Nigeria Content Online

Election violence
has become part of the mix in African countries – something to be jaded
about; no longer breaking news. We fight over power – we kill and maim
the innocent; it’s become part of the problems that ail us and threaten
to swallow us.

So, it must be
that the hands behind the nefarious Kenyan post-election violence in
2008 assumed that it was business as usual, and no one would be held
accountable for the atrocities. There was, after all, serious violence
at the 1992 and the 1997 elections, and the continued fact of electoral
violence has been blamed on what some activists have called “a culture
of impunity”. Indeed, many African countries can identify with this
culture of impunity, a common thread many of them share.

In Kenya’s 2008
case, following the disputed election results of December 2007,
protests began all over the country, powered by militias and a power
drunk police force.

According to the
ICC’s Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, “victims were hurt. They
were raped, their homes burnt and they lost their cattle, they lost all
means to support themselves. We are siding with them. We will do
justice.”

Last week, the
chickens began to come home to roost. International Criminal Court
investigators are ready to pinpoint suspects that they claim are behind
the violence. Many of course have warned that, in that polarized
country where the coalition government is barely surviving chaos and
different factions are in constant battle mode, naming political
perpetrators might lead to an increase in tension and violence. But
then the law is the law, actions must have consequences and
accountability is necessary to build a just society.

This probe – that
has become popular across the country – began in March of this year to
investigate the death of more than 1000 and the displacement of tens of
thousands, undermining the image of Kenya as one of the better examples
of how governance can work in the continent and the fact that
governance in the continent can be run on stability.

Surely, it is more
important to work to ensure that kind of violence doesn’t occur again
than to massage the fragile egos of politicians who care less about the
long term existence of the country than on the short term weight of
their pockets. Citizens of any country deserve to be protected by the
state and live in the assurance that measures will always be constantly
taken to preserve their lives and sustenance.

That is what is
happening in Kenya now – or has begun to happen. Either way it is a
huge step, and we join many across the continent in applauding it. The
suspects to be named are expected to be from the two main political
factions in the country, and many of its ‘big men’ including business
chiefs and public officials, and if this is the case, even better to
send a strong message to politicians and their acolytes alike that
lives are infinitely more important than power.

The prosecutor in
this case seems determined to pursue all legal and popular methods to
ensure that justice is brought to the victims of this violence and this
never happens again. To prove its effectiveness, many politicians in
that country have begun to run scared, trying to stave off what seems
like the inevitable. Even better, there seems to be a plan to have
local trials complement the efforts on the ICC. In a country where,
like Nigeria, high level criminals are routinely let off the hook, this
is a ray of hope for the common man.

It is also a ray
of hope for the many average Africans oppressed by their own leaders
and seemingly powerless to set things right.

Perhaps Kenya can become the shining light for a continent desperately in need of a road map out of its darkness.