After the Kenyan elections on December 27, 2007, tensions ran high around Sangale on the Mau escarpment where I live. As the counting went on, many Kikuyu farmers who had moved into our area after President Kibaki’s election in 2002 felt unsafe and wanted to go home. Their fears stemmed from previous tribal clashes in the Mau escarpment in 1992 when a number of Kikuyu had been killed and many chased from their homes.
About twelve Kikuyu came to my house in distress, fearful and asking what to do. I prayed with them and counselled them. I gave them refuge overnight in my home, even though we were already overcrowded with my own family. I encouraged them that I had spoken with others around Sangale and it did not look like the Kikuyu were in any danger. They still felt nervous.
I told them they could return to the Kikuyu area of Kenya if that would make them feel safer. While they were away, we would watch over their potato shambas to keep the goats out and prevent our people from digging up their crops. I told them that once the immediate post-election chaos ended, they would be welcome to come back and live among our people again.
We helped raise money for matatu fare and the Kikuyu farmers left. Later others came looking for refuge. We personally helped about 24 men, women and children as they headed across the Rift Valley to the Kikuyu heartland. Altogether about 200 farmers evacuated from the area around Sangale, mostly Kikuyu, but also some Kisii.
Once they had left, I visited many Christian families in our area and encouraged them to guard the abandoned farms. Now, one month after the elections, things are still tense in Kenya. But most of the Kikuyu farmers from Sangale have returned. Though a few potatoes had been stolen from some of the farms, the gardens were mostly intact. Their houses and belongings were kept safe. Nothing was burnt. No one was killed or injured. The Kikuyu farmers are harvesting their potatoes and getting on with life.
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