Kenya's Leaders Argue About Themselves

The news has been familiar for a day: "But prospects appeared dim as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his challenger, Raila Odinga, blamed each other for the collapse of talks supervised by the African Union," says Edmund Sanders' piece in the LA Times [1].

What may be less familiar is the notion that both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga wish to keep the conversation about themselves, even as one points the finger at the other, that the eruption of violence in Kenya has to do with their leadership and the much disputed and, one might say, ruined elections, and that they are somehow central to "conflict resolution", that thoroughly modern "buzzy", in Kenya.

I will tell you the truth:

• A Hollywood producer, a team of writers, and an energetic administrative team with military-grade muscle made available for peaceful operations could do more to alleviate distress where it is physical and redress perceived injustice across the board than any political animal preening for his self-aggrandized place in history.
• The press, ethnographers, and sociologists would do well to report faithfully the local histories of the country to better and fairly freeze the past in the past and get on with what needs fixing.
• Roll out the "pork barrels"--i.e., the war chests that build new roads (and compensate land owners for their contribution), create new distribution (and manufacturing, farming plus administrative, military, and entertainment) paths and districts;
• And for God's sake, redevelop Kibera Slum, first by establishing good places (why not?) to move 90 percent of that population, then by moving people, and getting those New Towns to work.  If the world's crack "economic development professionals" can't help out with that job, then, only then, is there no hope.

Also in this mess, the binary that is "one path to chaos" and the other to "peace and prosperity" may be dismissed as harmful.  Cultures, all of them with all of us, are multidimensional, multilayered, behavior molding and language transmission machines: moreover, in every political culture overall, some will never find freedom or justice even while they enjoy the benefits of both; most, however, well understand and appreciate a good roof, a reliable stove, a full belly and not a little and healthy of both personal and political security and respect.

As for the politicians, both would be better off working issues, the more practical, the better, that as opposed to working on one another.

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1. Sanders, Edmund.  "Diplomatic bid to resolve Kenya crisis fails."  The Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2008.

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Correspondence: James S. Oppenheim

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