Elliot is the eldest brother in my adopted Kenya family. He used to
live on his 5 acre shamba (smallholding) in Solai near Nakuru in the rift valley.
He had lived there for 14 years with his wife and 5 children. Where the shamba
is, the population is predominantly Kikuyu tribe, but, Elliot’s shamba is next
to an escarpment which forms the border with a predominantly Kalejin Tribe on
the other side of the plateau.
Elliott is a keen and efficient farmer and in the period
leading up to 2007 the shamba had over 100 orange trees, and grew maize, beans,
sukuma wiki etc. The shamba was very productive and generated enough food for
the family together with a reasonable surplus for additional income. There were
also 4 goats 15 chickens to provide milk, eggs and meat. Elliott had to leave
his home in Solai in 2008. The background to this follows below.
On 13/14 December I had the priviledge of accompanying
Elliot to visit his shamba for the first time since 2007/8 elections a period
of 5 years.
These elections were marred by controversy and violence
which resulted in 1,133 dead (This is the most regularly quoted number. There
are many other numbers ranging from 800 (Wikipedia) to 1,500) There were also
600,000 displaced (again there is a range of numbers but this seems the most
consistent – feel free to do your own search) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%9308_Kenyan_crisis). There are still some of the IDP's living in "refugee" style camps 5 years on.
Kenyan politics is often clustered into tribal groups with
candidates predominately representing one tribe. In 2007/8 there were alleged
anomalies in the results. These were then hotly disputed by other tribes. The
resultant fighting and what bordered on ethnic cleansing lead to representatives
of tribes beating, killing and driving out those of other tribes from their neighbourhood.
There is much written about the causes and whose fault it was. For those
affected and killed that is largely irrelevant, their lives have been turned
upside down, or lost, just for being from “…the wrong tribe…”. I will leave it
for the reader to research the background to this and form their own
conclusions. Here I want to tell the personal story and try to illustrate what
effect the violence has had on a fairly typical the common man in Kenya. The
tribe Elliott is from does not matter, there will be examples like this for
most of the tribes. What I want to illustrate is the impact the election
violence had on one family.
I had talked with Elliott for some time about his old farm
and his desire to go back. He felt that it should be safe now at least to visit
but his Mother, the 102 year old Cu Cu was not happy.
In 2007/8 during the election violence, the adjacent tribe allegedly
came over to the area of Elliot’s shamba, attacked/killed people and burned
shambas, etc. At the onset of this Elliott sent his wife and children to his
mother’s shamba in Central Province where there was much less tension. Elliott
stayed to protect his shamba. A brave and very dangerous decision. Night after
night shambas in the area were attacked and Elliot could regularly see burning
buildings through the darkness. During the day, he heard the harrowing stories
of the atrocities. Eventually, Elliot received news, via a friend, that he was
to be attacked that night. Reluctantly, Elliot quickly packed and left before
nightfall to join his family in Central Province. That decision probably saved
his life. He had not returned until December 2012. The next Elections are March 4th 2013. Here is hoping it goes peacefully and people can return to their homes and rebuild their lives.
Elliott outside his Central Province "temporary" home
Me with 102 year old Cu Cu and Elliott sharing a joke in his sisters mud hut
From left to right Elliott, sister Jane, Jane's grandson George, Helen (VSO Volunteer), Cu Cu, Me holding Samuel Elliott's youngest, Anne, Miriam's youngest, Miriam (jr) Miriam's grand daughter, Dan (VSO Volunteer), Margaret (in front of Dan) Ellioott's wife and lastly Miriam Snr
Having left a flourishing 5 acre shamba which generated a
healthy income from the crop surplus, Elliot now lives on a 3 acre shamba which
is home for Elliot and his family (once 5 but now 3 due to the eldest boys
& girls having left home), his mother, his sister Jane and her 3 sons, sister
Miriam and her 2 daughters, Elliot’s Brother and his family of 3 and Miriam’s
sons family of 3. A total of 18. Needless to say, there is little enough land
to generate food for that many mouths and the adults have divided the shamba to
try to make it work. There is no opportunity for cash crops and the only income
comes from casual labour, with the exception of Miriam, who works seasonally at
the nearby coffee factory.
