KENYA: Rift Valley relieved but anxieties remain

Record ID: 361527

  • Title: KENYA: Rift Valley relieved but anxieties remain
  • Date: 6th August 2010
  • Summary: CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE CAMP
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACC1R4UEJYHA0KBTMNPAJXHAOA
  • Story Text: Kenyans farming the rolling hills of the Rift Valley heaved a collective sigh of relief on Thursday (August 05) as the east African nation passed a new constitution without any outbursts of violence.
    The Rift Valley province in western Kenya bore the brunt of post-election violence in 2007-2008 and there were widespread fears a contentious vote could trigger further clashes between the different ethnic communities living there.
    Most of the destroyed buildings have been rebuilt and some uprooted villagers have slowly returned home.
    "If nothing changes, I don't foresee any violence in this area; even though things change very quickly in this area, it has been very quiet and we are co-existing peacefully," said George Waweru from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.
    Thousands of police had been deployed to the region to head off any repetition of the tribal bloodletting which erupted when Kibaki was hastily sworn in as president for a second term amid allegations of widespread rigging in December 2007.
    Across the country, but especially in the Rift Valley, the opposition Kalenjin tribe attacked Kikuyu in areas where the two were neighbours. Reprisal assaults on Kalenjin followed.
    This time round, the Rift Valley was less polarised, said William Ruto, a Member of Parliament in the Rift Valley who is also a Minister for Higher Education.
    "2007 was a different ball game. The emotions ran very high that time the country was much more emotionally divided than it is in this referendum. The voting in 2008 acquired a very serious tribal inclination in 2007, this referendum is a lot different," said Ruto.
    The new constitution is meant to help tackle corruption, political patronage, land-grabbing and tribalism. It also introduces greater checks on presidential powers.
    A previous attempt to change the constitution through a referendum in 2005 failed.
    Abortion is one of the biggest issues cited by the "no" campaign in a country of around 36 million that is largely made up of conservative Christians. The law makes abortion legal on medical grounds.
    The church insists the weak drafting of the clause could justify on-demand abortion. Another clause to include public funded Muslim courts known as Kadhi's courts in the constitution, was also a contentious issue for the Church.
    Ruto said that although the constitution has been passed as it is, the government should take into account the issues raised against it.
    "There is a clear serious religious division in Kenya as we are talking. I mean it cannot be for nothing that 90 percent of the Christian leadership is in the NO side of the debate, it cannot be for nothing. Any responsible leader must ask themselves the question, what informs the church's position. And a division between Christians and muslims, who have lived together for a long time is dangerous for any country," said Ruto.
    In the Rift Valley, talk of a return to normal life is still plagued by the underlying tensions that have come with tribal relations since Kenya's independence in 1963. Of these, land is perhaps the most divisive issue that frequently emerges during electioneering. Opponents of the new charter have criticised clauses aimed at putting caps on land ownership.
    "Many of the confrontations even in the past have been about who owns land and how they came to own it. Putting such a clause in the constitution actually provides constitutional platform for those confrontations to escalate and as a person who comes from the Rift Valley where we have had those kind of confrontations, I think we would be setting this country up for very very serious confrontations," said Ruto.
    A majority of Kenyans however, are celebrating the peaceful passing of the new constitution in the hopes that despite any flaws, it could reshape the political landscape of east Africa's largest economy.
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