Kenya: Thinking Ahead

Kenya Scholars & Studies Association (KESSA)

2011-06-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

I am comfortable in stating that Kenyans are smart. Our problem has never been a lack of educated or talented people. I have been continually (and very pleasantly) surprised to find Kenyans or people of Kenyan descent (i.e. immigrants and their offspring) contributing, competing and succeeding even in the most challenging professions worldwide.

So, over the weekend, I got an email from the Association of Kenyan Professionals in Atlanta (AKPA) regarding an upcoming Conference in Bowling Green Ohio hosted by KESSA. I think I will make it a point to try and attend it to check them out. The US educational system is rated as one of the best in the world and there are clearly Kenyans serving as educators in various fields and capacities in some of its institutions of higher learning. There are also Kenyans doing the same in Kenya, Europe, South Africa, Australia and many other parts of the world.

I think these guys may have something worthwhile to contribute (I am speaking faith here since i don't know any of these guys personally). In-fact, I think we Kenyans where ever we are can make out country great.

Oh yeah and although this really news to most of us, this should be interesting reading too.

How Kenyans in the diaspora are shaping their motherland’s destiny

Getting beyond an individual

2011-06-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

The notice from President Obama to the US congress identifying 2 Kenyans (i.e. John Harun Mwau (Kilome MP) and Naima Mohamed Nyakiniywa to be on the list of Designated Foreign Narcotics Kingpins has me thinking. I have no idea who “Naima Mohamed Nyakiniywa” is, but most Kenyans are very familiar with Mr. Mwau.

To frame these thoughts, I would like to further point out

the media stories circulating at the end of last year about the list of 5 individuals that the Kenyan Government had shared with the US government who were banned from travelling to the US; and
the stories naming 4 MPs Harun Mwau, Gidion Mbuvi, Hassan Joho and William Kabogo and Mombasa businessman Ali Punjani as suspected drug lords for whom there was insufficient evidence to charge them in court.

I will start by firmly stating my belief that everyone should be “innocent until proven guilty”. No court of law has yet has found any of these individuals guilty of anything. Although, by reputation some of these guys are not very nice people, and could very well deserve to be behind bars, I think we all want and need for our legal systems to apprehend, prosecute and punish them within the bounds of the law because we will all be better off for having a government that works. However, that is a discussion for another posting.

I also believe that the United State doesn't arbitrarily designate individuals as drug-lords without some pretty darn good evidence so those names….... hmmmmmmm.......

But what i really want to do is to look at something bigger. I am concerned about what this says about us as a Kenyan people, what lessons we need to learn looking back, but also what is says about our future. What should our response as a society be when an elected official or person in leadership position has some serious issues that clearly call into question their leadership qualities.

I remember my high school days when supposedly all good upstanding citizens became doctors, lawyers, accountants and the trouble makers, the school dropouts and thugs became politicians. And for a long time, the rabble rousers, those who could round up the local hooligans during election time beat up opponents and by fear, bribery and all other means necessary won their parties nominations and were duly elected to be our parliamentarians. So, i have to ask, are we surprised at how corrupt and broken the system has been. If no self respecting Kenyan would get into politics, were you really expecting our country to have turned out any different.

But things are changing and have changed. I have watched with immense pleasure the process to find a new Chief and Deputy Chief Justice and while not perfect, there is clearly hope. When individuals begin to realize that public service is really public service and we the people can and must hold every individual accountable for their actions, then we can begin to hope for a government and public institutions and systems that serve for the good of the people.

So going back to the point i am trying to make. We have a long list of people that we keep electing back to office with very questionable links, deals and scandals hanging around them that we must get beyond. Think about Goldenberg, Anglo-Leasing and the myriad others. I think anyone in leadership needs to be held to a higher standard. How can we have extremely senior members of our government constantly implicated in questionable at the best or criminal activities and we the people keep on electing them or allow them to keep their government positions.

At some point, we have to find for ourselves a group of leaders that we are proud to represent us, that we can look up to and trust they are leading the country in a direction that gives us a future we can look forward to for ourselves and our kids.

To end, i will quote Ahmednasir Abdullahi responding to Aaron Ringera to defend the Judicial Service Commission’s decision to not shortlist him for the new Supreme Court:

“The position the judge applied for is not anybody’s birthright. The era of entitlement is over. Kenyans should outgrow the culture of entitlement and embrace a new culture of fair competition.”

Drought, Floods, Drought, Floods, Drought....... A Stupid Never ending cycle

2010-03-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

f6 months ago, ie September 2009, Kenya was in the middle of a severe drought. Many farmers were facing another miserable harvest and the guys from Dagoretti Corner i.e. Kenya Meteorological Department. were predicting that our old friend El Nino was on his way back. I am sure we all remember pictures of dying domestic and wild animals both in local and foreign media.

Well, reading the Kenyan media now, you would think that we have woken up from a bad nightmare and Kenya, the Land of Milk and Honey is BACK. Milk flowing so plentifully that we can afford to pour it away.

So whats my problem. Well, I don't have a crystal ball, but i think i can comfortably predict that in the next 10 months, the famine will be back with starving and dying animals and we will be back to begging for food aid. And you know what, another few months later, we will have people drowning again because the rains will have come and well, rivers will flood, roads will be washed away and people will suffer.

So whats my problem with all this, well....... When are we as a people and our elected leaders ever going to get around to making a sound water management policy.

Kenya’s Unrest - The Implications for Its Neighbors

2008-02-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

I read this interesting article today from a publication by the corporate council on Africa. I really believe that until we realize that we as a country have a joint destiny and we have to move together, we will be left behind while everyone else moves on.

Woe to us if they find a way to by pass us, because if we keep doing this, sooner or later they will build another network with us left out.

