‘We have moved on’: human rights and intersubjectivity in post- 2007/2008 violence in Kenya
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Date
2015
Authors
Akoth, Steve
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
In September 2010, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Moreno Ocampo,
issued summons against six Kenyans suspected of bearing the greatest responsibility
for crimes against humanity committed in Kenya after the bungled 2007 general
elections. Immediately after the list of inductees was released, the political elites
and their courtiers launched a campaign for Kenyans to reverse the human rights
movements’ call for ‘truth-telling’ that had persisted since after flag independence.
Using the notion of ‘our people’, those who had been named suspects and their
supporters effectively reformulated the quest for ‘truth-telling’ to a silencing rhetoric
captured by the political elites’ and victims’ declaration as “we have moved on”.
I argue that this notion of ‘moving on’ is part of Kenya’s political culture that has for
long enveloped gross human rights violations and stifled discussions and quests for
any form of justice in Kenya’s post-conflict environment. This article gives an account
of how postcolonial subjectivities interrupt and complicate the discourse of ‘moving
on’ in Kenya.
Description
Keywords
Human rights abuses, Kenya, Crimes against humanity
Citation
Akoth, S. (2015). 'We have moved on': human rights and intersubjectivity in post-2007/2008 violence in Kenya: special issue. Acta Academica: Silence after violence and the imperative to'speak out', 47(1), 228-246.