We are all a bit depressed now and saddened. The shock and outrage at the blundering, very obvious tampering with election results has left everyone with no option but to feel betrayed:
‘This election has set Kenya back 15 years’ said a radio news caster this morning.
We have been holed up in our homes for three days of violence now, fearful of running into trouble on the streets. Planned New Year safaris have been cancelled and very few ventured out to party last night. It's difficult not to be snappy with the children. All these days with no work just encourages more law breaking and frustration amongst the population, but how to get things back on track? The only excursions we make are to friends houses or to the shops, where produce is running very low as the whole re supply infrastructure has broken down.
‘All the rich people have bought everything in the supermarkets, the small shops are closed, now we are beginning to starve, I will be giving my family boiled water with sugar,’ said one man waiting in a kilometre long supermarket queue yesterday. He may have been exaggerating slightly but the majority of people buy small quantities of sugar, tea, margarine, vegetables, lentils etc. from roadside stands. With these ‘dukas’ now closed for fear of looting, people are having to resort to walking miles for their basic essentials (few buses are running either). Supermarkets and ‘stocking up’ suggest large houses and piles of disposable cash of the privileged few.
The Sky news is reporting that there was vote rigging on both sides during the tallying process. The major problem is that none of us can see a way out of this situation or see how it can ultimately be resolved as the damage has now been done. Everyone is supposed to be back at work tomorrow, but very few will turn up. We now have Raila’s ‘mass demonstration’ hanging over us, scheduled for Thursday and the whole problem has is also now becoming frighteningly tribal. If outside mediators from other countries get involved, there may be a chance but quite honestly the whole emotive issue of the Kenyan election, where politicians had been campaigning for twelve months in the run up to December 27th, has created a pride filled impasse which will be very difficult to diffuse.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
Thanks very much for this and other recent posts describing the current scene in Nairobi. It was good to get a perspective beyond that of the headlines. I hope with you that this situation will resolve quickly and that the election violence will end. I also did some reading of older blogs and found them facinating. I've often wondered what it would be like to live and work in Kenya, should the opportunity present itself, as I've traveled there several times for short visits over the past 3 years on a research project. Your blog gives a very useful perspective. Happy New Year to you and yours, Donna
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year - let's hope they find a way out of this current impossible situation before too much in this country is irreversibly destroyed...In my opinion, the further we get into this mire, the more it seems apparent that the only solution will be a re-run of the presidential election.
ReplyDeleteIn the current chaos, it seems to be that there are three different elements at work: politics, tribalism and opportunism. The people who are genuinely looking for political change are the ones advocating peaceful protest and a solution through dialogue and legal means; others are using the current situation as an excuse for persecution along ethnic lines; lastly, others are using the anarchic situation as an opportunity to loot and steal at will.
Fortunately for me, I live in the bush, in a predominantly Kamba area, away from any major urban conurbation and far from any area where there is an explosive ethnic mix...but I feel afraid for the future of this land which we all love.
All we can do now is hope that - somehow - sense will prevail in all this madness, and Kenya will once again emerge as the shining light of the region. The longer the violence and indecision continues, the further Kenya will slip economically and democratically, and the harder it will be to climb back up again. It is indeed a sad, tragic and frightening time for Kenya.
Tanya
http://www.wildernessdiary.com
We are going to move to Nairobi in the end of February. Praying for peace to come back. Thank You for writing!
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