Kenya’s Unrest - The Implications for Its Neighbors
Fabrice Njankou, Department Intern
Edited by: Haben Berhe, Associate

The disputed election of December 27, 2007 in Kenya, which saw incumbent President Mwai Kibaki declare himself winner despite allegations of election rigging by the opposition Orange Democratic Movement and its leader Raila Odinga, has had a negative impact on the business environment in the region. Interestingly the unrest that followed the hotly contested elections is creating business opportunities for Kenya’s neighbors. In Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo business transactions with Kenya in the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors have drastically fallen in the past weeks as goods, raw materials and other commodities destined for other regional countries are stranded at the Port of Mombasa. In response, neighboring countries are forced to consider other creative means to source these goods.

Production chains in the manufacturing sector have been interrupted by the shortage of raw materials and other items necessary in the manufacturing process. In addition, the oil shortage has substantially increased transportation and storage costs. According to the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), prices of consumer goods have steadily risen as manufacturers factor in the cost of fuel into their prices. For instance, a small business such as Elgon Co. (U) Ltd, specializing in leather tanning, is one casualty of the current situation in Kenya. The company has over a dozen uninsured containers destined for Pakistan that are stranded at shipping docks.

The agribusiness industry has also been affected by Kenya’s political unrest, with industries such as the coffee industry experiencing logistical difficulties in the transportation of coffee beans, due to a shortage of trucks and containers stuck at the Mombasa port. The Ugandan company
Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd., which exported 4,000 bags of coffee last month, saw its exports reduce to zero in January. Uganda and Rwanda are also experiencing problems in transporting their agricultural goods via Kenya. Approximately 70 percent of Rwanda’s tea is sold weekly at Mombasa’s tea auction, which is also where 80 percent of the Uganda Tea Development Agency’s sales are also made. The agency has 666 tones of tea worth $1.7 million stuck at factory or in transit. In an effort to avoid similar woes, Rwanda has reached an agreement with Tanzania to use its Dar es Salaam port for its petroleum products shipments.1

Kenya’s flowers export, estimated to be Sh 26 billion (US $366,300,000), has been the cornerstone of the Horticulture industry. If the unrest persists, there is a risk that companies such as Oserian, the largest flower company in the country, will be unable to ship 6 millions of its Sweetheart flowers for Valentine’s Day. In neighboring Uganda, flower exporters are concerned about the increased cost of production of about 20 to 30 percent.

Kenya’s tourism industry, one of its top foreign currency earners, has been the most affected by the current crisis. The country is ranked as one of the top tourism destinations on the continent. With the industry valued at $750 million, it receives significant investment from investors interested in the sector. It is clear that the country’s political instability has slowed the dynamic growth Kenya has experienced over the past decade. It is estimated that Kenya is to lose 95 percent of its 320,000 tourists from January to March.2 Tanzania and other African countries that depend heavily on tourism may view the current developments as an opportunity to absorb those tourists.

What’s the Relevance
The rapid political downturn in Kenya has exposed the need of an alternative transportation infrastructure in the region. According to Strategic Forecasting Inc., a leading market strategy and intelligence firm, the current situation in Kenya has reinforced the need for regional infrastructure investment, such as the creation of alternative supply routes to be used if similar disruptions occur in the future.3 An example of a new regional initiative is the East African Community’s agreement with Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi to modernize its rail networks. Alternatives such as the construction of inland port and fuel reserves are now being called for by the Uganda trader’s umbrella body KACITA, based on the belief that such infrastructure would have insulated them from Kenya’s troubles.4 Tanzania is perceived to gain the most from these events as landlocked countries begin to increase their use of the port of Dar es Salaam for their exports.

The unrest in Kenya has no doubt raised uncertainty regarding investment in Africa. The continent is considered to be experiencing its strongest growth in the past thirty years, however social institutions remain fragile, therefore, the risk of instability constantly looms. Notwithstanding, U.S. investors should not hastily divest from Kenya as the turmoil has been relegated to a few confined areas. Kenya is still East Africa’s largest economy with a modern manufacturing sector. Investors would be abandoning a well-educated workforce and infrastructure that is superior to that of its neighboring countries, the foundation that has made Kenya the regional hub for investors for a long time. Rather, investors could rally around the political dialogue taking place to help resolve the conflict. An undesirable situation would be divestment that may potentially exacerbate the crisis by increasing unemployment and economic insecurity.

Feed back on this article could be sent to Fabrice and Haben at hberhe@africacncl.org
1 All Africa. “Tanzania: Country to Benefit from Kenya’s Tragedy”. February 4, 2008.
2 The Daily Telegraph. “Kenya Counts the Cost as Tourists Stay Away”. February 4, 2008.
3 Stratfor. “Global Market Brief: A Second Look at African Infrastructure”. January 3, 2008.
4 East African Business Week. “How Kenyan Crisis Could Bring EAC to its Knees”. January 21, 2008

All that could go wrong with a Government of National Unity

2008-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

I guess right now we are all waiting to see what this agreement is thats supposed to come out this week. After a lot of soul searching, scanning the blogs and intense discussions with family and friends, I still find myself leaning away from a negotiated settlement.

I think that we as a country stand at a crossroads. We have wasted the last 40 years of independence. As an economic developer, if you looked at most of the metrics you would want to see progress on including employment, quality of life, infrastructure amongst others, we are clearly lagging with a significant achievement gap. So, we have the opportunity to either fix the problem and set our country on a path that will see all Kenyans be all they can be, OR we can apply a band aid and well, end back up here again.

So here is how i see it

Despite any protestations otherwise, this clearly started out as a political problem and was triggered off by a fraudulent electoral process with the net result that no one knows who won. (I believe ODM won, and I dont know if it will ever be proved to everyones satisfaction). So, well, maybe a coalition government will in some way be an undesirable, but necessary settlement for the ODM, and PNU. But where does that leave the Kenyan people and what does that say for our future as a democracy. If all it does is postpone things for another 5 years till the next general election, then that is an unacceptable solution. How many of us want to be back here in 5 years. Ask any of the people who have been living in clash areas since 1992. Those areas have never settled down and there has been a low level conflict going on for the last 16 years under everyones noses. How can we build a country on that foundation. We need to fix it and fix it right. Any resolution that doesn't address these issues is a patch and we will end up back here again. Any resolution has to address and entrench the right of the people to vote and to have their votes mean something, something that trumps any political arrangments of convenience
I guess somewhere during the past 40 days since the elections, the water really got muddied and ignoring all the advice that the relationship quacks give, we dragged the past into it. This crisis in kenya is now about more than an election fiasco. It has become about land inequities going back to our independence, it has become about social inequities, it has become about nepotism and ethnic biases amongst other things. So, now the cats out of the bag, I don't envy the folks who have to try and unravel this whole mess.

