4.3 Pastoral Recommendation on how to curb Negative Ethnicity (TRIBALISM)
Basing on the general findings of this research, the researcher recommends the following for possible government and church considerations:
1. Poverty eradication programmes (kazi kwa vijana) be invested by the government to curb the challenge of unemployment. Besides, skill training, for instance, carpentry, building and brick laying, and concrete practice should be provided to the youth to give hope and protect them from being misused by politicians for their personal gain and interest during general election.
2. The government should restore complete democratic process of election and civic education to the people. This would be achieved through the establishment of a transparent Electoral Commission that is able to seal all loopholes that would not allow vote rigging and stealing.
3. There should be a guarantee in freedom of speech and rights of assembly to discuss issues affecting the public and local mwananchi. People should be free to air their grievances freely and fight for their rights as enshrined in the constitution.
4. The government should ensure equitable distribution of power through devolution of resources, for example, fair share of ministerial positions and adoption of employment quotas in banks, universities, companies and public service as the hallmark of every successive government.
This would reduce complaints of under representation thus, promoting peace and unity in ethnic communities.
5. Different traditional music, drama and dance skills should be passed on to the children.
This could be achieved through the formation of music, drama and dance clubs. This would ensure that children are trained in basic skills in music, drama and dance; and these skills preserved.
This can be in change attitude, and eradicating stereotype in the young generation, hence raising a generation that respects variety and diversities. (ubuntu).
6. Religious teaching should be regularly pursued in various ethnic communities in order for a culture of peace and reconciliation is realized.
This is because religion in itself is peace; it softens the hearts of the believers and it encourages a spirit of forgiveness, love and reconciliation within a given hostile environment.
7. Peace education should regularly be conducted in our communities and integrated into the national school curriculum.
The communities should regularly be encouraged to adopt constructive and non-violent ways to resolve conflict through community seminars, workshops and peace caravan in counties where they face challenges of ethnic conflict.
8. Communities should be encouraged to adopt and embrace the traditional justice system that is workable by encouraging a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness between victims and perpetrators.
The culture of reconciliation should be contextualized within given communities so as to end the historical enmity.
9. The government, various ethnic communities and religious groups should borrow conflict resolution mechanisms from other countries that were at war, for example, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
These should be related and implemented within the context of Kenyan situation in order to achieve peace.
10. Normally young people are innocent and love peace and work. Peace education should be given to them right from the family level so as to make them builders of peace.
They need to be moulded gradually with the skills and knowledge to achieve peace and reconciliation in their society.
In this respect, peace education programme must include gender issues and constitutional rights to be fully sanitized on human rights and citizenry obligations towards each other in nation building.
11. The media is an effective means of communication in the typical local set up. This reaches a wide section of the population.
Its effectiveness should be employed to work for peace education on radio programmes in the local dialects. All journalists and local FM stations should be called upon to participate in giving peace education to the masses.
People are keen on listening to what is on radio. This can be a right moment to seize the occasion to educate the local people to reconcile.
12. Individuals in ethnic communities should be trained in skills of imparting peace education.
The peace message should emphasize the need for empathy, reconciliation and peaceful resolution of conflicts.
13. Peace education should be taken to work places such as offices, garages, workshops, markets, taxi parks, health units and other places in the parish and small Christian communities.
In the research some people pointed out that they do not see the need to use legal procedure of taking an offender to court.
14. The best means to reverse a trend in conflict is through the use of peace education and local traditional mechanism.
Peace education when given to workers may improve their service delivery, performance and administrative capacities.
It may promote understanding, good working relationships and bring respect for the group and individuals hence resulting into peace.
15. The army, police, prison warders, the local police and “askaris” of all types who handle different types of weapon and deal with security matters should be peace educated.
This would enable them to avoid human rights violation and reduced conflict between civilian and the security personnel.
The security officers should be trained in good public relation so as clean their name that has been tainted by the public.
16. Peace walks and national prayer days should be organized to advocate for peace.
Priests, sheiks, Bishops and Pastors should use the pulpits to advocate for peace and warn parties in conflict against the dangers of war and conflict to mankind.
Workshops, conferences, seminars and crusades for peace should be used as avenues where the message of peace could be heard, and violent attitudes shunned.
17. We should commit ourselves to educating people in mutual respect and in self-esteem, in order to help bring about a peaceful and external coexistence between people of different ethnic groups, cultures and religions.
18. We should commit ourselves to fostering the culture of dialogue, so that there is an increase in understanding and mutual trust between individuals and peoples, for these are the premise of authentic peace.
19. We should commit ourselves to frank and patient dialogue refusing to consider our differences as an insurmountable barrier, but recognizing instead that to encounter the diversity of others can become an opportunity for greater reciprocal understanding.
20. We should commit ourselves to forgiving one another for past and present errors and prejudices, and to supporting one another in a common effort both to overcome selfishness and arrogance, hatred and violence, and to learn from the past that peace without justice is no true peace.
21. We should commit ourselves to taking the side of the poor and the helpless, to speaking out for those who have no voice and to working effectively to change these situations out of the conviction that no one can be happy alone.
There should be a commitment on every citizen to be encouraged to promote friendship between peoples, for we are convinced that, in the absence of solidarity and understanding between peoples, technological progress exposes the world to a growing risk of destruction and death.
Everything that deals with peace, justice and reconciliation depends on the message leaders in the given region tell their children.
If they tell their children that we the people of Central and West were the ones who mistreated them, then they will do the same.
But if they tell their children that these mistreatments were committed by specific individuals, then they will not mistreat us.
This conversation implies that to have genuine peace in this country and prevent a cycle of revenge killings/mistreatment, we have to tell the masses the truth about what has been happening, we have to tell the masses not to generalize people of a particular ethnic or tribal group; for these conflicts were committed by specific individuals.
