Goodbye to ‘Hakuna Matata culture’

Kenyans should stop pretending everything in the country is okay and should start learning again, Peace Consultant Dekha Ibrahim Abdi appeals

By Morten Bonde Pedersen

07. april 2008

The last 12 years under Moi we as Kenyans were ready to learn, but since 2002 it seems we stopped learning. We thought the evil had gone. Now it’s time for Kenyans to start learning again. That appeal was raised by Peace Consultant Dekha Ibrahim Abdi during the MS Kenya Annual Meeting in Nairobi taking place March 27th and 28th.

Dekha Ibrahim called upon Kenyans to look at society in a new light and start questioning issues that so far have been taken for granted. As an example she mentioned the killing of one of the laywers behind the Bomas draft.

”When that happened we said ‘It’s just a crime,” she said adding:
“This is a country of ‘Hakuna Matata.’ That’s how we sell the country to tourists, and that’s how we see ourselves. But we should say goodbye to that ‘Hakuna Matata’ culture. We have to face our problems.”

She further explained her point through an example from when Biwots farm near Eldoret was burned. last year

“After the incident I talked to some peace builders in the area and asked if they had intervened in any way, if they had for instance reported the crime to the police. They said they hadn’t because Biwott is evil. But whether he is a perpetrator or not is not important in this case. He is a victim and should be treated as such. There’s bad in good and good in bad. There’s right in wrong and vice versa, and that’s why we should start reconsidering thing we take for granted,” she said.

The happenings that took place after the elections could be a moment of learning and squeezing our sponge to make room for more learning again, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi explained.

“Democracy has its limitations, and Kenya is suffering from these limitations. The winner takes it all-mentality is a weakness of democracy. That way of practicing democracy does not work in this country. We need to find a new way to go about it.”

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi finished off by calling for local platforms to discuss and conduct dialogue for peace to prevail at all levels.

The political dispute on national level took place through the media and in parliament. However there’s no such platform where local disputes can be aired.

“If we don’t create space for discussion and dialogue on a local level. And if there is no space for dialogue there’s a risk of people turning to violence triggered by the ongoing clashes in Mount Elgon and Laikipia. We need peace, not only at national level,” Dekha Ibrahim stated.