Mr. Maina Kiai and Kepta Ombati display the report

May 28, 2008

The ghost of the post election violence returned to haunt this week as a Kenyan lobby group, Youth Agenda released a report on the role of youths in the chaos that rocked the nation immediately after the announcement of the disputed presidential elections by the Electoral Commission of Kenya on December 29.

The report titled, “Who is Guilty? Youth Perspectives on the 2007 Pre-Polls” reveals that though the youth participated in the post poll violence, the chaos were instigated and financed by “older people and mostly politicians.”

Speaking during the launch of the report in Nairobi this week, Youth Agenda Executive Director Kepta Ombati said the Orange Democratic Movement ranked top in violent incidents owing to the party’s attraction of many political players. ODM the report says was the most culpable in perpetrating pre-election violence during last year’s elections.

The report puts the ODM figure at 46.1 per cent of violent cases; nearly double that of its main opponent PNU, with 24.07 per cent of cases. Narc Kenya was more violent than Kanu at 11.11 per cent and 5.56 per cent respectively. ODM Kenya on the other hand was the least offensive with 3.7 per cent of the total cases of violence.

ODM, Mr. Ombati said attracted the largest number of both political and civic aspirants as compared to the other parties, perhaps explaining why the involvement of its members in violent cases.
The report had documented evidence on how many of the incidents were planned long before the elections were held, “Pre-planned electoral violence represents nearly three quarters of all the reported incidents at 71 percent, compared to 20.73 percent for the spontaneous incidents,” said Ombati.
He said that included the hiring of youth to either disrupt or cause mayhem during the election period itself.

At the launch, Mr. Maina Kiai, Chairman, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said the country could witness more of such cases unless the current constitution is changed. “We are a bunch of violent people. We are a society of hypocrites and unless we come to terms with that reality, we may never change the situation. This country needs a new constitution for things to change,” he said.
Mr. Kiai added that there should be no amnesty for people arrested in connection with the post-election violence that rocked the country. He said the report by the Youth Agenda would help the country to reflect and realise the need to embrace peace and unity.

The 88-page document points an accusing finger to the youth for active participation in the killings of nearly more than 1,500 people and the displacement of over 500,000 others early this year. According to “Who is Guilty,” the older persons account for 17.07 percent of the violence. Joint planning accounts for 57.32 percent of all cases, the report however reveals that it was difficult to establish responsibility for the remaining cases. Ombati said the youth were the main actors taking the lead with responsibility for 54.88 percent of all the cases.

The youth also account for 7.32 percent in terms of planning the chaos according to the findings.
The Youth Agenda report outlines specific recommendations including that of overhauling the Electoral Commission of Kenya and a replacement with competent professionals. It also recommends the formation of a special police unit to handle election-related offences in the country to ensure there is effective enforcement of electoral laws and regulations.

Further proposals outlined in the report include the necessity of educating Kenyans on the need to shun violence countrywide through civic education programmes. It suggests that the youth be actively engaged in the search for solutions for electoral violence as well as other political, economic and social problems.

Nearly 600 suspected perpetrators of the violence are being held by the police, many of them young people accused of having killed, maimed or burnt people’s houses after the presidential polls.
The report, which was jointly funded by the United States Agency for International Development, Pact Kenya and other organisations, indicated that electoral violence was not uniformly spread across the political parties.