Amani FM was established in Tana River County, Eastern Kenya, in the weeks prior to the 2017 August general elections. The key objective of this initiative was promoting peace and tolerance throughout the elections in a region historically known to have deeply divided rivalry. In the 2012-2013...
As the twilight begins in a Tana Delta village, someone awakes and steps outside to answer the call of nature. She stops, then turns to run back to her hut, panting and trembling. “I have seen them. Three armed men are crossing our village.” Those few words ignite like wildfire and before long the...
Between August 2012 and January 2013, the Tana Delta area of eastern Kenya experienced a series of massacres between the Orma and Pokomo ethnic groups. The killings took the lives of an estimated 166 people and displaced tens of thousands from their homes. The violence impacted both the local...
An interview with Kode Wario, Una Hakika Community Ambassador In terms of the recent expansion of Una Hakika into Lamu, how will the program be beneficial to the community? In its expansion to the Lamu community Una Hakika shall will be a great benefit. In my findings through the few...
Numerous explanations have been proposed for the spread of misinformation in the world. The most common of these rumours are inaccurate or incomplete information or for vested interest. Kenya’s Tana Delta is a region rife with rumours and in the past two years Una Hakika has been mapping and...
An interview with Drew Boyd, Director of Operations at the Sentinel Project How has Una Hakika worked with authorities to prevent the spread of rumours that may lead to violence? Drew: Una Hakika set out from the very beginning to plug into as many different and varied groups as possible and local...
The question of the role of rumours in conflict begs an understanding into their construction, channels of distribution, their velocity, and their believability in the minds of local communities. True to any multi-ethnic community in Kenya, rumours are key in determining peace and stability. Tana...
An interview with Una Hakika community ambassador Kode Komora What are the lasting effects of violence in the Tana Delta? I think that ethnic hatred has led to unfair job distribution, based on which tribe is in power. Unstable political development agendas are another effect, as now...
The Una Hakika forum was held on 14th April at iHub in Nairobi. The forum’s intent was to inform stakeholders of Una Hakika’s one year journey from its birth and implementation to challenges faced and future plans. One year down the road we have covered 16 villages, have a total of 193...
An interview with the Sentinel Project’s Director of Operations Drew Boyd. We’re used to hearing about drones as agents of death, that since their inception they have often been used for the purpose of violence. Why should people be convinced otherwise? Technology has no moral compass, it is not...
An interview with Una Hakika Project Coordinator John Green How has Una Hakika grown in the last year? Looking back at the progression of Una Hakika from a simple idea of reporting incendiary rumours in Tana Delta to a full-fledged violence prevention project is a growth worth concession. I...
One of my goals during our latest visit to the Tana Delta was to take a break from our usual routine of meetings, village visits, training sessions, and long hours on the road in order to simply observe Una Hakika in action. It seemed like a great opportunity to watch as rumour reports came in and...
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