Reaching for New Horizons

There may have been many reasons why the Kenyan elections was violent free as witnessed by both the citizens and those with special interests in the Kenyan situation. A myriad of peace initiatives were rolled out in Kenya before these elections and perhaps this contributed to the success. At the same time, people also argue that the Kenyan citizen decided it was time to move away from political immaturity to something worthwhile. In our daily encounter with the Kibera youth, interesting life changing stories have been collected that partly shows why the youth changed tune and sang the peace gospel above all else. Can this be the beginning of good things to come? I have an obligation of sharing one of the stories below, which was collected by one of the project members in December 2012:

For an average youth living in Kibera, matters of good governance and servant leadership are clichés that are always heard only about but never actually seen. These words are so repeated that they no longer hold any meaning to even those who utter them. Horrific events that are results to poor leadership have been witnessed in the slum that youth have even actually started living with a defeatist attitude. It is not unusual to find youth bowing to fate and reducing themselves to mere survivors who are very reluctant to take action that can result to positive transformation. However, with the introduction of the “Action Inter-Ethnic Dialogue and Peaceful Reconciliation Project,” considerable steps have been noticed on the way the youth now respond to leadership, constitution and political parties matters in relation to the Kibera area. The trend shows that the youth are now coming out to exercise their civil rights, liberties and responsibilities.

Of particular interest is a young man I met at Gatwekera. Gatwekera is one of the Kibera villages that have circles of political violence and much heightened political activity because it is home to Kamkunji Grounds, the community’s political field. However, I came to learn from the young man that most youth were getting tired to even vote because they see politics as the major problem. In his own words he says: “My attitude towards elections and politics has been very negative. I had been convinced that we do not have leadership that is capable of changing anything. Personally, I had decided not to even vote because I have never registered as a voter in my entire life.” The young man asserted that this view was held by many other youth in Gatwekera. Though he adds:” But I think all these have changed because of this peace project”

This Gatwekera young man first heard of the Project through a radio mention by Pamoja FM. He then decided to attend the event that was advertised. The event was a youth dialogue forum for the youth in Gatwekera, Soweto West and Kianda. Later he got a chance to attend a voter education seminar and has been keenly monitoring the other activities in the project. According to him, he has come to the realization of the immense opportunities that the new constitution has offered and the call to youth to take up leadership positions at a personal level. For a person who has suffered from cycles of violence in the past, he had resolved not to ever register as a voter but after realizing the sacred duty of voting, he is now convinced that he shall register as a voter for the first time and practice his civic duty.

The young man believes that it is a show of taking lead by just doing the simple act of registering as a voter. “Personally, after these cycles of violence, I gave up on voting. I am among the many who suffered the looting of property during the violence. However, now I know better than to fail to register. Now I know that I can inspire change among my friends and I have to register as a voter to be able to elect leaders of my choice. People who I believe can deliver better services to the entire populace,” he says. The young man attributes this change to the intensity at which the coordination team organizes the events. Most of the programmes for the events are packaged to dwell in the importance of leadership and its relation to peace building and the provision of the new constitution in conflict management and electoral laws. The conviction in Gatwekera, as epitomizes by the young man, is that more youth are taking charge and reaching for new horizons in their quest for peaceful co-existence and a safe Kibera.

Youth taking lead and realising their true potential is one way of political maturity. The average Kenyan has decided that he perfectly knows what he wants to determine with his vote and future. The peace messages being outlined by the Kibera youth is a very interesting discourse that can be taken a step further to give the leadership a challenge to take into considerations the aspirations and wants of the people. Kibera is talking ans so Who is Listening?