George Wachira ('91 Kenya), Director, NPI-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

(Presented as part of the panel "In the Company of Peacemakers: Pursuing Peace After a Kroc M.A." at Fr. Ted, Man of Peace, Sept. 30, 2000)


When I first arrived at Notre Dame George Lopez, no doubt seeing the impatience in some of us coming from the activist tradition and charged political environments, urged us to consider our stay at the Institute as a "time away," a chance to reflect and re-energize ourselves before returning to our work. Immediately after my studies at the Kroc Institute, I returned to my native Kenya and Africa where I plunged once again into the raging river, only this time as a different kind of activist: no less passionate, but more globally aware of the reality we are faced with in our quest for peace and justice in the world.

I first joined NPI-Africa as an intern fresh from college in 1989. After returning from the year at the Kroc Institute in 1991, I continued working for the organization and was appointed Director in 1997.

NPI-Africa started in 1984 as a discussion group named Nairobi Peace Group, in the wake of the Horn of Africa famine. Its founders were motivated by a desire to tell another story, a story of hope about Africa, given the negative international media portrayal of the Horn and, by extension Africa, during that famine. They wanted to highlight the need to go beyond helping immediate victims of the famine to ask deeper questions about conflicts in Africa and—in that era of the Cold War—raise questions about the internal and external causes of the conflicts. In the course of time, the organization has changed its name to Nairobi Peace Initiative, reflecting its shift from a discussion and informal diplomacy group to one actively involved in initiating peacebuilding activities; and recently to NPI-Africa, reflecting its pan-African vision and focus.

NPI-Africa has been involved in a wide range of peacebuilding initiatives. Major activities have included supporting grassroots peacebuilding work in Liberia, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Congo; promoting Track 2 mediation and conciliation efforts by religious and political leaders in Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Sudan; building capacity in conflict transformation and peacebuilding for peace workers in over 30 countries in Africa; and organizing conferences and symposia on topical issues of concern to peacebuilding and Africa in general.

As I reflect on the current situation in Africa, I note several lessons that emerge from my work as well as significant areas of challenge.

Conflict Prevention - Our world is attuned to preparing for the worst, not preventing it. Similarly, we spend huge amounts of resources in treating symptoms of conflict but rarely move in the direction of asking the deeper questions of how it can be prevented. And when we do think about prevention, we think either in the limited sense of "preventive diplomacy" and visualize a flurry of shuttle diplomacy activity; or in terms of military intimidation. These responses may have their merits in given circumstances, but I believe the best preventive action occurs when we address the underlying issues and causes of conflict so that they do not explode into violence. These are usually in structures of governance, distribution of resources, perceptions of inclusion or exclusion, economic marginalization and grinding poverty. The prescription of liberal democracies for Africa focuses only on the political aspects of the problem. In the absence of other prerequisites for peace, even this has turned out to be a failure and in some circumstances created new waves of violence.

Comprehensive Approaches - Most of the reporting on Africa focuses on the outward manifestations of the conflicts once they erupt into violence and soon after is reduced to well rehearsed clichés such as "extremist majority Hutus versus minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus" in the case of Rwanda, or "mainly Christian and animist South versus Arabized Muslim fundamentalist North" in the case of Sudan. Little is ever said about the complexity of factors that often drive the pogroms. If these factors are analyzed, it becomes obvious that conflicts in Africa are not just about Africans fighting against each other aimlessly, but involves a whole web of local and international factors and interests. Therefore, at NPI-Africa, we emphasize the importance of comprehensive approaches for change at local, national and global levels if some of the conflicts we are experiencing are to be resolved and just and humane societies created.

Reconciliation - In situations such as Rwanda, South Africa, Sierra Leone and many others where gross atrocities have been committed, society is confronted with another question: how to bring closure to the dark episode and face the future. Many times when working with people from such situations I have asked myself, "Who dares to tell these people to reconcile?" But another voice instantly says, "Who dares to tell them there is another way?" This is a real and practical challenge in the conflicts that have been marked by some of the worst atrocities imaginable. Unfortunately, especially in situations of widespread violence and violations over a long period of time, the line between the "victim" and the "offender" is sometimes very difficult to draw. Suggesting reconciliation in such circumstances seems to fly in the face of justice and encourage impunity; but doing "justice" becomes an equally complex affair.

This is the challenge of reconciliation. It confronts the dilemma of how to ensure justice while at the same time nurturing long-term relationships and interdependence. Reconciliation then becomes the painful past in dialogue with the common future. It is about breaking the cycles of violence that so often repeat themselves. Yet, if not satisfactorily done, what is called reconciliation in some circumstances could be the seed for future pogroms. In the recent past, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission process and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have helped focus on this dilemma. In the South African case, the "victims" were given the opportunity to express their pain (emotional relief) and in turn forgave the "offenders". The tribunal on Rwanda seeks to achieve reconciliation by first punishing those of the perpetrators of the killings in Rwanda as can be proved guilty through a judicial process. Is emotional release or punishment of offenders sufficient for reconciliation to happen? Is some form of reparation needed? But can one put conditions, any conditions, on reconciliation? I believe reconciliation is a deeply spiritual and often very personal choice. Its fundamentally voluntary nature is both its weakness and strength.

The Long-term Perspective - All too often we expect the world and our societies to change quickly. We often forget that the habits, attitudes and institutions of violence and injustice have developed over many generations and a lot of thought, creativity and resources have gone into building and nurturing the current attitudes, values and institutions that create violence and injustice. It would therefore be unrealistic for us to expect to achieve our goals within a short period of time, and without investing even a small fraction of the amount of resources that have gone into what we are attempting to reverse. Peacebuilding is a long-term process rarely with quick results, as a result of which it can be very frustrating for those expecting quick gains.

John Paul Lederach constantly reminds us that we may have to invest twice as long in peace work as has been invested in war-making. In the short term, therefore, peacebuilding and even other aspects of change are not so much about immediate results, but more about sustaining a platform through which change may be realized in the long-term.

While I make no audacious claims of success in our work, I can say with conviction that we have contributed to the course of peacebuilding in Africa and helped transform the lives of many people. True, the picture that often emerges from Africa is one of endless chaos and hopelessness, of which there is ample evidence. The work has constantly brought me face to face with the despair, pain, atrocities and death; the worst possible that humans can do to each other has occurred in places like Mozambique, Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and so on. And in spite of much work over the years, it seems as if things are getting worse in Africa and conflicts have become increasingly atrocious and brutal. At times, it has seemed pointless to continue and doubts have assailed my mind. Are we mere dreamers, hoping when, there seems to be no reason to hope?

But the work has also brought me face to face with hope, transformation, resilience, solidarity, forgiveness and grace, the very best of our humanity. I have been a witness to many moments of grace and promise. This may have been in a simple handshake or embrace by former enemies; in a tearful "we are sorry for what we have done, we did not know this is what we were doing"; the sharing of traditional beer or other rituals; or the signing of an agreement. I cherish each one of those moments dearly. At such times, I have felt privileged to have worked with and known the people, to have shared not only in their stories of pain and suffering but in their rediscovery of their interdependence and oneness.

This promise of change is what keeps me going. People can change. The world can change. I remain convinced that, in spite of the pain of today, in the broad stroke of time, Africa is changing and has a bright future. I see that hope as the duty and responsibility of all workers for justice and peace.

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