Eldoret peace ceremony a pointer to way forward

Seven years after the ignominy of the 2007/08 post-election violence, two communities that were violently up against each other have chosen to bury the hatchet.

Kikuyu and Kalenjin elders bonded their people at a ceremony held in Uasin Gishu County.

Both communities prepared their traditional foods in a ceremony where everybody partook of the food to signify forgiveness, acceptance and unity.

Elders averred the slaughter of goats meant no more human blood would ever be shed unnecessarily again.

It is everybody's hope that the truce will hold now and into the future.

Political leaders who have polarised communities by dwelling on negativity should learn from this and build a unified country.

It is unfortunate that leaders derive more satisfaction from setting communities against each other for political expediency.

There is a lesson in the coming together of the two communities, and agreeing to accept one another, for the rest of the country.

The symbolism of that meeting was that there is more to be gained from living in harmony and mutual acceptance, irrespective of political leanings, than in fighting.

Other people's choices have to be respected, in line with the Constitution, which grants individuals freedoms.

Election violence in the expansive Rift Valley has been occurring every election year since 1992, except in 2013 when leaders from the two communities joined hands and campaigned on the same platform.

The causes of violence in most instances have been land and the choice of political parties.

Since 2008, people from both communities have suffered losses, both in terms of lives, property and human dignity.

They have had to suffer the indignity of Internally Displaced Persons living in camps under sub-human conditions.

Young children have suffered the loss of education and the freedom to grow up in a family with love and care.

It is our hope that the ceremony, while merely symbolic in nature, will usher in a new chapter for the people of these communities.