wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Churches' peacemaking in Kenya

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For immediate release - 21/09/2005

NORTH RIFT, KENYA: CHANGING A VOLATILE REGION

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

Stories of transformation
Feature series towards the WCC 9th Assembly
More articles and free photos in
www.wcc-assembly.info

A spear buried on the common border of two nomadic-pastoralist communities
in the North Rift region of Kenya marked the end of bloody clashes a
couple of decades ago. Today, the two rivals need the churches to help
them arrest a fast-growing gun culture.

It was about two decades ago when elders of the Pokot and the Samburu, two
nomadic-pastoralist communities in the North Rift region of Kenya, buried
a spear on the common border in presence of politicians and leaders of
other communities. The ceremony was a symbol that all weapons of violence
had been buried. As a result, the Pokot and the Samburu lived in peace for
years. However, the current proliferation of small arms in the area is
posing new challenges to pastoral and humanitarian work.

The remote and vast semi-arid region in the Great Rift Valley, in the
north-west of Kenya, is occupied by an estimated 1.8 million people. The
Pokot, Samburu and Turkana are nomadic pastoralists. The Marakwet are
agro-pastoralists. They all live here and historically have clashed over
animals, pasture and water. Like other semi-arid parts of Kenya, this one
is beset by high poverty levels and illiteracy, with life expectancy
ranging from 57 years among the Turkana to 66 among the Marakwet. Churches
and non-governmental organizations are the only ones to provide services
like education, health and water.

"Cattle-rustling is a way of life for these communities, but since 1992,
the activity has gone commercial. Then communities acquired guns for
raiding and protection," explains Peter Gunja, coordinator of the National
Peace Programme at the National Christian Council of Kenya (NCCK). "Some
members of the communities realized that with guns, they could raid more
cattle and make more money. This is complicating the security in the
region."

> Not a one-day conversion

The NCCK together with the Roman Catholic Church and several NGOs are
working to end cattle-rustling, poverty, under-development and proliferation of guns in a region where young men, most of them illiterate, sport
deadly rifles like AK 47s and G3s on their shoulders.

These have been bought for between 7,000 and 20,000 Kenyan Shillings (USD
95-270, Euro 76-216) from neighbouring communities in Sudan, Uganda or
Ethiopia, where civil war is either just ending or still raging. With
weapons, the traditional practice of raiding animals, admired as a proof
of courage, has turned tragic.

Local people remember vividly the startling violence of the 1990s. "In
response to this situation, the first thing we did was to create peace
committees in the temporary villages these nomadic pastoralist communities
establish when they find good pastures for their animals," explains Gunja.

Composed of opinion leaders, politicians, religious leaders, women and
youth, the peace committees link the communities, church groups and NGOs.
They mobilize, monitor and report back on the local situation to church
and NGO officials.

"Local leaders, through the committees, have punished those who perpetrate
violence. The communities have resolved the conflicts or handed difficult
cases over to the authorities. Now, they are able to resolve them at the
grassroots," explains NCCK peace programme officer Carren Kiptoo. "In the
past, if an individual person committed a crime, the whole community was
blamed for it. Violence would then ensue."

The village committees started around 1997 under the NCCK peace programme,
and grew into local, and then district peace groups, and finally (since
2002) into a regional peace committee. Their role has ranged from
organizing inter-community activities such as prayers and peace mediation
meetings, to suggesting community development projects.

Fr Francis Moriasi, the vicar general of the Roman Catholic diocese of
Eldoret, an important town in the region, cites some positive developments
in the committees, but warns the conflict is not yet over. "It is not a
one-day conversion. But there are indicators it's happening," he says.

> Guns and songs

As part of its peace project the NCCK is urging the communities to disarm
and encouraging local bishops to receive the guns. "Communities so trust
churches that they feel freer to give us the guns than to the government.
We have collected over 50 automatic and home-made rifles," says Gunja.
However, the government is said to be uncomfortable with this, worrying
that church leaders are unfamiliar with firearms regulations.

