The Christian Science Monitor has embarked on a vitally important four-part series on how Kenya stepped back from the brink of catastrophe in the wake of its hotly contested elections in January. The country, which appeared to be a shining example of the successes of liberal democracy in Africa, found itself on the precipice when post-election violence overwhelmed the country. The CSM shows not only the roots of the problem, but also uses first-person accounts to show how Africans, and especially leading elders, played a vital role in avoiding disaster.
The hard work of building peace continues, but Kenya may well provide a model for dealing with conflict. Hopefully, of course, the lessons from Kenya will be applicable without the descent into near-anarchy. The obvious example of a country that will be in need of similar healing will be Zimbabwe, though the dynamic in Zim has been more prolonged than Kenya's and thus the problems more entrenched, the antagonists less likely to be conciliatory.
(Alongside the articles the CSM provides good multi-media resources and other useful materials, such as an annotated list of the key players in brokering peace and a timeline of events since the 27 December election.)