To be continued .....
Let me have your thoughts.

Text of Maina Kiais Testimony before congress

2008-02-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SUBMMITTEE ON AFRICA AND GLOBAL HEALTH

DATE: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008

TIME: 10.00 A.M

SUBJECT: THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN KENYA; A CALL FOR JUSTICE & PEACEFUL RESOLUTION

NAME: MAINA KIAI

TITLE: CHAIRMAN, KENYA NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (KNCHR)

BACKGROUND

Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the crisis in Kenya. My name is Maina Kiai and I am the Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), an independent state body charged with protecting and promoting human rights in Kenya. Previously, I served as founding Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, a non-profit organization based in Kenya; Africa Director at Amnesty International in London; Africa Director at the International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights) based here in Washington DC; and Research Fellow at TransAfrica Forum also here in Washington DC. I speak on behalf of the KNCHR, as well as for Kenyans for Peace through Truth and Justice (KPTJ), a coalition bringing together more than 50 human rights, legal and governance groups in Kenya.
Kenya is at a cross-road that will mean either the complete disintegration of Kenya or the beginning of a new, more democratic, sustainable nation suited to the needs and aspirations of the Kenyan people in the 21^st Century. In a deeply painful and costly manner--in terms of lives lost and destruction wrought—the crisis in Kenya has given the country a unique opportunity to move forward in a way that we have been advocating for the last 20 years. In a sense, Kenya is at its “civil war” moment that the US was at in 1861. Just as that war was pivotal in establishing and solidifying the democratic credentials of the US, this moment could lead Kenya to much greater heights if properly handled both domestically and internationally.
In this context, the mediation currently going on under the leadership of Kofi Annan, Graca Machel and Ben Mkapa is the last best chance for Kenya to move forward. Whatever can be done to keep the players at the table, and keep them there in good faith, is critical. And efforts that delay, or subvert the talks—whether through insensitive statements and actions or by trying to prolong the talks through acts of filibustering—must be condemned. Consistent regional and international pressure is necessary especially on the hardliners who think that the crisis will blow over. The consequences of the failure of the mediation efforts are too dire to imagine not just for Kenya but for the region.
What is going on in Kenya is a political crisis with ethnic manifestation because politics in Kenya is organized ethnically. Clearly there are cleavages and differences in Kenyan society that have erupted brutally to the surface. But these have erupted due to the failure of peaceful means of resolving and addressing these differences, including the failure of elections and political reforms promised to Kenya in the 2002 elections.
The crisis in Kenya was foreseeable. In March 2007, the KNCHR submitted a memorandum to President Kibaki urging him to maintain the “gentleman’s agreement” that had been in place since 1997 whereby all parliamentary parties made nominations for appointment to the Electoral Commission of Kenya. We argued that unilateral abandonment of the agreement would likely invite chaos and instability were the elections disputed. Moreover, since January 2006 we witnessed consistent attempts by the state to reduce democratic space and instil fear in society.

THE EXTENT OF THE CRISIS

Some 1000 people have been killed in the one month since violence erupted on December 30, 2007. Note that 3000 people were killed between 1992 and 1998 in the state instigated clashes in the country. During that same period, more than 300,000 people were internally displaced, most of whom have not returned to their farms and homes. In the month since the elections, an additional 300,000 people have been internally displaced.
Part of the reason why militia—on both sides—have been so potent and dangerous is that they arose from the earlier violence of the 1990s and were never de-mobilized. Nor was there a process to deal with the root causes of that violence, with the Kibaki government choosing to sweep the matter under the carpet, despite campaign promises to the contrary. With grievances bubbling and fermenting close to the surface, it was relatively easy to reactivate the militia using methods similar to those of the 1990s. Most important, the paymasters and planners of the 1990s clashes were never held accountable.
It is estimated that in the month since the crisis started the Kenyan economy has lost about US $3 billion and about 400,000 jobs. Moreover the crisis has severely affected the economies of Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern DR Congo, and Southern Sudan and could bring them to ruin if not checked. All these nations have a history of conflict and violence that could be reawakened by economic collapse.
We have observed 4 forms of violence:

i) Spontaneous uprisings of mobs protesting the flaws in the presidential elections. These mobs looted, raped and burnt down buildings in an anarchical manner.

ii) Violence organized by ODM-supporting militia in the Rift Valley that was aimed at perceived political opponents. The initial militia action attracted organized counter-violence from PNU supporters especially in Nakuru, Naivasha areas of the Rift Valley, and Nairobi.

iii) Excessive use of force by the police in ways suggesting “shoot to kill” orders against unarmed protesters mainly in ODM strongholds including Kisumu, Kakamega, Migori, and the Kibera slum of Nairobi. Policing has been uneven in its implementation. In some strong ODM areas, the police have been shooting to kill, while when confronted with pro-PNU militia, they have opted to negotiate with the groups. However, in the Eldoret area, the police largely stood by and watched as pro-PNU supporters were killed and their houses burnt.

iv) Local militia in pro-PNU areas, on receiving internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Rift Valley, have mobilized in sympathy and turned on perceived ODM supporters, killing them, and burning their houses.

10. The violence is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing: The root of the problem is not that different ethnic groups decided they could no longer live together. The root of the problem is the inability of peaceful means to address grievances. For this to be genocide there would have to be either state complicity or state collapse and the first obligation would be for the state to provide adequate security for those at risk. Instead we have uneven and selective policing with emphasis on preventing Raila Odinga from holding protests in Nairobi rather than protecting IDPs and others at risk across the country. We therefore believe that the quickest and most effective way to reduce the violence is progress in the current talks.

