The following backgrounder was authored by ALARM, Inc., and distributed via email.

History of the Crisis

Violence and unrest spread through throughout Kenya after incumbent president Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the presidential elections held on December 27. After the announcement on December 30, supporters of Kibaki’s main opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), staged protests of the elections, which they claimed were rigged in favor of Kibaki. In the most populated areas of the country, these protests erupted into violence, leading to ethnically-motivated killing, burning of residential and business areas, rape, and looting.

The motivation behind the unrest is varied and complex. Historically, voting in Kenya has fallen along ethnic lines, and this election was no exception with Kibaki’s kinsmen, the Kikuyu, opposing other groups such as the Luos and Kalenjin, who supported Odinga. During colonial times, the Kikuyu were displaced from their traditional areas in the fertile highlands and forcibly resettled, especially in the Rift valley. Since independence in the late 1950s, there has been a widespread perception that the Kikuyu have dominated the country, leaving other ethnic groups without equal access to resources, especially fertile land.

After announcing the results of the election, Kibaki’s government declared a ban on political protest and live media coverage of poliical events. Odinga planned a million-person protest on January 3rd in spite of the ban, but police with water cannons and tear gas fought off protesters who gathered in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. On Jan. 5th, Kibaki and Odinga met separately with US Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer. While violence continued, Odinga announced that he would not ask Kibaki to resign, as long as he agreed to reconciliation talks with the aid of an international mediator.

Ghanian President and African Union Chairman, Jon Kufuor, was selected to facilitate the talks, and even as the initial date for talks drew near on Jan. 8th, confusion remained as to whether Kibaki had formally invited Kufuor to mediate. The Kibaki government further muddled the situation by sending the Minister of Foreign Affairs to “brief” Kufuor on the “situation” right before his trip, an action taken to be of bad faith by the opposition. On Jan. 7th, Frazer announced that there had been inconsistencies in the election, but that there were indications of rigging on both sides. The tension continued to escalate on Jan. 8th after Kibaki appointed 17 members to the new cabinet which included key members of several of the various parties united behind Kibaki as the Party of National Unity (PNU) but no members of the ODM. On Jan. 9th, Kufuor met separately with Kibaki and Odinga. Although the talks did not come to a resolution, with each side casting blame on the other for the situation, Kufuor returned to Ghana, assuring the international community that both sides agreed to continue talks under the mediation of former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

The ODM called for renewed protests on Jan. 11th, and on Jan. 16th, protesters staged rallies in Nairobi and other parts of the country such as Kusum and Eldoret. At least two people were killed in Kisumu when police used live ammunition on protesters. By Jan. 18, at least 22 people were reported killed, and after the protests the violence continued in Nairobi and the Rift Valley. To memorialize the victims, the ODM organized a service to be held in Nairobi on Jan. 23rd. Outside the service, police fired tear gas at Odinga’s supporters, dispersing the service. Meanwhile, the state-owned telecommunications building was set on fire.

For the first time since the election, Odinga and Kibaki met together with Annan on Jan. 24th. The negotiation began slowly, and meanwhile on Jan. 24th and 25th, a wave of serious violence broke out in Nakuru, a city northwest of Nairobi. By Jan. 28th, at least 64 people were killed in Nakuru and 22 in nearby Naibasha. Rioters burned half of another town in the area, Total Station, resulting in several deaths and 50,000 people seeking refuge. An ODM Member of Parliament, Mugabe Were, was shot and killed on Jan. 29th, and on Jan. 31st another ODM MP was shot and killed in Eldoret, leading to renewed protests and violence.

Annan announced on Feb. 1st that both sides had agreed to an agenda for peace talks. In the weeks after this announcement, however, both sides remained deeply divided, and progress towards reconciliation remained arduous and slow. On Feb. 15th, Annan stated that both sides had agreed to a range of propositions, including the improvement of the electoral process and human rights, as well as a review of the constitution. Annan plans to remain in Kenya until a new government is in place and hopes that a commission to review the election will be in place by March 15th.

After last minute posturing from both sides, which caused a temporary suspension of the negotiations, Kibaki and Odinga signed an agreement on February 28 as Annan watched. They agreed to a two-party coalition government with shared appointments to the cabinet and a new office of prime minister, to be assumed by Odinga. After the agreement was signed, Odinga told the BBC, “You have seen the ugly face of ethnic confrontation in our country. I feel confident that the experience we have gone through has been a teacher and everyone is going to ensure that this coalition does succeed.”

Effects of the Crisis

Many people who have lived in a village their whole lives have been driven out of their homes by their neighbors, simply because of their ethnicity. The ethnic segregation is pulling apart communities and ruining the economy. The crisis is removing teachers and students from schools, and leaving thousands of jobs vacant as people seek refuge in areas where their ethnic group dominates. Most of these people see little hope for reconciliation in their communities and fear for their safety if they were to try to move back to their homes.

