Amnesty, and Acceptable Loss – by Al Kags
Written by Kwani · June 3, 2008
There are two trains of thought on the awarding of blanket amnesty to
the many Kenyans who are suspected and stand accused of reckless riot
without regard for life and property.
One train of thought, as ably expressed by Martha Karua (the only PNU voice I
have heard consistently on the subject), is that the law is blind to
temporary political situations; since at the time the perpetrators of
murder and reckless destruction of property rent Kenyan nights with true
horror, the law did not understand their cause, or more accurately, their
style of protest. Therefore, this argument continues, the law must not be spared
in prosecuting them and amnesty shall be considered as per mitigation
based on a guilty plea – that is, on a case by case basis.
The other school of thought, as most memorably articulated by ODM’s Henry Koskey,
is that the end justifies the means. That the conduct of the
violent perpetrators culminated in the formation of the kind of
representative government that will take Kenya to the next level. This
school of thought goes on to ask whether it is wrong for one to fight
for his rights, and sees any casualty as collateral damage. Rather like the
Mau Mau war that saw many people killed, maimed and lost in the hands of the
“terrorists” – now called freedom fighters – for the same acts of
killing.
I have struggled with this question for a while and I continue to struggle
with it. Right now my thinking starts with an analogy.
In Nazi Germany, medical researchers carried out research on the Jews,
Gypsies (Romanies) and other prisoners that advanced medical
knowledge towards finding important answers that could help us today. For
instance, in Auschwitz, Dr. Josef Mengele got his PhD for his thesis
entitled “Racial Morphological Research on the Lower Jaw Section of Four
Racial Groups”, thoughts that have developed into profiling of, say, dead
unidentifiable bodies. He also did a lot of research into twins.
It has not been overtly acknowledged that the research conducted by Nazi
medical professionals made any remarkable breakthroughs. In fact, it has
only widely been spoken and written of in the context of the inhumanity of
it all and the many deaths that it (the research) caused. However, many
medical professionals quietly agree that the research carried out in the
Nazi concentration camps did advance medical progress, especially in some key
areas such as genetics.
The question is this: if the research conducted by Dr. Mengele or even Dr.
Albert Naisser, who infected prostitutes with syphilis in a bid to find a
cure, had yielded results that helped us eradicate cancer, for example, would
they still be punished for the murder of the thousands of people who died in
this quest as “collateral damage”? Or would we focus on the breakthrough and
therefore move on? After all, they would have saved millions of lives for
eons in future – isn’t the death of a few thousand an acceptable loss?
No.
In the same way, the death of the people in that Kiambaa church is not an
acceptable loss for the very necessary change that is in the process of
unfolding in Kenya. The death of one child in the IDP camps as a result of
cold and hunger is not worth the very important and critical resolution of
the long standing issues.
The people who perpetrated such violence, no matter what their motivations
(and they were likely on the street on behalf of you and I, the middle class
dude and dudette, who takes some aversion to dust and tear gas) and no
matter what their provocation, must be dealt with to the full extent
permissible by law. Blanket amnesty sets a precedent that Kenya will not be
able to justify in future.
Al Kags is a Nairobi-based writer of poetry, journalism and prose whose writing has appeared in the Standard newspaper, mashada.com, and other publications. He is the creator of the Quarterly Colour Series of poetry, an e-book of poetry that continues to spread far and wide.
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I respect oppinion for what it is opens up our thoughts,but blind oppinion, this I disgress!Tell me, Please answer me.What was the poor Kenyan Supposed to do after the only ‘right’ they supposedly have was taken away from them in the full glare of TV Cameras?
Killings for whatever reasons can not be tollareted so is arrogance that makes your intestine coil!How does it feel when I steal your cow then I tell you to go to court whose judges I appoint?
I do not know but I here justice is an illussion no one can ever compensate lives!NOBODY!Let us not politic with human life,let us not call for law to be applied selectively,Many youth were shot in KISUMU,waren’t those lives?No one is talking about that why?Because what has been done has been done and forward we must move.
Blanklet amnesty?For what,are this youth criminals because Amnesty is only given to criminals,this youth foght for their right,for the democracy of this nation,I dont know your political views but again I disgress them why?Look at the state of our nation today!The older generation has taken over and they controll entirely everything and when the youth question we get shot dead,A Tout was shot yesterday for asking for his rights!Isnt that life?People were killed in Naivasha burnt alive in a house no one questions this,People died all over this country,is it only in Eldoret?
NO!
Tribalism is the cullprit!We nolonger stand for what we claim we do we play tribal in everything!Amnesty or No Amnesty,The youth of this nation deserves better!They might lock us in,they might speak arrogantly and call those who are calling for amnesty fools,But mark you not even the army will stop the winds of realisation,not even shallow and biassed oppinion!There is no law against fighting for our rights,they might kill us today but we are already aware,they cannot finish the hell lot of us!The only language this regimete clique of individuals (that I hope you do not belong to)understant is,VIOLENCE! DEATH! and DISTRACTION!
The END might not justify the means but the only weapon I have I will use and the only LANGUAGE they undersatand I will speak!And that is what the people did.
If the law is to be followed let us start from the WAGALLAH MASSACRE,MUNGIKI KILLINGS OF 2000-2002,NAIVASHA KILLINGS and the many killings I believe you know about.
