The killings in Mpeketoni on 15 and 16 June are the latest in a series of violent events that are challenging the security of Kenya and the East Africa region more broadly. The words ‘terrorism’, ‘assassinations’, ‘tribal clashes’, ‘violent crime’, ‘domestic violence’ regularly appear in mainstream and social media headlines. Traumatic pictures of the aftermath fill the newspapers and TV screens. Kenya is no stranger to violent conflict, as the 2008 post-election violence attests to, but some analysts see the current resurgence as something new. There is no shortage of views on the causes of the current insecurity. Some blame external threats, religious ideology, identity, resource competition, youth unemployment, marginalisation, political intrigue, corruption and inefficiency of the security services. Others point to a failure of collective responsibility.

In the latest in a series of conversations with well-known writers, Kwani Trust, in partnership with the Rift Valley Institute’s Nairobi Forum, invited a panel of writers to discuss these pressing matters. The writers included:

NoViolet Bulawayo, Writer
Parselelo Kantai, Writer
Rashid Abdi, Journalist
Billy Kahora, Writer and Kwani? managing editor

This conversation followed a session titled, Meet the Writers, featuring the three shortlisted writers of the Etisalat Prize for Literature: NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Yewande Omotoso (Nigeria/South Africa) and Karen Jennings (South Africa).