Promoting peace as election tension rises

As Kenya moves towards elections in August, tension is escalating in a high-stakes political drama.  In Tana River County, the team at Amani FM, "the Voice of Tana River," is preparing for its vital work of promoting peace.

While democratic elections usually hold promise, in Kenya the months leading up to and after elections, have been the most violent periods in the country's post-independence history, with thousands killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in election cycles since 2007. It was because of this that Amplifying Voices helped establish Amani FM in Tana River in 2017, in the hope of avoiding the bloodshed of previous years. The evidence is that the station has contributed enormously to building peace in the region since then.

But many are worried about the 2022 elections, which is why the Amani FM team is already very active in its peace-building activity.  John Green, the Chairman of Amani FM says there is evidence that some politicians are using hate speech to demonise other communities.  "In one part of the country," said John, "A local leader referred to members of another ethnic group as 'blemishes that needed to be removed'.  This dehumanises people and is the first stage of inciting people to hate others and commit acts of violence against them," he added.  "We saw this in Tana River during the 2012 election."

Although ethnicity has been one of the main factors that influences how people vote in Kenya, there are signs that the political narrative is shifting from 'inter-ethnic' to 'inter-class' competition. This has been driven in part by the experience of COVID and the restrictions on people’s lives that have come with the pandemic, which have highlighted inequalities among Kenya’s citizens.

 

Kenya's deputy President William Ruto has also fuelled this narrative by framing this election as a contest between the privileged classes and the underclasses.  As one of the front-runner candidates for President, Mr Rutto wants to bring an end to what he calls the "dynasty" families, that have dominated Kenya since independence in the 1960's and what he terms, "hustlers", people, especially youth, who struggle to make ends meet in an economy that is no longer working for them.

In the meantime the government has issued a stern warning to politicians in Tana River County that they will deal mercilessly with anyone instigating ethnic hatred or inciting people to violence during the election campaigns.

John, who has been involved in combatting hate speech in the region since 2012, believes that many national and local leaders have learned very little from the past and fall into the same old habits of finding scapegoats for past failures and others to blame for their mistakes.  "It is for that reason that Amani FM has played such an important role in helping educate the electorate on the real issues, without fear or favour, and helping them cut through rumours and misinformation, while holding leaders to account," John says.

In the run up to the elections, the Amplifying Voices team will help build the Amani FM team's capacity as they prepare for the elections, to make sure that timely, fair and accurate information is being broadcast and that the different communities are having their voices heard.

The Amani FM team feel the burden of responsibility, especially as many commentators are saying that unless the current political rhetoric is toned down, Kenya will once again descend into violence in the run-up to the August elections.