Political violence: Do not return Kenya to dark corners of history

Signals of goodwill from the State can be very confusing. As the Makau Mutua taskforce was buoying up Kenyans with thoughts of remorse over State-fronted extra-judicial killings and maiming of citizens, the same State was inflicting fresh offensives against the people’s liberty.

Nairobi’s bare-faced goon invasion and desecration of the All Saints Cathedral, last week, was a playback to the 1990s. It is recalled that, in that season, gun-toting State agents repeatedly and violently followed into the sanctuary votaries of multiparty democracy.

In March 1992, the State dispersed from Uhuru Park women protesters, who wanted their sons released from political prison. Among them were the mothers of politicians Koigi Wa Wamwere and Mirugi Kariuki. The women’s flight from gunshots and teargas ended up at the cathedral. They were protected in the basement of the All Saints, for three days, during which the police laid the cathedral under siege.

On the last day, they stormed the sanctuary with guns and tear gas. They injured the women and arrested a number. The country was shocked at the shedding of blood in the sanctuary. Kenyans will recall how the clergy, led by Archbishop Manases Kuria, protested against this sacrilege. The All Saints was cleansed and sanctified in a special ceremony soon after.

There was a repeat desecration on 7 July 1997, during that year’s Saba Saba commemoration. A worship service in progress was disrupted with gunfire and tear gas. Protesters were clobbered right inside the cathedral. This time around it was Archbishop David Gitari who conducted the desecration and cleansing activities. 

Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has demanded the resignation of the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, even as he knows that this will not happen. For, the police were everywhere in Kakamega last Sunday, ready to do their thing. They were here following a hurriedly convened presidential function, cobbled up to counter the presence of Opposition chiefs in the town.

Even as the Anglican Church of Kenya contemplates yet another cleansing and sanctification of the All Saints, observers will note that it is now the trend to desecrate places of prayer and worship. When it is not by goons escorted by the police, it is by the police escorted by goons.

History reminds us that these are dangerous happenings that possibly portend an even more dangerous future. The desecrations of the All Saints in the 1990s matured into the Kiamba Church arson, on New Year’s Day of 2008. A political mob set on fire the Kenya Assemblies of God sanctuary. It burnt to death at least 36 people, who had sought safety in the sanctuary, in the wake of violent ethnic cleansing in Eldoret, following the 2007 presidential election results.

These are memories we should prefer to tuck away, in the dark corners of history. Yet, when the script begins replying itself, we are behoved to call them up. They are stark reminders that we are set on the dark road, once again. It is particularly harrowing that some of the actors in 2008 drama of death are still active in the political arena.

Kenyans, and the rest of the world, should not take lightly the re-emerged violent political desecration of places of worship. The human element in us was possibly benumbed beyond repair in the 2007/2008 happenings.

We have since brought up a mature generation that has no memory of that ugly season. We have taught it violence. It is ready to hire itself to the political class for replays of past death squad activities.

As the clock ticks towards August next year, the State must begin holding honest dialogue with itself. State House must lead. Where is Kenya going to be after 10 August 2027? Shall we still have a country? This should be President Ruto’s foremost concern. With all its blemishes, real and imagined, the Uhuru regime handed to Ruto a peaceful and stable country. Under Ruto, establishment politicians make deliberate efforts, every day, to polarize the nation along angry ethnic lines.

But equally polarizing are the soundbites by Ruto’s former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua. If he has not engaged in physical violence of the kind the Stare appears to abet, his politics are structurally violent. So too are his speeches. As perceived by John Galtung, a respected conflict and peace researcher, polarizing a society along identity issues like tribe, age, religion, gender is structural violence. In the long run, it morphs into physical violence. 

As Kenya gravitates towards 2027, Ruto and Gachagua, and their eager troops, need to be reminded of past dark corners. They must not return Kenya there.

- Dr Muluka is a strategic communications adviser. www.barrackmuluka.co.ke