[Imc-africa] The Peace Beat

[Bwakali David John]

    THE PEACE BEAT                    THE PEACE BEAT
 By Bwakali David John
  I feel good. Here’s why.
  She seemed to be dancing with all her heart. The halo of Afro-hair around her beautiful face kept swirling this way and that way as she swayed to the Congolese music that the live band was churning out. I watched her absent-mindedly. My mind was tuned in to the quarter final football match between Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea. Though it was a pulsating game and Cote d’Ivoire, my preferred team was leading by one goal to zero, I felt bad. Here’s why.
  A few days ago, my local member of parliament here in Kenya was shot dead. He was thirty nine years old and had done so much developmental work for the people of Dandora, a low income neighborhood in the Eastland part of Nairobi. Before he was elected to the parliament one month ago, he served the people of Dandora as their elected representative in Nairobi City Council.  
  When I visited Dandora just before Christmas last year, one of the teenage footballers told me proudly, ‘my team won the Mugabe Were football tournament.’ When Mr. Were was elected to parliament, the teenager was just but one of thousands of disadvantaged youth who felt proud that one of their own was now the member of parliament of the largest constituency in Nairobi. Less than one month later, the teenager’s pride was sniffed out by the bullets that felled the young Member of Parliament (MP). His opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), claims that the government knows something about this killing. On its part, the government vows to get to the bottom of this murder. The untimely, violent death of a bi-partisan, grassroots oriented politician has been met with a partisan blame game. This made me feel bad.
  Didier Drogba had just scored the second goal, earning himself a triumphant yelp from me and dozens others. We were watching the game at Simmers night club in the heart of Nairobi. As the Chelsea striker raised his hands in triumph, a song from the Luo community in Kenya, came on. It was praising ODM the opposition party. The tune was so catchy and vibrant that someone on my right whispered to my ear, ‘the government really messed up our victory party by messing up with the elections!’ Even as he spat out these words, he shook his shoulders in tandem with the music. But in his eyes I could see a certain sorrow. I could relate to the mixed feelings that he was going through. Here’s why.
  Kofi Annan is in town. The consummate diplomat that he is, he seems to be having some success with the mediation talks. The government and opposition are finally talking to each other (not at each other). The talks seem to be leading somewhere since they now have a clear ‘four-point agenda’ that includes ending the violence and addressing the infamous presidential election results. Much as the talks still have a long way to go, a brother can hope. So am hoping that talk will turn into action, and peace (plus justice) will be ushered into a country that desperately needs both.  
  But in the midst of my hope despite the murder of my MP, despair stormed in. Only two days after my MP was killed, another opposition MP was shot dead in Eldoret, the Rift Valley town that has already seen so much death and destruction. This is the town where 35 people were burnt alive in a church where they had sheltered. The opposition immediately claimed that the government was behind the second murder of their MP. Like millions of my fellow Kenyans, I have no way of knowing who is behind these killings. Other legislators are now worried that they could be next. The government has assured them that they are entitled to bodyguards. But what about the 30 million other Kenyans who are not entitled to bodyguards?   
  A Luhya song was now playing and it was full of melody and life. The Luhya community is from western Kenya and they are renowned for their groovy music. That lady who had been dancing so beautifully was still at it. Even more so. As she gyrated in unison with the staccato beats, my right leg was tapping the glossy floor. My mind wondered away from the equally groovy football game. I remembered how the previous year, my friends and I had visited another nightclub and danced to similar music.  
  The music was just as divine although it was from the Kalenjin community. I shook my head in rueful recollection. The nightclub that we went to then was in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha. Just last week, Naivasha erupted in retaliation attacks that left more than 50 people dead. At least 15 of them were burnt alive in the house where they were hiding. A chilling re-enaction of the Eldoret church massacre. Most of those who were burnt alive in both instances were women and children. Though the Luhya song was still playing, my foot had stopped tapping and my mind had shut off the football game. Why? I asked. Why all these massacres? I felt sad. But after a short while, a certain peace sneaked into my weary soul. Here’s why.
  Brenda Fassie, the late South African musician was doing her thing. In her trademark raspy, jolly voice, she was singing like her life depended on it. And just as she hit a peak, Cote d’Ivoire scored a third goal. They were at their peak. Unstoppable. It occurred to me that at that particular moment, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire had unwittingly conspired to grant some peace to weary and depressed Kenyans like myself. For a blessed moment, a divine South African melody and a divine West African goal fused into a moment of peace for a few troubled Kenyans in a Nairobi nightclub. Although the thought of the new unrest in Chad was hot on the heels of this moment of peace, I winked at the heavens as I prayed that peace would eventually prevail in Kenya – and in Chad.  
 
       
---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-africa/attachments/20080204/5d192bc6/attachment.htm