Bones of victims of the Rwandan genocide at Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. [Photo: DFID]The 1994 Rwandan genocide was planned by members of the core political elite, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government.According to Wikipedia, perpetrators came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, the gendarmerie, government-backed militias including the 'Interahamwe' and 'Impuzamugambi' youth militias.While it might seem far-fetched to compare the current Kenyan political situation with the prelude to the Rwandan genocide, it is good to note that Kenya is seemingly following a similar path that may lead to the worst ethnic crash in the most developed East African country. Here is why.Political grandstanding. Fight for political superiority between Hutu and Tutsi led to the Rwandan genocide. Kenyan ethnic war may be as a result of hardline positions adopted by the two major political divides in the country, Jubilee and NASA. Grandstanding on the peace agreement between the government of Rwanda and the Rwandese Patriotic Front, culminating in the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, which preceded the genocidal killings that followed the next day.In Kenya, a deadlock between the opposition and government on electoral reforms has led to a political grandstanding that only God knows what it will lead to.Second, in Rwanda, in the months preceding genocide, there was the formation of far-right political movements like the Coalition for the Defence of Republic (CDR) which were advocating for 'undiluted' Hutu Power. In Kenya, the formation of National Resistance Movement which promises to ensure that the 'legitimate President' is installed, can end up taking Kenya the dark Rwandan path.Finally, profiling of companies and individuals by the National Resistance Movement for product boycott can end being a replication of Rwandan 'Hutus 10 Commandments', where Hutus were encouraged to basically 'boycott' whatever came from Tutsi, be it their women, businesses, jobs and so on. This anti-Jubilee supporters propaganda only serves to widen the political and ethnic animosity between the two hostile camps.

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