When the day of the visit came I met Elliott at 7.30am and
we got a Matatu to Thika and then another to Nakuru a journey of 4 hours.
Elliot was naturally subdued and circumspect. In Nakuru we had a quick chai
stop before boarding another matatu to Solai, the nearest village to the
Shamba. On arrival in Solai, I stocked up on water as it was to be a 45 minute
walk to the shamba in the mid-day sun.
Elliott’s spirits had risen as the excitement of returning
sunk in. Walking through the village, it was obvious that Elliot had been a
very popular and respected member of the community. We received many loud and
boisterous greetings and “Are you coming back?”, “It is safe now….”, “We miss
you…..”, etc. Everyone we met for the first 20 minutes was from Elliott’s
tribe. We talked animatedly as Elliot recounted stories and personalities as we
passed various homes.
Elliott - Happy at being reunited with old friends
Suddenly, Elliott went quiet and his face hardened. A man
was walking along the road in our direction. No smiles or greetings were exchanged
as he passed. I looked at Elliott once we were clear and asked “Kalejin?” “Yes”
he said and fell silent for a while. We passed two others in a similar manner.
The long walk from Solai to the Shamba
Finally though, we reached the shamba. Elliot’s emotions swung
from excitement to reflective to angry and back again with rapid pace as we
approached and entered. The shamba was largely over-grown, there was a donkey
grazing and about 20 orange trees full of ripe fruit. We went over to one of
the trees and Elliot proudly handed me a large “Jaffa” style juicy fruit.
Elliot smiled from ear to ear as for the first time in 5 years he ate the fruit
of his shamba and stood in it’s grounds.
The first taste of his fruit in 5 years mmmmmmm
"These are mine"!
We explored further and entered the
fenced off area that was where the house had once been. There was nothing left
but a dark patch on the ground, barely distinguishable from the rest. Elliot
stood and proudly explained how it was laid out and reminisced on family
gatherings, etc.
"This is where my house once stood and the store over there"
Later. we wandered further into the shamba and could see the
escarpment and plateau. He explained about the men coming over the hill and
then turned and spread his arms pointing out where he had seen burning houses
and where skirmishes had occurred. This was the time when his anger finally and
fully surfaced. The pain was clear in the creases in his face as his finger
pointed and jabbed the air like he was shooting a pistol. Having vented, he
slowly calmed down. I left him for a while to wander the shamba with his
thoughts.
Elliott's anger finally explodes as he explains the attacks.
An old friend
Elliot returned to me and there was soon a shout from the nearby
track. A good friend and neighbour had heard we were there. Huge warm hugs and
rapid chatter ensued. The friend was then dispatched to get bags for oranges
whilst we went to see the neighbour on the other side. We entered a very tidy
homestead where we were greeted, at first, with “Who are these strangers entering”
stares which rapidly illuminated into beaming smiles that only Africans can do
like that “ELLIOT!!!!” came the cry and the old Cu Cu (grandmother) came
running over, followed by her daughters clutching a baby grandchild. Once again
hugs and excited chatter ensued. The baby was passed to the Mzungu, which then
cried (the baby not the mzungu!) well you would if you had never seen a white
man and suddenly you where thrust at a 6 ft 4 chap.
The neighbouring family and Mzungu with baby
We sat in the shade of a tree
and drank chai whilst Elliott and Cu Cu caught up on news and I entertained the ladies with my attempt to stop the baby crying!
Back to the shamba and once the bags arrived, we picked
oranges to take to our next port of call as well as back to Elliot’s family in
Central Province.
Fully laden we the set off back to Solai. After more hearty
greetings and chatter, we boarded a Matatu back to Nakuru, tired both
physically and emotionally, quite a day. It was not over yet.
Laden with fruit and passing another plot where a home was razed to the ground.
One of Elliot’s sisters lives in Njoro which is west of
Nakuru and a place Elliot seldom gets to go to. We had arranged to stay there
the night before returning home. We arrived after dark and were welcomed into a
well-managed shamba full of goats and cattle, plus a very large number of
children. We were welcomed in to the house, introduced to all the family
members and the ladies disappeared off to produce the supper. “The boys”
chatted in the house and random friends and family members dropped by through
the night to greet the visitors. Late into the night we all fell asleep
exhausted.