THE ELECTION TRIGGER

11. It is clear that the flagrant effort to steal the presidential election was the immediate trigger for the violence. All independent observers have said that the tallying process was so flawed that it is impossible to tell who won the presidential election. Since 1992, Kenya’s elections have been progressively better and fairer, culminating in the 2002 elections which were the best ever, and the 2005 constitutional referendum. The effect of this progression is that Kenyans finally believed in the power of the vote as a way of peacefully resolving differences, a fact confirmed by voting trends in the recent parliamentary elections that saw almost 70 percent of incumbents lose their seats. When this sense of empowerment was subverted, and peaceful legal spaces for protests were disallowed, it is not surprising that frustrations boiled over and violence ensued.

We have documented some of the facts and analysis that make clear that the flaws in the tallying of presidential votes rendered untenable the conclusion that Mwai Kibaki was validly elected.
With the benefit of hindsight, there were steps taken that paint a picture of a well orchestrated plan to ensure a pre-determined result. These include:

i) President Kibaki’s decision to abrogate the agreement of 1997 on the formula for appointments to the Electoral Commission ensuring that all the Commissioners were appointed by him alone;

ii) An administrative decision within the ECK to give responsibility to Commissioners for their home regions, something that had never been done before, meaning that they appointed all the election officials in the constituencies in their home regions, in a manner that created conflicts of interest;

iii) The rejection of an offer from IFES to install a computer program that would enable election officials in the constituencies to submit results electronically to Nairobi and then on to a giant screen available to the public making it virtually impossible to change results;

iv) A decision to abandon the use of ECK staff in the Verification and Tallying Centre in favour of casual staff provided by the Commissioners directly; and

v) A refusal to ensure that election officials in areas with large predictable majorities for any of the candidates came from different areas so as to reduce the likelihood of ballot stuffing.

WAY FORWARD AND ROLE OF US CONGRESS AND GOVERNMENT

At this “constitutional moment” that Kenya has reached, we believe the way forward must be centred on truth and justice as the only sustainable road to peace and development. This is the time for Kenya to end the impunity that has been a feature of our history since independence, and also to end the “winner take all” “first past the post” system. Specifically, we call for:

i) An international independent investigation into the 2007 presidential election process in order to come to closure on the elections, find out who did what and why; who ordered it; and promote accountability;

ii) An international independent investigation into the post election violence—from citizens and police--so that there is accountability on all sides.

iii) An interim transitional government to be formed with limited powers of governance and for a limited time--between 1 and 2 years—with Kibaki and Odinga exercising equal powers.

iv) The primary duties of this interim government should be to undertake constitutional reform, and especially explore ways of reforming the current Imperial Presidency; motivate electoral reforms, police reforms, judicial reforms, land reforms, civil service reforms, devolution of power; and conduct new elections at the end of its term.

v) The interim government should also be charged with cooling passions and starting the process of reconciliation through a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission that starts operations immediately after the new elections. It is important that presidential elections be held at the end of the interim government to inspire confidence in Kenya’s electoral processes, and as a sign of the new Kenya.

vi) It is also important to note that significant work in all of these areas of reform has already been done in various constitutional drafts and also by Government Commissions and Task Forces so Kenya would not be starting from scratch.

15. To ensure that there is good faith in the mediation it is imperative that the U.S. Government work with the rest of the international community to maintain pressure on Kenya’s leaders to treat the mediation with utmost seriousness. To this end, we welcome U.S .leadership in raising the crisis in Kenya at the UN Security Council, and call for pressure at this level to be maintained and increased.

16. We also urge Congress to request the release of the exit poll conducted by International Republican Institute (IRI) without delay so as to maintain pressure on all sides to negotiate in good faith. In addition, we urge Congress to work with the EU to have the EU Observation Mission Report released immediately.

17. In case of continued intransigence from any of the parties we call on Congress to impose travel bans on the hardliners on both sides and especially those implicated in instigating violence whether through militia or through the police. These travel bans should extend to hardliners in the civil service and to their immediate families.

18. Moreover, assets of the hardliners and those involved in violence should be traced and the assets frozen.

19. Finally, it is important that U.S. military and security assistance be frozen immediately. All US assistance to Kenya should be channelled through non-governmental sources.

Thank you for this opportunity to address these matters affecting democracy, peace and security, not just in Kenya but also in the East African region.

Maina Kiai Testifies Before US Congress: NPR Interview

2008-02-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

Human Rights Official Testifies on Kenyan Violence

Listen Now [6 min 18 sec] add to playlist

Read the Testimony

Maina Kiai Tesifies Before U.S. Congress

Tell Me More, February 7, 2008 · Post-election violence in Kenya after the disputed election of President Mwai Kibaki is claiming thousands of lives. Maina Kiai, of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, recently testified before the congressional subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. Kiai talks about his testimony.

Great Article on How Kenya's election was rigged

2008-01-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

How Kenya's election was rigged

By Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers Thu Jan 31, 6:00 AM ET

NAIROBI, Kenya — The spark for Kenya's firestorm of ethnic violence was lit inside a cavernous meeting hall in downtown Nairobi , where election officials over four days doctored vote counts, dismissed eye-popping irregularities and thwarted monitoring by independent observers to deliver a razor-thin victory to President Mwai Kibaki .

Observers who were allowed into the vote-tallying center on Dec. 29-30 , hours before the results were announced, said there was so much systematic fraud by Kenya's government-appointed election commission that it's impossible to know who really won.

The extent of the commission's deceptions has faded into the background as more than 800 Kenyans have been killed in ethnic clashes and police crackdowns. The events also have deeply unsettled the Bush administration, which has relied on Kenya as an ally in the war on terror and a bulwark of stability in East Africa .

Official results gave Kibaki an edge of 231,728 votes, or 2 percent, out of about 10 million cast. Initial results of an exit poll by the U.S.-funded International Republican Institute found that rival Raila Odinga had won by an 8 percent margin.

Election officials allowed five accredited Kenyan observers into the tallying center in Nairobi only in the final phase of vote-counting, and three of them shared their accounts with McClatchy . All said that the gravest cheating occurred in that room, where commissioners— all appointed by Kibaki— compiled returns before announcing them to the public.

