Re: Dual Society Legacy of colonialism and Human Rights Crisis in Kenya

Hi,

I agree with Cyprian that the prevailing insecurity is a manifestation of the glaring inequalities in our society, which have strong colonial roots. The factors enumerated by Cyprian that have contributed to these inequalities have further been exacerbated by the successive post-independence governments. I wish to further illustrate this:

• Education- we are paying for the one of the greatest sins of Moi¢s regime- the denial of primary education to millions of children. Between mid 1980s and 2000, school enrolment reduced drastically due to government failure, thus creating a mass of about 4 million uneducated and unskilled young persons. Most of these persons are either between 18-35 years of age, which is actually the age bracket of mungiki adherents. We should have expected the worst from this group, considering that our economy at the same time underwent a long period of stagnation and could therefore not create decent livelihood opportunities for these youths. Mungiki¢s rapid growth can therefore be attributed to the near-collapse of our basic education system.


• Land: skewed land ownership system has locked out many peasant households from making a livelihood from productive land resources in this country. Unlike Kenyatta or Moi, Kibaki had an opportunity to correct the situation through such recent initiatives as constitutional reform and enactment of a land policy. Both processes have unfortunately stalled. The growing disaffection in rural areas arising from unemployment makes conscription into Munigki or Sungu Sungu etc a more attractive option of many youths.

The solution will perhaps lie in addressing the land question, dispersing the benefits of economic growth to reach the rural and urban poor through public investment in poverty eradication measures and bringing back into the learning system the generation that missed out on educational opportunities in the yesteryears.

Wambua Kituku