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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
What Is The Stop Political Violence Campaign All About?
The Stop the Political Violence initiative is the brain child of patriotic Kenyans from across the political divide and hailing from every imaginable tribe you can think of in Kenya who have come together at the Kumekucha blog to quit being idlers and to do something about the escalating politically motivated violence in Kenya.
Who said the violence in Kenya is politically motivated?
This is obvious due to various factors. The first question you must ask yourself is why does the violence only start when there is a general election around the corner? The trend has been unbroken since 1991/2 on to 1996/7 and 2001/2 and now 2006/7. Newspapers in Kenya have also clearly documented the origins and growth of the notorious Mungiki which can all be linked to prominent politicians in the country.
What Are The Objectives of the SPV campaign?
Simply to create awareness with the ultimate intention of putting a stop to the political violence in Kenya that mainly affects poor and disadvantaged Kenyans. We have a clear strategy of how to go about this but we also welcome ideas for consideration from other like-minded patriotic Kenyans.
My participation or lack of participation, as one individual will hardly have an impact.
You're wrong. Supposing everybody had the same attitude as you do, what would happen? This initiative would not even have started. In fact Kenya is in a mess today because we have all had this attitude in the past. So we watched as corruption grew until it is now stifling the very life out of our country. You owe it to your children and grandchildren, if not to yourself, to join this noble non-partisan campaign to force positive change in Kenya.
How Can I participate?
It is very easy because there are just two very simple things you need to do.
1) Write as many letters of protest as you can to any media house locally or Internationally that covers news on Kenya. Included in this list are other blogs and websites. Email us a copy of your letters to umissedthis at yahoo dot com (written like this to avoid robots scanning the net for email addresses to use for spamming purposes) and indicate how many letters you have written and delivered. We will regularly keep track of that figure by publishing the top 5 campaigners (and later the top 10, top 20 and top 50) as our numbers grow.
2) Convince as many other people as possible to join in the campaign and keep count of your successful introduction. As soon as the person you have introduced sends off their first letter, email the details to us as well as how many friends you have convinced to join in the campaign so far. We will also keep track of top referrers at the Kumekucha blog. Use the same email address; umissedthis at yahoo dot com (written like this to avoid robots scanning the net for email addresses to use for spamming purposes)
Here is an example of a letter you can send out via email to your friends asking them to join us in this noble venture
Dear
I hope you are well.
This is a short note of appeal to you to join a very noble initiative to campaign against political violence in Kenya, which has been launched at the popular Kumekucha blog. Our conscience will haunt us if we do nothing and condemn our children and grand-children whom we claim to love to a nation in chaos and hurtling toward untold suffering brought about by the selfish political class that is only interested in self preservation and it's own hefty salaries and perks.
All you need to do is to go to the following page now;
http://kumekucha1.blogspot.com/2007/06/stop-political-violence-in-kenya.html
You will find the brief easy-to-read-through-quickly details, including the two simple things you have to do. Our beloved motherland needs you now. Please don't let her down.
Yours,
P.S. - I will really appreciate it if you can forward this email to a friend or two. Pamoja tutashinda na tutabadilisha Kenya.
N.B. Keep on checking this site for new developments and inspiration from others also participating in this campaign.
What if this campaign fails?
I have noted that Kenyans are very industrious and hard working people but many of them are hindered by a crippling fear of failure. This is a big mistake because history teaches us that the winners are those who do not fear failure. Inventor Edison in discovering the light bulb did over 1,800 experiments that were failures before he finally hit the jackpot. The opposition in Kenya failed many times before they finally dislodged Kanu from power. I am confident that we will succeed in this campaign beyond our wildest dreams. Besides doing something is much better than doing nothing.
The people I know do not use the Internet, what do I do?
Letters to media house can even be written by hand and personally delivered or posted at a post office near you. In fact this is the group of people we are most eager to involve in our campaign. So we are not leaving out anybody. Even those who don't know what the Internet is and ordinarily do not read the Kumekucha blog can participate in helping us all get our country back and to halt the rapidly approaching disaster that is on a fatal collision course with our beloved motherland.
What do I say in my protest letter?
Basically say what you feel about ordinary Kenyans losing their lives so that certain personalities can reach their political objectives (see this article about what political violence achieves for politicians in Kenya) but the main points are;
- The saddest thing is that the people who suffer most are the poor. Slum dwellers and the less fortunate members of our society. In other words the voiceless people of Kenya and the majority of voters. This is no accident, as those fanning the violence know exactly what they are doing.
- As long as the violence continues unchecked before even proper campaigns have started, it will be difficult for us to have a free and fair election. Chances are that the same people who have let the country down badly in the 9th parliament will be re-elected.
- Kenya needs women MPs more than ever before, as women tend to be more empathic to the situation on the ground. If things continue as they are, it will be much more difficult for women candidates to campaign successfully for election.
- Violence creates fear and makes voters in the affected areas vulnerable to manipulation.
- The general feeling is that the government is NOT doing enough to end the politically motivated violence. For instance informed sources say that the intelligence community has information on the genesis of the politically motivated violence and those promoting it but are reluctant to arrest the perpetrators who are very prominent Kenyans. Even if this is not true, the government needs to handle this situation with the urgency it deserves.
I don't have the contacts of any media house
Here is the email address and Postal address of the Nation newspaper. We urge everybody to help out by giving out the contacts they have in the comments section below. Let us also include newspapers abroad that sometimes cover news on Kenya.
The Nation editor welcomes letters on topical issues
Postal address; The Editor, Daily Nation P.O. Box 49010, Nairobi 00100
Email: mailbox at nation dot co dot ke (written like this to avoid robots scanning the net for email addresses to use for spamming purposes).
Another reader has added the address of this blog;
Check out this interactive Kenyan website (http://www.kenyaimagine.com). It could be used as one of the platforms you suggested.
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