The observers spoke in interviews and quoted from a joint log of their experiences, titled "Countdown to Deception," which Kenyan rights groups are circulating.

The long-serving chairman of Kenya's election commission played an active role in the deception, the observers said. When a tallying officer presented results showing voter turnout at 115 percent in Maragua, a Kibaki stronghold in the central highlands, commission Chairman Samuel Kivuitu didn't invalidate the result as required by law, but allowed a commissioner to reduce the figure to 85 percent and announced the results an hour later.

That was the pattern that observers reported: Results were announced even when documents were missing, incomplete, unsigned by officers or party representatives, incorrectly tabulated, photocopied or forged.

"Both sides stole votes," said Julius Melli , a 31-year-old Kenyan radiographer who witnessed the tallying of Maragua and other locales. "But Kibaki stole more, and they stole it inside the tallying center."

The Electoral Commission of Kenya , an independent body whose members are appointed by the president, had run national elections in 2002 and 2005 that were praised for their openness and accuracy.

But except for Kivuitu, who'd served as chairman since 1997, this was a largely different commission. As members faced term limits in the months before the vote, Kibaki— facing the stiffest presidential challenge ever in Kenya — packed the 22-person body with 17 new commissioners. All were considered Kibaki allies, and none had ever run an election.

"These people were criminals," said Ben Sihanya, a Stanford -educated constitutional law professor who also observed the tallying. "They were committing crimes at the behest of Kibaki's government."

Election officials were unreachable for comment, but the commission has taken out a two-page, unsigned advertisement in Kenyan newspapers to deny wrongdoing.

Koki Muli , the co-chair of the Kenya Domestic Observers Forum , suspected problems soon after the polls closed on the evening of Dec. 27 . Her network of observers monitoring the vote-counting in polling stations immediately began sending preliminary results by phone and text messages. But for two days, in the Nairobi convention hall where the election commission had set up shop— surrounded by hundreds of journalists, observers and party agents— Kivuitu announced only some of the returns.

Observers grew suspicious when results from Kibaki's central Kenya stronghold weren't read. The delays were sparking protests. "It was necessary for us to observe the tallying," Muli said.

For 48 hours, armed agents barred observers from entering the tallying center, a high-ceilinged room almost the size of a football field. Finally, faced with mounting reports of irregularities, Kivuitu allowed five observers and a handful of political party representatives into the room on the night of Dec. 29 . They were greeted with nervous stares.

"What I saw in that room alarmed me," Muli said. "It was a very scared staff."

Commissioners and staff members were seated around a dozen or so long tables, each strewn with folders containing the legal forms required to certify vote counts. In one corner of the room, a bank of computers churned out results and printouts.

The lanky, bespectacled Sihanya walked up to a table and introduced himself to commissioner Mildred Owour . "Can we sit at your table?" he asked.

"You are going to slow down the process," she replied.

At about 10 p.m. , Sihanya, Melli and two other observers sat down with agents of the main political parties and several commissioners and election officials. Their task was to scrutinize irregularities reported by Odinga's camp— and there were many.

In at least 44 out of 210 constituencies, officials in Nairobi had announced vote totals without any supporting documents from the polling centers. In most places the announced totals were off by hundreds or thousands from what journalists, party agents and foreign observers had witnessed at polling places.

The team prepared to work through the night. When commission staff members brought a stack of folders, observers asked to check whether vote totals had been added correctly.

The commission's legal officer, Jemimah Kelli , rebuffed them.

"She said, 'We can't correct the tallying now. The commission will take care of it,'" Sihanya recalled.

At another table, Muli was scratching her head over results from Mathira, in central Kenya , where nearly everyone voted for Kibaki. Election officers had failed to sign the tallies from nearly three dozen polling places, and one form had two different totals. Muli took out her cell phone and began adding up the numbers.

She calculated 77,442 votes for Kibaki, some 2,600 fewer than what was recorded on the final tally sheet and announced to the public. Later she discovered inflated vote totals for Kibaki in several other areas— "3,000 here, 3,000 there, 1,500 here, 2,500 there," she said. "It added up."

At his table, Melli saw numerous constituencies that lacked tally sheets or official signatures, but whose results had been certified anyway. In one folder, he found two tallies for the same place— one a signed original, the other an unsigned photocopy that had been altered to give Kibaki about 3,000 more votes.

The photocopied version had been used.

"It looked very ridiculous," Melli said. But Kenyan election laws didn't authorize observers to do anything more than note inconsistencies.

The legal officer, Kelli, moaned that officials had gone without sleep for several days, and she harassed Melli for paying too much attention to detail.

"She told Melli, 'You seem to be very keen. Are you being paid to do this?'" Sihanya said. (They in fact were not paid.)

When Sihanya questioned inconsistencies in one Kibaki stronghold, a Kibaki party representative, Martha Karua, accused him of being an opposition agent.

"The whole thing seemed extremely stage-managed," Melli said. "It was not a sincere verification exercise."

As the night wore on, officials became cagier. Melli asked an official for the file from Nithi, where turnout was a suspiciously high 80 percent and nearly all the votes had gone to Kibaki. The official blanched, pulled the file close to his chest and, for the rest of the night, carried it with him everywhere he went, Melli said.

The file for Kieni in central Kenya showed 87,500 parliamentary votes— nearly 3,000 more than the number of registered voters. The file for Imenti South district, where Kibaki had 96 percent support, showed 4,315 more presidential votes than parliamentary votes but contained no supporting documents. At 5 a.m. on Dec. 30 , the file for another central district, Molo, finally appeared showing 50,145 votes for Kibaki. The chairman later announced 75,261.

"They just gave Kibaki 25,000 votes from the air," Muli said.

Finally, at around 9 a.m. , Karua, the Kibaki aide, said the verification had to be halted so that the commissioners could get "back to work." An Odinga aide said he had concerns about other files, but Karua and three election officials at the table stood up to leave.