According to Selina Korir, from Rural Women Peace Link, a network of
grassroots organizations, women are at the centre of peacemaking work in
the region, both mediating and creating awareness. "They are able to talk
to the warriors and stop an impending raid. They also talk to the elders
and educate them on the harm the conflicts are causing," she says.

Women have also been carrying out solidarity visits to the hardest hit
area, sharing aid with local women and expressing their concerns to
elders, political and religious leaders. They also "reverse the norm" by
turning traditional songs that praised raiding and violent heroism into
peace songs. "If there is anyone who will change the North Rift, it is the
women," says Korir.

> Driving the gospel deep into the bush

Recently, the local churches through the NCCK started supporting traditional peace initiatives like the Mis or Mumma. This is a traditional peace
oath ceremony between the Pokot and their neighbours. The elders curse
anyone who uses a gun to kill his neighbour. Mis involves slaughtering an
animal (a bull) so that its blood will cleanse the crime. The animal is
then eaten together.

"If that is their way of resolving conflicts, we support it," says Gunja,
whose programme has funded the purchase of bulls for ceremonies. However,
in view of the extreme poverty, church representatives encourage communities to consider selling the bulls and using the money for development
projects.

Only a small number of these communities have been reached by the
Christian gospel, and they continue to worship traditional gods. But the
NCCK has been encouraging the churches to drive the gospel deep into the
"bush" where the communities live.

During the peace ceremonies, the churches have been appointing pastors
from the communities to preach to the people. "We tell them that there is
another blood more important than that of this bull. This is the blood of
Jesus," explains Gunja. [1,025 words]

(*) Fredrick Nzwili is a freelance journalist from Kenya. He is currently
a correspondent for Ecumenical News International (ENI) based in the
country's capital, Nairobi.

[Sidebar]

"Beauty and peace" contest

The people of Kainuk, a remote township in Kenya's Turkana District, were
treated on 21 August to a colourful "beauty and peace contest" organized
by the National Christian Council of Kenya through the regional peace
committee.

As part of on-going peace activities in the North Rift, women from the
Pokot and Turkana communities dressed in traditional attire - light brown
leather dresses made of goatskin adorned with head-to-toe bead-work and
leather shawls - paraded in front of church leaders and community members.

After dancing to a melody sung by local Turkana women, three women from
each community won the contest. The six winners took home beautiful
traditional beads, bracelets, necklaces and "Lesos" (wrap-round cloths
treasured by women from these communities).

The contest was preceded by prayers for peace, traditional dances and
songs, skits and plays about peace. [138 words]

[Sidebar text]

9th WCC Assembly: Praying for a transformed world

The 9th assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will be held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 14-23 February 2006. Its theme is a prayer:
"God, in your grace, transform the world".

The first WCC assembly of the 21st century, it will gather up to 3,000
church leaders and ecumenical representatives from nearly every Christian
tradition around the world. As such, it will be one of the broadest global
gatherings of its kind.

WCC assemblies are often turning points in the life of the World Council,
and this one is expected to leave its mark on ecumenical history.
Deliberations will focus on issues such as the future of the ecumenical
movement, the churches' commitment to economic justice as well as their
witness to overcoming violence, and the challenges faced in the midst of
religious plurality.

In Porto Alegre, members of the ecumenical family will be able to gather
around the assembly at a Mutirão, a Portuguese word that means coming
together for a common purpose. Made up of workshops, exhibitions and
cultural celebrations, this part of the assembly programme will offer
opportunities for members of the wider ecumenical movement to gather,
reflect and celebrate together.

This is the first WCC assembly to be held in Latin America, and it is
being hosted by the National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil
(CONIC) on behalf of churches throughout the region. Pre-assembly events
for youth and for women will be held from 11-13 February.

Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info

[246 words]

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Stories of transformation - feature series towards the WCC 9th Assembly
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