The disturbances in Kenya have prompted a thoughtful email from a member of the Media Council in the East African country. It pleads for restraint in reporting the details of tribal violence.
“When a person from a particular tribe sees a number of his/her tribesmen dead they may incite their fellow men to retaliate,” is the argument made. “Don’t turn Kenya into Iraq” is the message. That such a comparison can be contemplated speaks volumes for the levels of apprehension in Kenya now after days of post-election clashes.
The warning reminds me of the challenge news organisations face in reporting accurately without being perceived as inflaming volatile situations. At Reuters we believe the best defence against dangerous misinformation and rumour-mongering is solid eye-witness reporting and the use of dispassionate, accurate language. Our Kenya staff are out on the streets and in the slums, braving the tear gas and the machetes, to see for themselves. Our stories are laced with the observations of Reuters journalists. And we have been talking continuously to aid workers, NGOs, the Red Cross, rights groups, priests and the residents of affected areas. Experienced staff piece together an accurate account of events from that multiplicity of sources.
For Kenyans it is discomfiting that the tribal element to politics should loom suddenly so large. But it can’t be ignored. To give the full picture to our global readership we have to give well-sourced figures for death tolls and make clear the violence has roots in tribal rivalries. That is not inflammatory, it is informatory. Explaining why Kikuyu, Luo and Kalenjin should clash so bitterly does not provoke violence, it helps the reader see the complex origins of what might otherwise be presented as simple brutality.
In our reporting from Iraq there have been times when we were accused of stoking violence by reporting on it. But ignoring rising death tolls in 2003 and 2004 or the sectarian split of Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims would not have stopped the killing. It might have prolonged it by diverting attention from the reality of the problem. The same argument applied in Northern Ireland, which was riven by religious conflict. So too in Kenya.
However, the focus is not just on violence. Calls for calm, for mediation and for an end to violence have come from many quarters and Reuters has reported them prominently. As the story unfolds we’ll report thoroughly and honestly whether the calls have been heard.
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8 comments so far
Sir,
As a Kenyan I am disappointed in Mr. Kibaki’s shenanigans and I think he is the root cause of the violence.
For any Kenyan to claim that tribalism has not been as issue they may as well be living on Mars. Everything, bar everything, in Kenya revolves around your tribe.
I saw the worst of it with my parent’s relatives: My dad is Luo and my mum is Kikuyu.
Thus, I thank you for having the courage to call this nightmare what it is.
We Kenyans always believed we are better than other Africans and would never stoop to this level of violence.
But this could have happened many years ago. Mr Kibaki was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Far from being inflammatory I think Reuters (as well as the FT) have done a brilliant job for they, unlike the Kenyan daily The Standard, are doing a fabulous job at making Kenyans recognize that peace will not come easy. We have too many issues we must address. One of these would be the way the Kikuyu have advanced at the expense of every other tribe, especially the Luo.
They, the Luo, have the lowest income and their region is the least developed of all of Kenya. The wealthiest and most developed region: Central Province, home of the Kikuyus.
I saw the disgusting treatment of my dad by others who would always pretended it had nothing to do with his tribe. That’s not what I thought.
Keep it up,
H
- Posted by Humphrey OgudaTo whom it may concern.
- Posted by Lydiah KariieI am a Kenyan citizen and do not belong to any of the
tribes that are currently involved in the election
fracas in Kenya. I have been listening and reading the
news broadcast by all the agencies and some of the
analysis being proffered seem rather more speculative
than realistic. I was born and brought up in Kenya and
probably understand tribalism pretty well.
If one was to walk into Kibera slums at any time of
the day there is the assurance that you would find at
the very least 500000 people who have absolutely
nothing to do or lose. Most of these people come from
the luo community. It would not take a whisper to
insight these people to violence. More often than not
it takes just enough money to buy the local brew
chang’aa to get these people intoxicated enough to
cause mayhem. Raila Odinga has been the MP in this
area for over 10 years and the slum has gotten bigger
and poorer in that time as well (probably by design to
ensure votes). Raila is well aware that this time bomb
takes the mention of the term Kikuyu to set off to
explosive magnitudes and he has used that knowledge in
many forums in the past which for some strange reason
have failed to be reported in the current news
coverage. Majority of the “acclaimed Baghdad boys”
associated with Raila live in kibera and it is common
knowledge that these are criminals.
I do believe the elections had major irregularities
but i do not believe the Kenyan presidency is a
birthright promised to any tribe and as such we should
not have these mindless killings occasioned by people
who do not represent the entire Kenyan population. I’m
particularly irked by the term Raila seems to be using
the people’s president because he has got to remember
he got majority votes in four provinces and the other
four voted differently. Inciting violence is not
prudent of a good leader and much as he seeks
international community sympathy and support i believe
we would respect him more if actually stopped using
criminals to cause mayhem in Kenya, for this is not
helping his credibility. He has a history of
radicalism and this is not the way forward innocent
lives are being lost, property destroyed and our
economy held at ransom for what a chance to have power
because tribes feel they should?
