After a week of uncertainty during an overly complicated election process, Kenya has a new president, Uhuru Kenyatta. His election win has already been disputed by the main opposition party who claim that there was vote rigging once again. This time (for now), the dispute is following legal channels. The case will be presented to the Supreme Court today, rather than taken to the streets, thank goodness.
On asking people around and about in my neighbourhood, it seems that there are lots of disillusioned voters out there who feel cheated. Some vow never to vote again, since the outcome in Kenya's elections are never fair. They forsee Uhuru Kenyatta in power for at least the next 10 years. Shame that there is still bad feeling after an 86% turn-out of voters who stood in the hot sun, all queuing for six hours and more to cast their ballots.
We have to hope that Raila Odinga is happy with the Supreme court's judgment that is due to be delivered within the next 14 days. In the meantime, I wonder if a 'behind the scenes' alliance or agreement will magically materialize and serve to appease him.
I met a Pakistani taxi driver the other day. He said, "all politicians are corrupt. In my country, they are not 99% corrupt, they are 100% corrupt. So much corruption everywhere." But he shrugged his shoulders and sounded resigned, almost accepting.
The international community now has some serious diplomatic backtracking to do, since - before the Kenya vote - they rather rashly vocalised their fears about the prospect of a Kenyan President (and vice president too) who will be answering crimes against humanity charges at The Hague. Meanwhile there's oil in Kenya, there's business and the show must go on..
Above all, Kenyans should be credited with the fact that there was absolutely no violence (bad luck CNN, BBC and Sky News - cameras at the ready).
Now we expats must tuck into our year-long supplies of UHT milk and hope that Kenya continues to be a fabulous place, not because of but in spite of its politics....
A high point in this whole thing: - Kenya's first ever televised political debates where politicians were unmasked and laid bare for a moment in the face of 'hard talk' or tricky-to-answer questions.
Another bonus: - Kenya has a fabulous new constitution so whoever is running the country will have to follow the new rules.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
Fair assessment. I do think the 'peace' will hold tho' (regardless of the SC outcome)soI guess commentators are free to can the qualifying/cautionary remarks after comas-or within parentheses in this case. I say 'peace' because it's the locus of the kenyan nastiness/wars that has changed. Now we fight viciously in cyber space. Could have fooled you/the world, huh?Seeing as obsession with image has lately become kenyan's fave sport, it's just as well we're tearing each other apart in our real fave sport away from the glare of the world!
ReplyDeleteMy beef tho' is with the emerging 'peace' fascism peddled by the back slapping/self congratulating and equally myopic kenyan media. I see us careening 'comme somnambulants' back into moi era muzzling/realities at this rate and it is sad that, of all social institutions it is the media that is insidiously abetting this retrogression. For that reason I'm not quite optimistic as you are about the new constitution. The so called leaders had already started butchering it before elections. The VP elect campaigned against it openly so we can expect the trend to continue especially if the media continues to fall over themselves, seeing no evil, hearing no evil in the name of 'peace'. As a freedom loving kenyan, I do hope I'll be proven wrong.
The presidential election is no longer the most important now. What matters most is the City governor,he is the most important guy now in Nairobi. The president has no direct power at the local level,the governor will now have to deal with water and traffic jams.
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A Pakistani taxi driver in Nairobi?
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