who united to deliver food to one of the displaced persons camps. It wasn’t much, but they gave it with all their hearts.
“We saw a lot of people being displaced by the skirmishes,” said Carolyn Charono, one of the visiting women. “So we made up our minds and decided, ‘OK, let’s get whatever little we have and come over here and see how we can help our brothers and sisters in our own little ways.’ I know we can’t solve all the problems they are facing, but at least we can help one or two, so that’s what we’ve done. We’ve been hanging around and talking to some people, trying to get information about how they got to camp, how they’ve been surviving, what they’re surviving on and such like. We’ve been able to give out a little cash here and some food that we carried.”
The three women acknowledged their different tribal affiliations, but insisted they are Kenyan first. “Here in Kenya we are all one tribe, one people, one nation,” declared Kristen Kimani.
That’s an admirable ideal, proudly held by many Kenyans since they won independence from British colonial rule in 1963. Kenya has managed greater stability and ethnic harmony than many African nations since the end of the European colonial era. But dozens of ethnic and tribal groups make up Kenya’s 32 million people. The Kikuyu people, favored by the British during colonial times, are the largest tribal group, comprising about a fifth of the national population. They have dominated the Kenyan political and economic scene since independence, accumulating land, top jobs and other perks — often at the expense of other groups.
When incumbent President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, claimed re-election in the December contest with challenger Raila Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe who appeared headed for a major victory, ethnic attacks broke out in many areas. Both sides have been charged with inciting violence and manipulating tribal tensions before and after the election.
Opposing ethnic groups have assaulted each other. In the most horrifying attack, dozens of men, women and children seeking shelter in a church were burned alive. Villages have gone up in flames. Armed youths in some areas reportedly have been paid for each member of a competing tribe they kill.
To say the current violence is just another instance of “African tribalism” is a vast and probably racist oversimplification. “It’s about resources, it’s about land, it’s about tribe, it’s about so many issues that successive governments have not addressed,” one Kenyan activist told a BBC reporter. It’s also about a disputed presidential election; Americans have experienced one of those in recent years. It’s about poverty and unequal opportunity. And it’s about generational change, as younger Kenyan leaders try to take the reins of power from the aging elite who have ruled since independence.
But at its deepest heart, the violence reveals a spiritual problem that has plagued Africa for a very long time. It’s time to confront it, according to some of Kenya’s Christian leaders.
“A demon has been set loose,” warned Ngari Kariithi, senior pastor at Karura Community Church in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. “The depth of hatred was a shock to many of us. The church needs to face up to what is happening and get involved. Pray God will help us with tribalism. Pray the church can rise above this. We are the hope for Kenya.”
But first, he and other leaders stress, Christians must repent of their own continuing hatreds.
“The elections did not cause this violence,” said Simon Mwangi, pastor of Parklands Baptist Church in Nairobi. “The election results triggered something that was already here, a rift between our ethnic groups. Kenya, as a nation, has sinned against God. Kenyans are killing Kenyans. Christians are killing Christians. We must put an end to this. Kenya is a Christian nation, and we need to start showing God’s love.”
During a national day of prayer and repentance observed in churches around the nation in January, Mwangi said Kenyans “have seen a dormant volcano explode into life…. We have seen the fruit of hatred and anger. Now let’s pray for an explosion of love!” Joining many others, he asked forgiveness for the sin of tribalism in his own life and church family. As he repeated a familiar chorus, he prayed, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”
Arthur Kinyanjui, pastor of Nakuru Baptist Church, delivered a passionate reminder of the Christian roots of modern Kenya.
“Our churches are mixed — we have every tribe represented in our churches,” he said. “This (violence) should not be happening, because we are all brothers. Kikuyu and Luo believed differently at one time. They had different thoughts about each other. But when Jesus came to East Africa in 1936 with the great East African Revival, we all broke away from those thoughts and became one in Christ. The revival changed the entire nation and its way of thinking. We became brothers in Christ! Now what is happening to us? Are we going back and repeating history?”
Many Kenyan Christians are taking a stand against violence and hatred. Like the three women who took aid to the displaced persons camp, they are helping the suffering, making personal sacrifices, even risking their lives to help members of other tribes. They also are repenting of the nation’s sins — and their own.
Join them in this prayer of Kenyan Baptist leader Samuel Mbiti:
“Lord, help us restore peace in this country. We pray for those who have been displaced. We pray for those who have lost their property, their loved ones and even all their hopes that have been shattered. Father, we pray that You will restore hope to these people, that You will restore hope to our nation. We pray, O Father, that the enemy will be ashamed, because we know that more than 2,000 years ago You defeated him on the cross. Today we are sure, God, that his works have been defeated. Thank you, Lord. Help us as we go through this that Your church shall stand firm. As You said, the gates of hell shall not prevail.”
Amen.
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Erich Bridges is senior writer with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Sue Sprenkle, the International Mission Board’s overseas correspondent for Africa, contributed to this column.