One of the commissioners, Luciano Riunga Raiji, told the observers, "You are done." Shortly afterward, a message blared over the loudspeaker ordering all observers and party agents to leave the room. By then, Melli said, it was clear that the commissioners had no intention of investigating the irregularities.

"We were waiting for them to announce the final results," he said. "But we knew Kibaki had stolen it."

Muli, who's helped train commissioners for 14 years, said: "We didn't imagine that the electoral commissioners could in a massive way influence the conduct of the election. We were wrong."

The next several hours were surreal, the observers said. As word swept through the convention hall that Kibaki would be declared the winner, Odinga called a news conference and accused the commission of rigging the vote in 48 constituencies.

A few hours later, the opposition trotted out an election staffer, Kipkemoi Kirui, who said that officials were manipulating results at the tallying center. "My conscience could not allow me to see what I was seeing and keep quiet," Kirui told reporters. He's now fled the country, according to media reports.

An hour after that, the lights went off in the convention hall, and paramilitary police cleared the building. In a sealed room, the election chairman announced Kibaki's victory on state television. Within minutes, rioters were tearing through the streets of Nairobi .

Kenya's nightmare had begun.

(Special correspondent Munene Kilongi contributed.)

Maybe Mutua was right

2008-01-29T14:05:00.001-08:00

Mutua, seems like Emilio finally convinced someone to come have tea with him.

And in the meantime

My dear Kenyans, remember when all is said and done, i will be living next to you in Kibera, while their children will be sitting next to each other on the beach somewhere.

Mr. Wako, Whats so Funny

2008-01-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

Our people are dying!

And you are the attorney general.......

In Mourning

2008-01-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, Where to Start!

I hope this picture from a reuters article today makes you sick.

What the heck does this child have to do with Kibaki, Raila, Mungiki or any other person/group or whatever/whoever you have a fight against. What does taking out your anger on her solve.

I am so ready to rant and rave...

But for now.....

All I can do is mourn for my country.....

And for myself......

Because I have a cause.......

I want justice in my country

I want to be ruled by government that i have elected

But my voice, my cause is getting lost

lost in the midst of all this meaningless violence, in the face of hooligans and roving gangs,

and finally as the calls for peace get louder, as reasonable people ask if this is all worth it,

when the dust settles, what will have happened to my cause,

which was after all, for my beloved country,

and what will happen to my country when we give it back to another set of incompetent leaders (whoever they might be)

And the peoples voice is again silenced ................ and for how long, i don't know.

The Right Fix: Why a quick fix is bad for the kenyan economy

2008-01-25T14:39:00.000-08:00

I think anyone without blinders on should be able to tell that this situation in Kenya is wreaking havoc on our economy. I read the article in the East African Standard yesterday that talked about over 5000 worker being laid off in Malindi alone because no tourists are coming to town with a lot of sadness.

This whole sad chapter in Kenyan history is hurting and will keep hurting a lot of people. I think very few people, no matter the social standing can go through this and not feel the pinch. I think the most significant impact will be felt by the people on the bottom of the social ladder. Those of us who live hand to mouth, from paycheck to paycheck for everything will be suffering very quickly as a result.

If i may digress a little, having lived in the US where you have to buy everything that goes on your table and pay for everything you consume, if you have no money, you can very quick go hungry and end up on the street. I have seen it and i really do believe that people have had to survive on ketchup (tomato sauce for us kenyans) because, well, living under the radar means you dont qualify for many of the benefits that Americans can get. So, maybe because many of us have shambas with some sukuma wiki, maize or cows for me or we still live in a country where you can ask you neighbour to borrow some sugar, flour or salt, people may survive (if you can call it that) for a little while. Obviously if you are one of those unfortunate souls living in Kibera, Mathare or any one of the numerous slums in Kenya, you dont have even that little imaginary cushion.

But, getting on, the poor will feel the immediate pinch of this whole incident, but the impact will be felt all the way to the top very quickly. I am not sure if insurance covers the burnt houses, the wrecked cars and the other destroyed property out there, but even if you are moderately well off you have got to feel the impact. I heard of a supposed government sympathiser who had all their dairy cows stolen, their crops burnt and their house burnt down. That stuff takes years and a lifetime for most of us to accumulate and loosing and or replacing it will not be fun. And, well even for the stinking filthy rich, those empty hotels will still have their mortgages or loan payments due and how long can you carry that burden. Or the guy who had his shop with was it 60 million shillings worth of stuff stolen or burnt. I know they may have money to replace much of it, but their suppliers will not really care about what happened. The money is still owed and the only alternative will probably be bankruptcy for many folk, if insurance doesnt kick in. (i hope it does)

So, with the violence still going on, and now Nakuru has finally erupted (and I really dont understand how it was able to keep going for so long) and it looks like the revenge killings have finally kicked off, the story for our economy can only get worse. More shops will be burnt, more trees and electricity/phone posts will come down, tourists will stay away, bananas from Kisii will go bad and flowers from Eldoret will continue to rot at the airport. So i think if we have lost close to One Billions shillings so far this month, I think we will probably loose a couple more before this is said and done with.

Which is why as I watch Koffi Annan start his work in Nairobi, i wonder what they are trying to achieve. There has been this great push for Raila and Kibaki to sit down as if when they sat down, some magical answer would come and we would live happily ever after. Well, remember 1992, 1997 and 2002 (to an extent). Agreements and compromises and power sharing deals between our politicians and are only temporary fixes that do not address the fundamental issues and are not going to helps us solve our long term problems.

I have done a little economic development in my time and a couple of things stand out. I am sure we have all heard how Kenya was so far ahead of Uganda, Rwanda or every other country in East and Central Africa in the 60s and 70s. Well, we have moved on since that time, but if you look around, although in many ways we are still the economic powerhouse of the region, their economies have by comparison come much further (even if they may be lagging behind Kenya for now). I hate it every time I hear how in the 60s we were at the same developmental state as Malaysia or South Korea and look at us now.

So, in the big picture, what would a solution right now mean for kenya, if the fundamental issues in this whole fiasco are not addressed.

