Lets hope that today is a little more calm. Things were quiet in Nairobi last night, and we are all pinning our hopes on the mediated talks going on between the government and opposition. Surely they can now see that the level of violence has got beyond their control, so they must feel the need to put their heads together and make a plan. Who knows?
Last night when we went to bed we thought: 'what will we wake up to tomorrow?'
This morning my husband got out of bed, sighed heavily and said:
'I'm just so sick of worrying all the time.'
Our house helper who lives nearby said that her friend has been chased out of the poor area where she lives, 'Karangware' solely because she is from Western Kenya and therefore is the wrong tribe. There have been lots of reports of threats and ultimatums for outsiders to leave in Ongata Rongai too, a suburb outside Nairobi on the edge of Langata/Karen. There are rumours that bus loads of Kikuyu 'mungiki' terrorists have arrived in town to 'clean up'.
Death threats seem to be the 'in' thing at the moment and a highly popular form of intimidation.
MPs have said they received death threats in order to manipulate their parliamentary votes, civil society leaders have received death threats and ten are now in hiding, numerous journalists have had death threats for reporting stories of foul play within government, one political editor Paul Ilado has now officially gone into hiding. One of the text messages he received read:
'Mr Paul Ilado, we have known you for long. We want to let you know that if you don't stop publishing stories of people who have betrayed us like Githongo, Kiai and Wainaina, we will cut off your head and bring it to Kiss FM.' Very Nice.
The national media have come forward to report this problem and police are currently investigating.
I, personally have been fighting the urge to send 'hate' text messages to Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki for selfishly masterminding the destruction of Kenya in one month - but sadly I don't seem to be able to put my hands on their personal mobile phone numbers.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is very interesting to me because we plan to go to Nairobi.
Due to the current situation we don't know really what to do because we have small children just like you. Our little son was born in december 2007!
My husband is a UN interpretor and i'm currently working for the French foreign office. I will not work as a french civil servant (I'm French my husband is Russian) in Nairobi and I would like to work somewhre... I don't know wanything about job opportunities.
Could you provide me some information about expat situation there? Do you think it's crazy to go to Nairobi this year?
Excuse my poor Englis which is very clos to Blake Edward's Clouzot of the Pink Panther...
Thank you
Elsa
I just want to thank you for taking the time to blog. I live in the US, I'm American, my husband British and I read your blog daily. We have 2 young boys and are trying to adopt 3 children in Kenya, the process has been slow ..... the current situation makes me angry and sad and I appreciate your candid opinions.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up.
my kindest regards,
Tracy
greeniiiiz817@yahoo.com
Thanks Tracy and I admire you so much for adopting. It is so sad now that even more children have been orphaned and some as young as five have been shown on TV as being sole carers for their younger siblings.
ReplyDeleteElsa, we have high hopes that this crisis will be resolved soon, though it will take many years for the majority to return to the peace that Kenya once enjoyed.
We hope that the situation for those who have been displaced is addressed as a matter of priority and it is cheering to hear of a government 'violence victims' fund launched yesterday.
From the point of view of your family moving here, it is not the happiest time, but it should be very possible, especially if your husband works for UN. Most expats have not been adversely affected.
Re: you finding work here, your best bet is probably to continue working for the French embassy as you don't need a Kenyan work permit to be employed there.
It is costly and difficult for work permits to be arranged for spouses in private business, but it is possible if you are determined and are willing to work full time to make the effort worthwhile.
Congratulations on the birth of your baby!!