Emotions are running high at the moment organizing
criminals to come into Nairobi in the name of peaceful
protests is a sham and not all of us can be
hoodwinked. Those people brandishing all manner of
weapons and causing chaos are not representative of
Kenyan people and should not be referred to as such.
They are being provided with an opportunity to steal
and loot and how does Raila propose those with
businesses and homes being destroyed by his supposed
supporters are going to be compensated?
We want a leader who can uphold the rule of law under
all circumstances and i feel Raila and his counterparts are really failing
in this area. It is everyone’s responsibility to make
sure that the chaos in Kenya end. Bias in the name of
democracy by any party be it international or local
should be discouraged, we are Kenyans for goodness sake!
” . . . and make clear the violence has roots in tribal rivalries.”
What if violence has its roots in language, misguided or abusive leadership, ignorance as defined by a lack of intellectual technologies and tools for comprehending states of affairs and arriving at other than foregone conclusions and formulating solutions outside of the familiar habit of thought that is “our people vs. your people”?
There’s much yet to be observed about the role of language in conflict and the twisting drivers that create leaders who essentially subvert the sources of their empowerment as they wade into time.
Kenya (along with Pakistan) should be a country not in trouble, but here we are, and I often think we’re looking away from the sources of conflict rather than toward them.
- Posted by J. S. OppenheimThanks Sean for your feedback.
I do agree with you on the thin line in which international media have to work on especially when reporting from conflict regions. We do highly appreciate the work done. Reporting number of deaths or injuries accurately is informative, but the highly sensitive issue usually lies when classifying the dead e.g. “20 Kikuyus or 20 Luos dead” instead of 20 Kenyans which would be less inflammatory. It is clear that there is a tribal rift which can be mentioned without inflamming anybody, but the tribal classification of the dead is what may trigger violence. A case study is during 1992 tribal clashes in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya, a Mainstream Print media house in Kenya printed in their daily newspaper “2 Kikuyu dead”. The next day 5 Kalenjins were killed as a retaliation by the Kikuyus based on that article. It was the near equivalent of the media in Rwanda in 1994 when the media was being used to direct people to kill in attacks or retaliation missions. Ever since then the Kenyan media highly refrains from printing or broadcasting such statements. The Media Council of Kenya sent a letter of the same concerns to respective international media outlets
But we do highly appreciate the work being done by the international media e.g. Al Jazeera when the Live Reporting ban was put in place.
We do hope peace shall prevail in Kenya and we do hope you shall partner with us.
Thank you.
- Posted by Ephraim MuchemiThe above report is mostly true… Kenyans view themselves first as members of some tribe, then probably as members of some religion or sect, and then finally as Kenyans. Indeed they feel closer affinity to other Africans than to fellow Kenyans of different tribes.
- Posted by Lukoye AtwoliHaving said that, the violence in Kenya has three distinct flavours (if I may be so tasteless as to use that word).
The first kind is urban violence occasioned by people disappointed by the Kibaki win. The violence is mostly spontaneous and the looting is the work of opportunist criminals etc.
The second kind of violence is occasioned by police breaking up peaceful demonstrations and ending up shooting people including innocent bystanders.
The final, and by far the most ominous type of violence, is tribal, pure and simple. Members of the Kikuyu and Kisii communities are being targeted mainly in the Rift Valley province and being maimed, killed and evicted from their homes. Their property is then looted and their land sub-divided amongst their neighbours.
This is the true situation in Kenya, and a dispassionate observer would see it unless they are blinkered by loyalty to one side or the other.
I am a Christian from America who is praying for peace between the tribes in Kenya. If you are in a position to offer the love of Christ to your neighbor even if he or she is from another tribe then please do it. Even a cup of water offered in the name of Christ can have a positive impact. Shalom
Byron Mullet Jamestown, Ohio USA byron51@gmail.com
- Posted by Byron MulletI would like to thank reuters for keeping us up to date with what is going on back home. It is great to know that we can keep track of things as our national papers do not update their stories as often as here. I hope that what you report is not seen as inciting even more violence, but is seen as the truth, as Kenyans have to wake up to the reality that events are happening as you have unfolded them.
It is crucial that through the media, the situation can be discussed and pressure to achieve a long lasting solution can be acquired.
- Posted by Mumbi WangaiI am Canadian and own an independent production company. We are anxiously awaiting a commission to travel to Kenya to produce live reports. I especially appreciate your thoughtful insight and explanation of the difference between insighting further violence and thoughtful, informative reporting. I feel strongly about the integrity of most news reporters and am confident the vast majority care only to accurately bring truth to the outside world.
- Posted by Laura Hawkins