UPDATE on the Dominican Friars in Kenya
Kenya Violence Escalates toward Ethnic Cleansing
David Adiletta, OP, Vicar Provincial
NAIROBI
February 4, 2008 --- The situation in Kenya over the last week
and a half has been tense and explosive due to contested election
results for the presidency. This
had been proceeded by some acts of violence in the campaigns. However,
the Dominican Family has not been especially affected by the violence
(in general foreigners have not been touched). In Nairobi
the friars' houses are rather far away from the centers of violence
which are in several of the many slums in Nairobi. There
were a couple of days when fuel was not available, or phone cards,
or some perishable food stuffs were hard to find, but this did
not last for very long. Some roads were blocked. St.
Catherine's parish had many guests one Sunday as people were afraid
to travel to their usual parish. And some of the student
brothers had trouble returning to Nairobi after their planned Christmas
break to visit their families due to unsafe roads.
One of the sadder notes was that one of
Br. Thomas Odhiambo's uncles was killed in one of the slums in
Nairobi. And
I just learned recently that Br. Marc Anthony, while at home in Kisumu
area, was confronted by some men who asked him to speak Luo. Luo
is his first language, so he was able to do it and was left alone.
The situation in Kisumu has been more tense
than in Nairobi, however, our community is about 12 or so kilometers
(8 miles) outside of the main city. And while the Luo people
have been protesting the results of the presidential election by
burning and looting, they have not been killing anyone. Most
of the killing has been done by some of the police who are known
for their brutal ways. And it seems some of the Ugandan military
have been helping the police in both good and bad ways.
The Dominican compound became a place of
refuge for around 25 people of Meru or Kikuyu heritage who feared
attacks. This lasted a few days before they were safely transported
to the police for armed escort to various areas of Kenya which
are safer. In addition, the Fr. Tom's Memorial Children Program,
under the direction of Martin Martiny, has thought it prudent not
to send their sponsored children back to the various schools they
were attending in different places of Kenya. Some of the
children did not feel safe. So, efforts are being made to
start a makeshift school near the Dominican compound with the help
of two Sisters of the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret.
Due
to a rumor of the killing of some Luo people by Kikuyus in retaliation
for a church that was burned in Eldoret killing 40 or so Kikuyu,
a rumor which seems not to have been true, there was a great fear
that there were going to be reprisals agains all non-Luo people
in Kisumu. Therefore, Kevin Kraft,
after consultation with Martin Martiny and me, decided to move
the novices. They are currently in Nairobi and taking advantage
of the opportunity to have a series of lectures by Fred Mvumbi
on Islam. It is not clear at this point how long they will
remain in Nairobi.
Most of the Dominican Family has been relatively
untouched by the violence. Nor have I heard of any family members
hurt other than what I mentioned. The nuns, the Dominican Sisters
in Thika or Matasia, the Maryknoll Sisters and the Hawthorne Dominicans
in Kisumu have reported being fine. The Dominican Sisters in
Uganda have suffered with the people of Uganda in terms of shortages
of fuel or some other goods. Most of the fuel for cars, trucks
and airplanes for the countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the
Eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo, comes from Mombasa
port in Kenya and then is transported by truck to those countries. No
trucks were on the roads for a few days due to fears of hijackings
and looting, so there have been shortages everywhere.
The situation remains tense as both sides
in the dispute hold to their hardlines. However, there are
more voices of justice, peace, and reconciliation being heard. There
are also more images of people helping each other. Even in
Kisumu there are known cases of Luo families giving refuge to members
of Kikuyu families. Perhaps there are examples of this even
in areas such as Eldoret which has had some of the worst violence.
The Dominican Laity in both Kisumu and Nairobi
are fine as far as I know. One member did leave the country
and returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a short
period of time on the advice of his boss, but I believe that was
excessive. The employer had asked all expatriates to leave
the country for their safety. But expatriates have not been
targeted.
We thank you for your prayers and
ask you to continue. It will take a long time to overcome the substantial
issues that lead to such violent clashes between neighbors. May
God continue to bless Kenya.
David Adiletta, OP
Vicar Provincial |