If anyone was to ask me, the biggest issue at the very root of everything else is the ability of every Kenyan to elect or reject their leader and to not have that right usurped by anyone or anything. I rate that above every other ill we have going on including corruption, poverty, economic disparities, a broken judicial system, lack of opportunities and everything else you can think of. Many will disagree with me on that but i have a simple logic. No matter what ill you pick, the only tool that any individual kenyan has to make change is to reject one leader and pick another. If their is corruption, unless you take to public stonings, what more can an individual do. You cannot make laws, you cannot enforce laws, you cannot force a company to employ more people, or not to close down and fire people, you cannot force anyone fix that car that pollutes or to take out insurance on that old jalopy. BUT, our government can, and if they dont do it, whereas we cannot kick out a judge, we can kick out a president and his lackies. Whereas we cannot go into an employers premise and say you will start giving your workers protective equipment, the government can mandate that and punish them for failing. Even if you catch someone taking a bribe, you cannot take them to jail and force them to stay there for even 60 seconds, but your government can.

SO, if we have the ability to keep changing our government, be it every week, every month or every 5 years, we can keep doing it until our leaders do what is right and fair.

I must also issue this disclaimer. I know very well that the masses are not always right. Sometimes, there are tough choices that have to made that are totally unpopular, and that may sink a government, and the world is full of examples of leaders who choose to stay in power rather than do the right think. Honestly, that is one thing I dont have an answer to.

Honestly, we all know that if we take a quick fix now, or if Raila and Kibaki come to a settlement now, we will end up exactly here in 5 years during the next election. So, which investor, business or whatever you want to call it is going to put any real money in Kenya. We are loosing to Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda in so many little ways and yet we keep deluding our selves with "WE ARE KENYA" So what if you have the sharpest, best educated workforce. Dont you realize that so many of us have left for Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa etc that well, soon kenyan talent will be a big export. Honestly, while we are all busy patting ourselves on the backs, we need to remember the good old story of the Hare and the Tortoise. That tortoise (Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania) is going to cross the finish before us. Do you think the Ugandas will wait another 5 years for us to punish them and cut off their oil again while we fight each other. If they are awake, they are seriously looking for alternatives to not be caught napping again.

However, if we force our politicians to see that the peoples electoral voice rules, then finally, we have a chance to slowly get to the place where our elected officials realize that their allegiance is to the voter, then, even if it takes a little while, we will have shown not just each other, but the whole world that even though our crappy politicians may do some really stupid ignorant things, we as a people know what we want and we expect our politicians to deliver, to get rid of corruption, to make sure that our economy is growing, to make sure that our justice system works, to make sure that our infrastructure is sound.

And I challenge anyone to tell me that any investor out there will not want to come to kenya once we are firmly on that path.

Oops! Spoke too Soon

2008-01-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

Well, can anyone spell headcase or what! Honestly, there are times and situations when you need to think before you speak, because, looking inconsistent, or just plain flaky, can really come back at you and backfire.

Case in point. Ya, economic pressure, is the high road, but well, in the long term, when you have psychophants like Mugabe, all it does is translate into years of pain and suffering for the common person. And well, as seen in Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, all you get is talking heads from the international community. Maybe find a whole bunch of oil, or well, start crying Al Qaeda is establishing a base or some crazy stuff like that and maybe you will get meaningful intervention.

I am a strong believer that Africa is on its own. Sink or swim, no one really cares about you as long at they can keep raping the continent and getting its resources. But you can keep dying in your slums and huts and no one will care a lick. Okay, I better stop with the ramblings before I am thrown into Mathare.

What I am trying to say is;

To the ODM pentagon, think through stuff before start making announcements. You only hurt your cause when you say this today and reverse course tomorrow. Frankly, to be honest, I think you guys are riding on the coat tails of the kenya peoples anger. I have listened to stories of how the country practically exploded when these elections were stolen. Frankly, this cycle, ODM you were the beneficiary that the people elected to entrust the next 5 years to, but they are not angry because ODM has been wronged. They are mad because the Kenyan people have been wronged. (Are you keeping up with me). SOOOOOO, in watching the whole situation, i still dont see a coordinated leadership from you, beyond pronouncements and hooliganisms. There is a difference between a mob and a movement. As long as the people are kept as separate mobs, the government will keep pushing you around.
I like to think that maybe we can take the high road and use sanctions and all. However, I really dont think that will work because in the meantime, if you boycott all these industries, it is a poor kenyan who is loosing their job, getting fired etc. If you really want to do this, find something that also puts immediate pressure on these crazys who are trying to steal our country. Hence, as i said, barricade their homes and offices and starve them out, cut off electricity and phones to their houses and well, lay a siege so that they can feel that pain. If the people can eat, they shouldnt be eating too.

So, not a very coherent blog today, but i have it off my chest.

Someones Been Reading My blog

2008-01-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like my ranting and raving isnt so crazy after all. I talked to a friend who read my previous post, and he wondered if i was abandoning the cause.

Looks like my cause isnt so crazy after all. Whoever is thinking for ODM, YEEEEESSSSSS.

(If you cant figure out what I am talking about, my title is linked to the story)

Between a Rock and a Really Hard Place

2008-01-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

A really close friend has really been bummed out with what is going on in Kenya. This heart wrenching image I think captures everything that she finds wrong with what is happening in Kenya. She may have been supportive to the idea of Raila in the past, but now, I think she has reached the point where anyone who will let this happen and isnt screaming for this madness to stop is just as bad. So Raila, Kibaki and all our elected leaders, both old and new, PNU, ODM, ODM-K, NARC, KANU, and whatever other affiliation they may be no matter what ethnic group, they come from, are all the same.

Well, as you may have noticed in my previous posts, I am a strong believer that we have reached the point in Kenya where we need to be in the streets fighting to be heard and to reassert ourselves as a people.

BUT, how do I reconcile this horrendous image with my heartfelt desire for real change in my country.

Martin Luther King said, "A time comes, when silence is betrayal".