If indeed you have this nation at heart you will take a closer look and you will realise there is more than we can handle!
FORGIVENESS is the remedy,this is not an oppinion,but a request because TWO WRONGS NEVER MAKES A RIGHT.
With respect.
Ken,
I see your point.
I am glad to see that we agree on a number of points:
1. That killing of any nature cannot be tolerated.
2. That through Kenya’s history – both pre-colonial and in independent Kenya, there have been many wrongful killings. From the Hola prison Massacre to the Tribal clashes, to Mwakenya torture and Killings right up to today, none of these outstanding issues have met with justice.
3. That the youth deserve better.
On these three and various other point in your conversation, we agree. I just want to take it further and say that if we do not start at some point adhering to the Law and if we do not stop setting the precedents that make riots and violent demonstrations ok, we shall never stop.
For these reason, the 100plus people who have been arrested shall have to face the law. Some may be acquitted some convicted but beyond there punishment, must be a message sent to future generations that killing is not allowed under any circumstances.
Al Kags
Unless you don’t speak or hear Swahili, the chants “haki yetu” may have failed to register in your mind. People were out on the streets,fighting,crying,demanding that justice be done. Why were they fighting for justice?Because they held the view that their right had been taken away and justice had been denied.You say that those who were out on the street were doing so on behalf of the middle class who are averse to tear gas and dust must be dealt with to the full extent permissible by the law. What hogwash! You add that blanket amnesty sets a precedent that Kenya will not be able to justify in future. My friend, you sound like a very loyal Burmese government operative denying that Cyclone Nargis had hit. You must also not be aware of how shoddy Kenya’s legal system is.
Open your eyes and face stark reality. People were angry because the change they envisioned was denied, note the word denied. I wanted change too,I was angry too because change had been denied, but I could console myself with a DVD movie, FIFA playstation game,surfing the internet or round of drinks with friends at the middle class local pub. Why? Because it was reasonably sheltered from the hardships faced by the youth who poured out on the streets venting their frustration. The youth in the slums and underprivilleged areas live a hard knock life. They are faced with unemployment, police harassment, lack of social amenities. They live a life of frustration. The blame in this case lies fairly and squarely with the government. Naturally, there being no outlets to vent, they poured out on the streets and used whatever other fora at their disposal to state their case. Sadly, this was hijacked by some bad elements on both sides of the political divide who seized this chance to carry out some disgraceful acts.
I hate to sound confrontational,petty and unemotional, but when you mention Kiambaa in Eldoret, you must do so in the breath breath as Kisumu, Naivasha or Kibera. It is not only the Kikuyu who were affected, Kenyans from all walks of life were affected and what I see from you is a masked attempt in highlighting only the Kikuyu deaths. Again, all of Kenya suffered and I think this should have been the time to ignite nationalistic tendencies within each one of us.
Kenya is one of the most unequal societies in the world, this is a fact we cannot deny. It is indeed the reason why violence broke out, because everyone wanted an equal share of the national cake. Sadly this has not been so due to the tribal cocoons that all of us, including me and you, are guilty of retreating to. These tribal cocoons made us see ourselves as being superior to another tribe,sparking angeer,frustration and eventual rebuke from the “oppressed tribes”.
This is not to say that I condone the killings that took place in the Rift Valley, no. I am simply saying that this tribal chauvinism was imparted to us by our leaders. It is the leaders, whom I liken to Generals in a war who should be probed and charged. They are on both sides of the political divide so this process should not be done selectively. That is the truth of the matter.
Unless you live in some far away planet or were in a comatose state between late December and early February, you cannot fail to appreciate the fact that the mass action in the days after the disputed poll resulted in the representative government that we now have.
Why did we resort to mass action?This is not nuclear physics. We resorted to mass action because clearly this was the only language that the party that claimed to have won the election would understand.
It is sad that Kenyans were killed,maimed and uprooted from their homes, ancestral or otherwise. It is sad that Kenya is divided on tribal fault lines that cause an earthquake everytime there is talk of elections. We must let the youth free because locking them up only creates the impression that they are being punished for being in a particular ethno-political class. This appears like revenge, and in my opinion, it is like targeting the drug courier when we know who the drug lord is.
Let us not have revenge on our minds, let us be big enough to be forgiving and move on with building a new Kenya. When I suggest we move on with building Kenya, I don’t suggest that we forget what happened, of course not. Let us infact use this dark chapter as a lesson to signify the emergence of a new Kenya, a Kenya free of tribalism, a Kenya with equitable resource distribution.
AMnsety,forgiveness, whatever you call, this is what Kenya needs to drive on to vision 2030. We do not need revenge
I think if anyone should decide who gets off the hook and who dosen’t it must be first and foremost all the folk who were displaced, i have no right to say whether they should or should not be let off the hook because i was not directly affected by their actions.
I agree with Nathan too, Vengeance is not the way out, find the ones at fault, find the offended party and let them decide what should be done with the offendors
Indeed we agree in many issues and I must add here today that a precedent must be set not to allow the law to be broken but surely is this the situation for such a warning?
Come on the election was a fraud!
We cannot correct a wrong by punishing the peole who yelled for their right fo this concern was a genuine one!