- SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
Simon Maingi: »In Kenya, elections are a matter of life and death because the loser loses everything - and the winner gets it all. «
Simon Maingi from Njoro, Psychologist, lost his mother during the 2007 elections.
A phone call shortly after the 2007 election changed Simon Maingi’s life. His mother had been killed by a group of youths from a different ethnic group while working on the family land. According to the autopsy report, she was strangled.
»It’s stuck with me and became a burden that I felt no one could help me get rid of, « says Simon, who for many years wouldn’t talk about either election violence or his mother’s murder.
»In Kenya, elections are a matter of life and death because the loser loses everything – and the winner gets it all.«
Unemployed and impacted youth
Simon Maingi’s father was a drunkard, so his mother chose to leave him and take Simon and his four siblings to Njoro town in the Nakuru region when he was a child.
»Some Kenyans feel marginalized and feel that resources such as land and work are not distributed fairly«
His father’s abuse has shaped the man Simon Maingi is today in many ways. He became the male head of the family and breadwinner when his brothers also started drinking, leaving him to help his mother with the house and look after his two younger sisters.
»I chose to study psychology because I wanted to help others. But in hindsight, I can see that I also did it to help myself deal with the traumas from my childhood, « says Simon Maingi, who now works at the Kenya Institute of Psychological Counselling in Nakuru.
He believes that difficulties in dealing effectively with trauma it is a major problem for both the area and the country, which is why many young people turn to alcohol and drugs to cope with everyday life.
» Some Kenyans feel marginalized and feel that resources such as land and work are not distributed fairly. Politicians take advantage of this during elections. For example, they are unemployed young people who then take to the streets for that politician, « says the psychologist.
A combination of drug and substance abuse and high unemployment rates among young people is a ticking time bomb threatening the desire for peaceful elections. That’s why he and several others of the people he got to know through the MIDRIFT HURINET program and network have started a project to create jobs and green spaces.
»We want to prevent abuse among young people by providing them with jobs such as planting trees and growing crops in the area, « he says.
»We want to give young people something to do that keeps them busy.«
Dialogue before demonstrations and tear gas
Simon Maingi’s participation in MIDRIFT HURINET’s program is not just about creating jobs for young people. He has resorted to dialogue with several of his fellow students – with politicians, authorities, and Kenyans.
»Elections come and go, but we live here. This is our area«
»We made a significant effort before the elections by talking to different opinion leaders and stakeholders who have the opportunity to influence the elections, « says Simon Maingi, who has seen from previous elections that exchanges of opinions have taken place in demonstrations that often ended with police interference and tear gas.
»Instead, it’s been about engaging and showing that with peaceful dialogue, we can create change and make politicians aware that we hold them accountable for their actions – both during the election and afterward. «
Specifically, Simon Maingi has been involved in sending a letter to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Kenyan electoral authorities, to inform them of their failure to educate people on how to vote. He has also been talking about politics and peaceful elections to the congregations in local churches.
According to Simon Maingi, the IEBC only changed its practices two weeks after receiving the letter. For the first time, many locals have chosen to stay in the Nakuru region after voting instead of fleeing from the cities to the countryside for a period to avoid riots and violence.
»Elections come and go, but we live here. This is our area.«
Elections shouldn't be a matter of life or death
Although his business card says psychologist, it took Simon Maingi more than a decade to confront himself with the loss of his mother in 2007. One of the modules in the MIDRIFT HURINET program is about knowing yourself and discussing the topics that are particularly uncomfortable and can cause conflict.
Finally, Simon Maingi lowered his shoulders and allowed himself to talk openly.
»Sharing it helped me a lot because, for the first time, I felt that now there was someone other than me who could help me carry and process the trauma of how my mother was killed. «
Just as he believes he is a different person today than when he joined the MIDRIFT HURINET program, he also believes that his region and country need to embrace the change he and the other 569 people trained in violence prevention have helped to initiate:
»Politicians need to understand that elections are not about life or death. There will always be a winner and a loser, but we must be here together and live side by side no matter what ethnic group you are or who you voted for, « says Simon Maingi.
»We cannot go back to the elections as they were before, « he concludes.