On a recent evening, the violence in Kenya was brought up amongst a group of friends: "It's just another African country up in flames. What else is new?" seemed to be the consensus. Cringe-worthy to some, the facts are that this statement bares some truth. Rwanda, Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sierra Leone--when has there not been conflict occurring on the continent? It has become far too easy to dismiss conflicts in Africa simply because they are so common. And while we could debate the cause of these conflicts, tracing them back to colonialism, we would do better to discuss our reactions. I'm not arguing for the bleeding hearts of the world to unite, but rather for the international community to pressure the leaders of Kenya into taking full responsibility for creating a crisis that has taken hundreds of lives.

To begin, an overview of Kenyan politics is necessary. Throughout the fall of 2007, political leaders began to emerge, the process of which included declaring allegiance to one or more political parties. Candidates then proceed with campaigning in much the same way US presidential candidates campaign: buttons and t-shirts are handed out, rallies are attended, speeches are made, and focus is single-mindedly on polls. The key issues in this year's election were corruption, education and improvement of the lives of people living in Kenya's slums. The top three candidates were President Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka. Kibaki established his own political party, the Party of National Unity (PNU). Odinga and Musyoka allied with the Orange Democratic Movement Party (ODM), causing a split within the party. The front runners soon became clear--President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.

So how did an election escalate into violence? There are three factors: tribal manipulation, high unemployment and suspicious election results. Much like in the US, candidates run campaigns vying for votes by focusing on key issues. Moreover, in the same way that US candidates appeal to certain ideologies, Kenyan candidates appeal to certain tribes. As President, Kibaki had a record of favoring his own tribe, Kikuyu, over others. This made it very easy for Odinga to campaign for his own tribe, Luo, and promise Luos that they would be restored to their "deserved" place in Kenyan society. This means that rather than lucrative contracts and economic policies benefiting Kikuyus, they would shift to benefit Luos. Essentially, each candidate exacerbated subtle tribal differences as a means of garnering votes.

Are there differences between tribes in Kenya? Yes, very much so, but these are the same differences that exist among Americans. For example, in Kenya, if a couple were to announce to their parents that they were dating, the parents would want to know immediately which tribe their child's partner was from. Similarly, our parents might ask what religion our boyfriend or girlfriend practices, where they're from and what they do. Or a Republican President would probably find more support from a Republican congress and choose Republican or Conservative people for his cabinet. The difference is that when President Kibaki chooses Kikuyu members of his cabinet, he is doing so based on ideology and tribe affiliation.

Unemployment and poverty play a part in the post-election violence in two ways: first, they create frustration and desperation which politicians manipulate in order to garner votes and second, unemployment means that many Kenyans are not committed to jobs and thus have the time to take to the streets. Kenya has a staggering unemployment rate of 40% and poverty rate of 50%. In other words, many promises were made to the people of Kibera, Kenya's largest slum, as long as the people elected the politician making those promises.

Finally, the election itself produced many questionable results with 115% turnout in some voting districts. In fact, few countries have endorsed the election as free and fair. Mwai Kibaki was declared the re-elected president and was swiftly signed in to office.

When the December 27th election results were returned and allegations of corruption surfaced, opposing tribes took to the streets. Odinga called for mass protests, and in an effort to bring calm to the country, news reports of the violence were banned by Kibaki. Additionally, Kibaki sent riot police to disperse protesters. Many of the protesters came from Nairobi's slums, Kibera in particular. Police sought to keep the peace by blocking off the one road in and out of Kibera. People's shops and homes were burned down as Luos targeted Kikuyus and vice versa. Daniel Mogere, an aid worker in Kibera and the newly established refugee camps, recently reported that the "the number [of people fleeing their homes] is really getting bigger since people from the Kamba community living in Kibera have been forced to seek refuge in this temporary camp. There are rumors that they maybe killed by Luos, the reason being that the newly elected Vice President is a Kamba, which the Luos say is a betrayal on the current crisis. He was one of the people who Kibaki selected to his cabinet recently. Now they have come with all their belongings and they are there [at the refugee camp outside of Kibera.]"

Currently, international news sources are reporting that the violence has an element of organization. On January 21st, The New York Times reported, "Leaflets calling for ethnic killings mysteriously appeared before the voting. Politicians with both the government and opposition parties gave speeches that stoked long-standing hatred among ethnic groups. And local tribal chiefs held meetings to plot attacks on rivals, according to some of them and their followers." It is easy to conclude that people simply hate each other so much as to organize mass killings; The New York Times even suggests that ethnic groups have hated each other for a long period of time. To the contrary, these tribes have lived side by side in the Kibera slum for years. It is the political leaders who make promises along tribal lines--"Vote for me and our tribe will be restored to glory. You are a victim of unfairness at the hands of the other tribe!"--that are to blame for this so-called hatred. It is the political leaders who twist words, manipulate the people and use them as pawns in the game of power. Political leaders decry the "genocide" on the part of the opposing party, the "genocide" for which they themselves are responsible.

As of now, Raila Odinga is using boycotts to protest the results of the election which he believes was stolen by Kibaki. It is possible that the boycotts will be effective. Kibaki is said to have a close inner-circle of friends, all of whom are captains of various industries in Kenya. The theory is that by boycotting selected business and entire industries, Kibaki will be pressured by this inner-circle to either hold a re-election or declare Odinga the winner.

In the meantime, the people of Kenya face the fall-out from political unrest in Nairobi. Kibera, a slum the size of New York City's central park, has seen much of the violence, which has caused many to flee their homes. Daniel Mogere writes, "In Kibera, gun sound has replaced the conversation you used to hear while passing by. The main road is all gone; all you can see are the remains of what used to be the shops. People are being killed and thousands displaced--they seek refuge at the fairgrounds, which is just within walking distance from Kibera, yet it's safer there compared to Kibera itself. Women and kids are the ones who have been affected greatly, rape being the big issue. Since Kibera has a big number of people living with HIV/AIDS already, I fear that at the end of the crisis there will be many more people testing positive compared to the current case. Anyway, just pray for us and our country. Things are really bad but please don't worry, just count on me."

So now, the international community grapples with economic and humanitarian crises arising in Kenya. As politicians from both sides allege genocide, memories of Rwanda and the current events in Sudan weigh heavily on the world's conscience. As pictures surface of burnt churches and bloodied streets, for many of us, our gut reaction is to rush in and somehow halt the violence. The international community can, and should, apply pressure to Kenya. Economic sanctions and the presence of mediators could prove to be very helpful; however, ultimately the healing of Kenya must come from Kenya's leaders and both Kibaki and Odinga must realize that the responsibility to stop the violence rests squarely and surely on their shoulders.

Additionally, I've observed that international aid and mediation can become a crutch for Kenya; it may become too easy for Kenya to rely on help from the international community to solve its problems. In fact, political leaders who cry genocide may be using such strong language merely to entice the international community's involvement. Just as a good parent must eventually disengage from their growing child, however, the international community should strongly encourage Kenyans to find their own solution.

A young Muslim in Kibera told me that the United States would never get involved in Darfur, lest they inject themselves into the center of age-old Sudanese ethnic hatreds. Similarly, it would be unwise for the US to involve itself in the Kenyan tribal conflict, a move that both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga will not use hesitantly.