MPs should tread carefully on the Waki Report debate

With less than two years to the next General Election, efforts to reopen debate on the Waki Report relating to the 2007-8 post-election violence calls for great wisdom and sober reflection. As Members of Parliament discuss the report, they must be extremely careful not to tear open wounds of that most regrettable history of this country. The Justice Philip Waki Commission came up with startling findings on the violence that erupted soon after the bungled 2007 presidential election. It also made recommendations on the way forward to avoid a recurrence of clashes over an electoral contest.

The post-election violence (PEV) claimed 1,133 lives and uprooted more than 500,000 Kenyans from their homes. It remains post-independence Kenya’s darkest period. It must never happen again. The majority of Kenyans shudder when they recall the near break out of a civil war. Kenya was nearly a gone case. The MPs must, therefore, ask themselves how discussing the Waki report, helps in the healing and reconciliation process. This is because many Kenyans were directly or indirectly adversely affected by the violence. Children bore witness as their parents and kin were slaughtered by neighbours. Property worth billions of shillings either went up in smoke or was taken away in broad daylight robberies. Many innocent people were uprooted from where they called home and thrown into lives of squalor in camps for Internally displaced persons. For many people in communities across the country, the road to full recovery and true reconciliation has been long and tricky.