Justice and safety

Justice and safety

It was a typical warm Kenya evening. The temperatures had dropped slightly. Sitting outside for our evening meal was quite enjoyable. We recently moved a small table to our front deck to take full advantage of savoring time in the setting sun. Shaded perfectly by the tall trees in the garden, this open-air dining room is a pretty sweet spot.  Steeping tea in the ceramic teapot we found in the quarters is now our favourite way of sipping our after-dinner brew, along with indulging in some of my homemade oatmeal cookies for dessert. We truly love the quietness after a busy day at the office.

Not long after the last drop of tea was gone, we started to do some reading. Lots of evenings we have work to catch up on but tonight we were happy to have space for one of our favourite pastimes. Erica had just given Morris a new book for his birthday, called “When breath becomes air”. He was taken by the true story of a neuro surgeon who became a patient, battling a life-threatening lung disease.  He decided to enjoy more of the evening outside while he read. I had begun an intriguing read by Amanda Lang, a Canadian journalist, called “The Beauty of Discomfort”. The first chapter tweaked my interest and I was eager to continue. Shortly after we got lost in our books, we heard it.  Bang. Bang. Bang. Stop. Then again. This time even more. What was that? It couldn’t be fireworks.  Gunfire?  Feeling some of his own discomfort, Morris came inside where I was.  The shots were loud and sounded close, though we knew it must be outside the gate.  Where was this coming from? And why? 

A few days earlier, the country’s political situation had been disturbed again when the Opposition leader, Mr. Raila Odinga, was illegally ‘sworn in’ as the ‘People’s President’.  There didn’t seem to be a lot of fallout, for which everyone gave a sigh of relief. However, we knew that earlier in the day, riots had erupted in two areas of the country – Kisumu and Migori. Was it possible that Kakamega was now being affected by violence too? We had prayed for peace many times over the past year, because of the unsettled atmosphere of unrest due to the government elections. It felt like we were being called to pray again. We contacted some friends who we knew would join us in seeking God’s protection.

Naturally feeling unsettled about the noise, we hurried next door to talk to our neighbors.  They were also intrigued by the sounds of the shooting and as baffled as we were about the source. The noise we assumed was gunfire lasted nearly an hour, til finally the commotion dissipating into the distance.  No one on the grounds seemed to know what had happened, not even the guards.  Eventually we went to bed with the familiar breath prayers - “Safety Lord. Please keep us all safe.”

The following day we were enlightened. The commotion we heard the night before was gun shots. In a neighborhood not far from Shimalavandu, our compound, a large group of people in the community had taken the law into their own hands. Apparently a family in the area had been causing a lot of chaos for a long time. Fear was escalating for the neighbors as fighting and violence (even killings) were going on and the police had not responded to the constant complaints of those feeling traumatized.   Acting as vigilantes, a community uprising ensued. The family was driven out of the area and their house burned to the ground.  The gunfire we heard was the police responding to the mutiny.  As emotions soared out of control, the crowd became unruly and the shots were fired into the air to manage the disturbance and move the people out.

It was with mixed feelings that we heard what had happened.  Thankful that political unrest was not the cause of the disturbance, what had occurred was still unsettling.  Where was justice? What measures have to be taken to ensure people are safe? What recourse did the community have?  When those trusted to protect the community do not fulfill their duty, what options are there? AND if everyone became their own law enforcer, how would order and safety ever be present or reliable? Imagine the chaos that would bring. So, what happens when victims feel they have no voice, no advocate?  When does the end justify the means? Are there more questions than answers?   

In any community or country, peace and safety can only come when there is a trustworthy and organized system of the administration of justice.  Around the globe, we long for country officials and community leaders to be men and women of integrity and reliability. We desire governments and law enforcers who are dependable and who work for the welfare and democratic rights of all citizens, shaping a just world for everyone. Unfortunately this desired ideal is sometimes out of reach and often that means many people suffer.

Morris and I have felt very safe living in Kenya. We have had almost no fear of being hurt but we aware that there are those around us who have been adversely affected by violence – some just because they’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time, others because they chose to be involved. This is not unique to Kenya.

Like many of you, I long for the day when all people live together in harmony, and safety and justice truly becomes everyone’s right.