Elliott – Personal Story of an IDP (Internally displaced person)–

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.