Our Media

Which media tells the truth? I have to thank the Kenyan media for striving to be objective while exposing the truth in what has since robbed Kenya it's international reputation as a stable democracy and a model for Africa. The events unfolding in Kenya were uncalled for, untimely and quite unexpected. However, as much as they seemed to have surprised the world, I was not very surprised because I already had a bad feeling about the elections, especially when the Electoral Commission of Kenya delayed announcing the winner of the presidential votes and eventually suspending the process due to " public pressure".

I remember how I was roaming everywhere to get hold of the latest news about the elections, being a kenyan living in South Africa,  I simply could not be satisfied by Aljazeera, Sky News, BBC, dont even mention CNN. In many occassions, I was channel hoping and not even SABC Africa - I wonder how prominent African issues are to them, they seemed to be focusing on other issues and proximity to them did not count as a news value - could satisfy me. CNBC-Africa should just delete the word "Africa" attached on CNBC, because everytime I am tuned in, they are always reporting on stories in the United States and Europe. Anyway, the internet came in handy and thanks God the Kenyan daily newspaper online (Daily Nation) was available.

On this day, while busy reading nation online, a female kenyan friend walked in shouting " hey Fred, I thought I would find you here." She sounded happy, but, at the same time, had an empty expresion on her face. Then, well, we had to update ourselves on whatever election news we had. Knowing that I am Luo, she told me that Raila, the Luo opposition leader, was still ahead of Kibaki, the Kikuyu. She was not literaly mentioning the two tribes but what she said later, convinced me that she realy wants victory for Kibaki, since Kibaki belongs to her tribe. She said Raila is now leading with a difference of 200,000 votes and continued that the government is planning to delete names starting with letters "O" and "A", which happens to be Luo names, in Raila's Lang'ata costituency so that he can loose his parliarmentary seat. She seemed not to have any problem with such fraud.

For you to be President in Kenya, you have to be an elected member of parliament as one of the requirements by law. I was shocked to find out from the news that Raila's name was actualy missing from the voter register just like she said and several other names. Raila's second name is Odinga. From that point, I knew things will terribly go wrong in this year's election. I remember telling my friend at the cybercafe that I also suspect, due to the delayed announcement that Kibaki will be declared the winner, but I also warned her that if that is the case, and given the support the opposition has in Kenya, it will create chaos. I was not shocked when violence erupted in Kenya.

Extensive coverage by the international media followed. This focus included heavy criticism that reminded me of major stereotypes the West still have about Africa and Kenya in particular. A wholesale statement about their reporting suggested that the Kenyan situation is nothing different from the tribal wars in Rwanda and Burundi and others. It was simply the Luo fighting the Kikuyu as a result of the disputed elections and not a war as a result of genuine electoral fraud. Infact, it turned out to be other tribes fighting in Rift Valley.

With little hopes of knowing what was happening at home - I have to thanks to media diversity, because while this kind of reporting came largely from Sky News, BBC and CNN, Aljazeera reported more accurately, putting issues into perspective and in their right context - I was very worried. Most Kenyans know that this is not a tribal war, it is a war for economic reforms. The poor are fed up with empty promises from selfish politicians. Little wonder that the hot spots of the clashes are areas with poor people (slum areas of major cities and rural areas). The electoral fraud only heightened ribal suspicions in such areas which later turned into physical battles as rival tribes accused and counter accused each other for their economic plight.

The victimized here, obviously, are the kikuyu because, over the years and since independence, they seemed to have accumulated wealth and are better off than other communities in the country. The economic position of the Kikuyu invited envy from others and can be presumed to be the genesis  of tribal alignments whereby members of the other communities ganged up with the hopes of dis-empowering them. Some communities in Kenya belive Kikuyu's are largely responsible for their poverty. However, nothing can justify the killings but what in now clear now is that Kenyans will not allow selfish leaders in office anymore in future because they have learnt the hard way.

This perhaps marks the death of rigging in future elections and the begining of  genuine democracy where people's voices are respected and leaders are ready to leave office if defeated in elections. The Kenyan media should be given a thumbs up for preaching peace and should keep on preaching peace irrespective of what the foriegn media reports. Afterall, as the first president of Kenya, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta said "Kenya is Marwa Nobody Can Tunya's"  or Kenya is ours, nobody can take it away from us, the responsibility of building our beloved nation rests with us. Kenyatta's expression combines Luo, Kikuyu and english to represent the diversity of the kenyan people, let us protect Kenya.