Witnessing and memory: representations of school tragedies in Kenya

ABSTRACT

Focusing on documentaries that resurrect traumatic memories of school tragedies in Kenya, this article demonstrates the centrality of media witnessing in advocacy for human rights. It reads representations of injustices committed by students and, importantly, attributes causal and moral responsibility to them as instigators of arson, gang rape, and murders in schools. The article is anchored on the faith that the witnessing of atrocities drawn from memory builds communal awareness and, thus, vigilance against injustices. Moreover, it posits that knowledge of traumatic encounters drawn from memory enhances the grieving for the human wastage incurred through transgression of internationally recognized right to life. The revival of the mourning process the witnessing facilitates enables deep reflections on the possible lessons drawn from the occurrences. The advocacy of this nature purposes to procure a transformed society where the lives and fundamental rights of individuals as well as communities are respected and protected not only by institutions but also by every member of society. Paramount in the media witnessing advocacy for human rights is the foregrounding of human compassion and empathy in relation to the suffering of the distant other as well as the condemnation of political networks and perceptions bent on defeating justice.

KEYWORDS:

• Media witnessing
• crime documentary
• school tragedy
• testimony

Acknowledgments

Research funds for this article were provided by the Stellenbosch University's 2017 Consolidoc Fellowship and Department of English, Stellenbosch University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The documentaries are accessible on YouTube links available in the reference list.

2. There are also cases when school girls have participated in commision of atrocities in girls-only schools. For instance, in the arson case of the Bombululu Girls tragedy in Kwale County, coastal Kenya, that occured on the night of 25–26 March 1998, 26 girls perished in their dormitory. The school is now renamed Mazeras Memorial Girls School. The most recent arson case is the Moi Girls High School fire tragedy in which 9 girls died in their dormitory on the night of 2 September 2017. One girl has been charged for arson, murder and assault at the Nairobi High Court.

Additional information

Funding

Stellenbosch University's 2017 Consolidoc Fellowship [grant number SU 18911579].

Notes on contributors

Wafula Yenjela

Wafula Yenjela teaches literature at South Eastern Kenya University. He is also an adjunct lecturer at African Nazarene University. He holds a BA (Literature and Linguistics) and MA (Literature) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and a PhD in Literature from Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.