Basing on the general findings of this research, the researcher recommends the following for possible government and church considerations:
1. Poverty eradication programmes (kazi kwa vijana) be invested by the government to curb the challenge of unemployment. Besides, skill training, for instance, carpentry, building and brick laying, and concrete practice should be provided to the youth to give hope and protect them from being misused by politicians for their personal gain and interest during general election.
2. The government should restore complete democratic process of election and civic education to the people. This would be achieved through the establishment of a transparent Electoral Commission that is able to seal all loopholes that would not allow vote rigging and stealing.
3. There should be a guarantee in freedom of speech and rights of assembly to discuss issues affecting the public and local mwananchi. People should be free to air their grievances freely and fight for their rights as enshrined in the constitution.
4. The government should ensure equitable distribution of power through devolution of resources, for example, fair share of ministerial positions and adoption of employment quotas in banks, universities, companies and public service as the hallmark of every successive government.
This would reduce complaints of under representation thus, promoting peace and unity in ethnic communities.
5. Different traditional music, drama and dance skills should be passed on to the children.
This could be achieved through the formation of music, drama and dance clubs. This would ensure that children are trained in basic skills in music, drama and dance; and these skills preserved.
This can be in change attitude, and eradicating stereotype in the young generation, hence raising a generation that respects variety and diversities. (ubuntu).
6. Religious teaching should be regularly pursued in various ethnic communities in order for a culture of peace and reconciliation is realized.
This is because religion in itself is peace; it softens the hearts of the believers and it encourages a spirit of forgiveness, love and reconciliation within a given hostile environment.
7. Peace education should regularly be conducted in our communities and integrated into the national school curriculum.
The communities should regularly be encouraged to adopt constructive and non-violent ways to resolve conflict through community seminars, workshops and peace caravan in counties where they face challenges of ethnic conflict.
8. Communities should be encouraged to adopt and embrace the traditional justice system that is workable by encouraging a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness between victims and perpetrators.
The culture of reconciliation should be contextualized within given communities so as to end the historical enmity.
9. The government, various ethnic communities and religious groups should borrow conflict resolution mechanisms from other countries that were at war, for example, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
These should be related and implemented within the context of Kenyan situation in order to achieve peace.
10. Normally young people are innocent and love peace and work. Peace education should be given to them right from the family level so as to make them builders of peace.
They need to be moulded gradually with the skills and knowledge to achieve peace and reconciliation in their society.
In this respect, peace education programme must include gender issues and constitutional rights to be fully sanitized on human rights and citizenry obligations towards each other in nation building.
11. The media is an effective means of communication in the typical local set up. This reaches a wide section of the population.
Its effectiveness should be employed to work for peace education on radio programmes in the local dialects. All journalists and local FM stations should be called upon to participate in giving peace education to the masses.
People are keen on listening to what is on radio. This can be a right moment to seize the occasion to educate the local people to reconcile.
12. Individuals in ethnic communities should be trained in skills of imparting peace education.
The peace message should emphasize the need for empathy, reconciliation and peaceful resolution of conflicts.
13. Peace education should be taken to work places such as offices, garages, workshops, markets, taxi parks, health units and other places in the parish and small Christian communities.
In the research some people pointed out that they do not see the need to use legal procedure of taking an offender to court.
14. The best means to reverse a trend in conflict is through the use of peace education and local traditional mechanism.
Peace education when given to workers may improve their service delivery, performance and administrative capacities.
It may promote understanding, good working relationships and bring respect for the group and individuals hence resulting into peace.
15. The army, police, prison warders, the local police and “askaris” of all types who handle different types of weapon and deal with security matters should be peace educated.
This would enable them to avoid human rights violation and reduced conflict between civilian and the security personnel.
The security officers should be trained in good public relation so as clean their name that has been tainted by the public.
16. Peace walks and national prayer days should be organized to advocate for peace.
Priests, sheiks, Bishops and Pastors should use the pulpits to advocate for peace and warn parties in conflict against the dangers of war and conflict to mankind.
Workshops, conferences, seminars and crusades for peace should be used as avenues where the message of peace could be heard, and violent attitudes shunned.
17. We should commit ourselves to educating people in mutual respect and in self-esteem, in order to help bring about a peaceful and external coexistence between people of different ethnic groups, cultures and religions.
18. We should commit ourselves to fostering the culture of dialogue, so that there is an increase in understanding and mutual trust between individuals and peoples, for these are the premise of authentic peace.
19. We should commit ourselves to frank and patient dialogue refusing to consider our differences as an insurmountable barrier, but recognizing instead that to encounter the diversity of others can become an opportunity for greater reciprocal understanding.
20. We should commit ourselves to forgiving one another for past and present errors and prejudices, and to supporting one another in a common effort both to overcome selfishness and arrogance, hatred and violence, and to learn from the past that peace without justice is no true peace.
21. We should commit ourselves to taking the side of the poor and the helpless, to speaking out for those who have no voice and to working effectively to change these situations out of the conviction that no one can be happy alone.
There should be a commitment on every citizen to be encouraged to promote friendship between peoples, for we are convinced that, in the absence of solidarity and understanding between peoples, technological progress exposes the world to a growing risk of destruction and death.
Everything that deals with peace, justice and reconciliation depends on the message leaders in the given region tell their children.
If they tell their children that we the people of Central and West were the ones who mistreated them, then they will do the same.
But if they tell their children that these mistreatments were committed by specific individuals, then they will not mistreat us.
This conversation implies that to have genuine peace in this country and prevent a cycle of revenge killings/mistreatment, we have to tell the masses the truth about what has been happening, we have to tell the masses not to generalize people of a particular ethnic or tribal group; for these conflicts were committed by specific individuals.
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