MOPA mombasa mungiki (24 May 2007)

now that you're thoroughly perplexed...

the movement for political accountability (MOPA) is a KNCHR (kenya national commission on human rights) initiative aiming to empower kenyan voters to hold their political leaders to a higher standard. it is, in essence, a contract that candidates in this year's presidential and parliamentiary elections would have to sign pledging to slash their own salaries, show up to at least 3/4 of sessions of parliament, not resort to negative ethnicity and hate speech while campaigning...plus a whole mess of other rights-based demands that i wish the american congress came anywhere near meeting. MOPA is being rolled out across the country in a new town every weekend, which is why (da DUM!) i scored a ride out to kenya's gorgeous coast last week.

truth be told, i knew precious little about the program as of last wednesday, when i jumped in the car headed out of nairobi. seven hours later we arrived in mombasa, and i drew in that salty air, holding it in before releasing it slowly with a languid sigh. the steam of the tropics and predominant swahili culture combine to give mombasa a feeling entirely different from bustling nairobi.

life is slower on the coast...i mean, let's face it, who's in a rush when there's a warm breeze blowing in off the indian ocean? the unhurried pace reminded me of village life in togo and it was in many ways a relief to sink back into that humid skin, if only for a few days. sitting with the old men drinking ginger-infused coffee on benches facing the harbour was like being at a tchouk stand with a view and i ached for kaniamboua more strongly than i have in quite some time.

rambling around and taking in the old town's ornately carved doors and balconies; hunting for avocado juice; diving into a whole, fresh, fabulously seasoned fish with my fingers and washing it down with a cold tusker beer at a little beach bar...and all of this on a work trip. apparently human rights is way more fun than even i thought.

there is so much more i could say about mombasa and the MOPA effort, but ever since i got back to nairobi on sunday my head has been full with all the craziness surrounding the secretive mungiki cult and their recent activity. i'm not clear on how much the international press is covering all of this, but a recent bbc article sums it up pretty well.

from what i can tell, the mungiki are like a bizarre kenyan mafia. they've been arond since the eighties and were pretty marginalized at first, but have gained in power and influence seemingly as a result of the kenyan security force's inability to protect its citizens. where the police are unable or unwilling to act, the mungiki step in and people pay them for protection, particularly in the slums.

the past few years have seen a sharp rise in violent mungiki activity as they seem to be poising themselves to assume some sort of position of power (speculation varies widely as to whether they want seats in parliament or are planning a full-on coup) and things have gotten particularly intense in recent weeks. the kenyan police have retaliated with brutal and arbitrary attacks in what seems to me an effort to intimidate the sect and their supporters, and kibaki has even backed a shoot to kill order.

obviously none of this quite jives with human rights, so the national commission i'm working with has spoken out strongly against the police and government for their reaction. but people are scared and confused and human rights don't seem popular among people fearing for their lives...there has actually been a strong public outcry against the commission since people feel the KNCHR's calls to respect the rule of law and due process are capitulations to the mungiki, especially given the as-yet unexplained explosion that went off downtown on monday.

it will be a tough time for this young institution i'm working for and i'm at once fascinated and anxious to see how it plays out. so far, not too well: KNCHR hosted a huge forum on police accountability and effectiveness involving delegates from all over the continent from monday through yesterday in an attempt to work on their thorny relationship with security forces.

while the conference was planned log before the crackdowns began, its relevance was of course hightened by recent events. the kenyan police, unfortunately, abruptly pulled out of the forum, leading police invited from uganda, tanzania, and rwanda to boycott, as well. it was a sharp reminder of how tenuous the commission's progress really is. while the conference proceeded as planned, with civil society and human rights institutions hunkering down to hash out a plan to engage more effectively with police while holding them to account, all of us present at the forum knew we were preaching to the choir.

it was a fantastic opportunity for me to make contacts and see the work going on in the region, but i couldn't help gritting my teeth when i saw ali, the police commissioner, giving a press conference on the news since i knew where he ought to have been instead.

debate reigns within the commission as to the best way forward. some of the commissioners are true firebrands, outspoken, passionate, inspiring...and yet that very outspokenness risks driving an even deeper wedge between KNCHR and the police. unpleasant as it may be, part of defending human rights involves engaging with those who violate them...ostracizing such people gets you nowhere fast.

the commission has built up a strong reputation in the four years since its inception, and the amount it has accomplished is truly amazing. but it's phenomena like mungiki that threaten to send all that progress forward spiralling back...

in any case, it's an election year, so things are bound to be dicey. and dicey is certainly more promising than the stasis that existed in togo while i was there...that was more a stagnant calm than peace. so while kenya may appear from the outside to be in an uproar, it's that very uproar that gives me hope. perhaps it's the uproar of a more open society struggling to mark the path ahead.

but hey, what do i know? i'm just an intern hitching rides to the coast and absorbing all i can.