Since the beginning of the crisis, between 800 and 1,500 people have been killed and as many as 600,000 have been displaced. Over 50,000 people forced from Nairobi slums are camping in Jamhuri Park. The violence took place primarily in the cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kericho, Mt Elgon and Kuresoi (Molo), but the whole of Kenya has been affected. Although the violence was originally directed towards the Kikuyus by other tribal groups, the Kikuyus also initiated retalitory attacks. Many homes, businesses, and vehicles were destroyed, and violent groups rounded up men and forced them to participate in looting and rioting.

Conditions in the hundreds of Internally Displaced Person (IDP) Camps are horrific. Food, water, and clothing remain very scarce, and the camps are not secure. People in one camp reported they had a mug of porridge for breakfast, no lunch, and very little dinner. Women are warned against using the bathroom or going anywhere unaccompanied for fear of rape. Some young girls and women have resorted to exchanging sex for food.

At the peak of the violence, travel by road or rail was difficult and in some cases impossible. In many places commerce and agricultural production ground to a halt, leaving many people still dependent on relief food. In camps and other areas relying on relief, the goods are not always being distributed equally between tribal and ethnic groups, exacerbating an already tense situation.

Annan said, “The job of national reconciliation and national reconstruction is not for the leaders alone. It must be carried out in every neighborhood, village, hamlet of the nation.” However, now that the political agreement has been signed, the people remain in a precarious situation. Many of the those who were driven from their homes will never return. Seeking safer homes elsewhere, they cluster according to their tribes, a natural inclination that leaves the country more ethnically stratified. It also avoids the hard work of reconciliation, without which the violence only lies dormant.

Things are beginning to take shape through physical expression for our first orphanage in Kibera – Kisima.

We are leasing this building to launch Kisima.

Here is a view of Kisima from a market area.

Our first children will be served starting in November.

Come join the Olympic Dream for Darfur to Nashville. It begins with a March with the Torch at 1:30 PM at Olin Lawn on the Vanderbilt University campus, 25th Ave. S. at Garland Ave. The March will be followed by a rally at University School of Nashville, 2000 Edgehill Ave., 2:30-3:30 PM. Featured speaker: Big Kenny of the hit country music duo Big and Rich, speaking about his October experience in Sudan. This is your chance to help press China to take more action to end the genocide.

This video, set to the song “Do You Feel Their Pain?” by Steve Camp, shows what life is like inside Kibera and pictures of the children and orphans who live in the slum. New Seed is opening it’s doors for the Kisima Orphanage November 1st, 2007.

We are in the process of selecting the first ten children who will be served in the Kisima orphanage. The Kisima Orphanage Center opens officially November 1st.

The Bible says in John 1:14 that Jesus was “full of grace and truth.”

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  (ESV)

But just what does this phrase mean?  Key to unpacking this phrase – full of grace and truth – is to understand how Jesus viewed his own ministry. To better understand how Jesus viewed his own ministry we only need to turn to Luke 4 where we read:

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
(ESV)

Jesus interpreted the very foundation of his public ministry to be a direct fulfillment of the passage from Isaiah 61 (quoted above), which is also very similar to the language in Isaiah 58:6-12.  The point is this.

The truth is . . .  there are many who are poor and abandoned (truth).  He has come to bring good news (grace).  There are many who are blind and lame (truth). He has come to bring sight and healing (grace).  There are many who are bound and oppressed (truth). He has come to set them free and to break the bonds (grace).  There are many who are naked and homeless (truth). He has come to clothe and provide shelter (grace).

Those who opposed Jesus could mock his theology, they could laugh at his faith, they denigrated his deity, they could even kill him.  And the same reaction happens today among the followers of Jesus.  But when it came to observing his compassion and care for the most undeserved, the oppressed, the widow and the orphan, the abandoned ones; they could only marvel at how he loved people, because he was “full of grace and truth.”

One thing I like about our present facility and location of the Kisima orphanage is how it can be clearly seen from a good distance since it is fashioned like a rounded tower that rises into the sky.

If Kisima is to be a watered garden in a scorched place (cf. Isa 58:12) then our physical facility itself needs to stand out from the rest of the Kibera slum itself.

Exult in His presence – the father of orphans, the champion of widows, God, in His holy habitation.
- Psalm 68:6

Let not the downtrodden run away disappointed; let the poor and needy praise Your name. Rise, O God, champion Your cause….
- Psalm 74:22

I know that the Lord will champion the cause of the poor, the right of the needy.
- Psalm 140:13

Champion the poor and needy.
- Prov 31:9

The JPS translation

The Lord has led New Seed of Hope to a small group of people who have a heart for orphans, the vulnerable, and the oppressed.

Brother Mathew Itonga is a lawyer.

Jane Gachare is a Human Resources Manager with training experience from an International Research Institute.

Brother Johnson Migwi, the project manager. An administrator with vast experience in multinational corporations and a preacher of the word.