For me, silence is no longer an option. We as Kenyans have made so much, yet so little progress. I look around at my friends and neighbors and I am amazed to see that most of them are in mixed marriages now. A fact that belies the crazy situation that we see on the ground. However, listen to our parents, friends and even ourselves we in many ways still carry within us deep seated ingrained attitudes that are rooted in ethnic biases.

So, interestingly, Dr. King also said "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."

I refuse to accept that our only options as a Kenyan people are to either accept a government system (and I include the executive, legislature and judiciary in this )that is completely inept and corrupt or to go out and conduct a proxy fight with another Kenyan because of his ethnic origin or political beliefs.

So, here is where I plant my flag.

I will NOT be ignored by my government anymore. I will NOT be told what to do, where to go, what to think anymore by my government.
My fight is not with the Kenyan next door, across the street or in another city, province or place, and I cannot and will not take it out on him/her.
The Kenyan next door, across the street, or in another city, province or place cannot and will not take away my right to speak out and if necessary change my government.
I will change this damned country/government/system or die trying.

So, how you ask, i say we take a leaf from 60's in the USA. Read up on the Montgomery Bus Boycott sometime. How long do you think any of our leaders will last if we boycott any product they make, any hotel they own, blockade any premises they own, and well, just sit down and make each and everyone of them feel pinch like the rest of us. And I am not saying selectively target anyone. I am saying ALL OF THEM. I am saying, take thousands of us and sit on the streets around parliament with all of them inside so no one can leave. Sit around state house, sit around their shambas, so their cows cannot be milked, their businesses cannot operate. Mark you, i am not saying be violent. I am just saying, sit there. so they cannot get any food in and out of their homes, or offices, so that as the people, get hungry, they get hungry, as people get tired, they get tired, as food runs out in the peoples homes, they run out of food also. At that point, when they are stuck in their homes, and in their work places, how much difference will how much money they have make. When their servants cannot go in or out, that will be the great equalizer.

And to the police, do your work. Stop violence, but respect the peoples right to peacefull congregate and express their opinion.

Whats your Tribe!

2008-01-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

For the last couple of days, it looks like rather than write my own thoughts, I am posting links to other peoples blogs. But, what can i say, sometimes, you come across something that is so well written that you have to just have to acknowledge it.

I sometimes struggle with how to discuss ethnic and tribal politics as a Kenyan. I am totally opposed to tribalism, nepotism or any other ism's that could be out there. I have a number of friends of the same mindset, but listening to us talk about it, it is shocking how many different layers and nuances there are to tribalism and even though we may not think we are, we have some deeply ingrained habits, values etc that are rooted in our ethnic heritage and background (and I am not talking about being a kenyan).

Well, it is sad to see how big of an impact our tribes still plays in our politics and how we automatically will fall into these roles that are when you think about it, really ridiculous.

So, I came across this very well written piece that you really need to read. Here are some excerpts.

"When I lived in Kibera some years ago, I shared my modest crib with Onyango, Kimani, Kipngeno, Mutisya and Abdi."............

In short we were more than brothers, and we remained so for 5 years until the elections were called. It was time to part ways. We got new identities jaluo, msapere, mkale, mkamba, walalo and banye ...........

You have to read the rest for yourself.

Kenyan president lost election, U.S. exit poll indicates

2008-01-14T12:15:00.001-08:00

I just read this very intriguing article on yahoo. Although most of the foreign governments have been very much sticking to their diplomatspeak, they are really doing an unusual thing.

by all mean, I already believe that Raila won, but i must say, more and more i get convinced.

No to Moving On

2008-01-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

I just read a post on thinkers room on the same topic and I have linked to it. I could not have said it better myself. There is this very seductive mindframe that is going around that is so seductive. We hate to see people suffer around us and we dont want to think of people going hungry and people loosing everything they have invested their lives building.

While, I wholeheartedly agree, and I hate this suffering, I believe, there is time to say stop. Enough. It is like telling a thoroughly battered wife to hang on for the sake of her children. There is a time to say no more.

I strongly suggest that you read this post. Here are some excerpts. I dont want to post everything, because i believe you need to also visit thinkersroom.

“Moving on” is precisely what got us into the situation we are in today. For 44 years we have been moving on, paying scant attention to the underlying problems that have befallen us, in the fond belief that “we are a peaceful people” and “Kenya is an island of peace and stability”. We moved on in the face of disparities of education, opportunities, wealth, camaraderie and class........

Moving on will only ensure that come 2012 we will be writing blog posts and newspaper articles precisely like the ones we have been doing the past fortnight. Moving on will just give another set of us the opportunity to be “shocked and saddened” that this happened on our land. Moving on will just ensure that our children (if we survive to sire them) will merrily and ignorantly make the same mistakes we did.......

So there you have it.

And as the writer, beautifully states, refusing to move on is not saying get out on the street and kill each other.

Of all the arrogant, ignorant, egotistical, nonsensical things, you could have done

2008-01-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Kibaki just announced a partial line up of ministers.

Honestly, I dont get it. I am struggling to be fair here. If you were elected fair and square (like i really believe that), well, its your right to do this. But, how can you stand in the face of the disaster that is happening in our beloved kenya. The people are in uproar. This goes beyond your differences with Raila, who won the election (Which i really believe). If you would take your head out of your !@#% long enough, you would see that.

You know what, back to the streets is where people should go. And honestly, if we choose to let this slide, shame on all of us kenyans. We have heard the saying before. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!. I know it is the last thing we want to do. It will cause pain, suffering, hunger etc. But what do you really gain. All you get is to go back to the life living in poverty, with no home for tomorrow and breeding the next generation of poor kenyans for the ruling class to live their jet set life on. Your opinion will keep not mattering.

REDEMPTION time.

Who is the Victim

2008-01-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like a lot of important people have something to say about this election fiasco. And one and all are saying the same thing, that Kibaki and Raila need to come to an agreement.

Well, I agree............... sort of.

When all is said and done, and Kibaki and Raila have come to some sort of accomodation, should everyone go home and pat themselves in the back for a job well done. I DONT THINK SO.

Whichever way you cut it, the victim is not Raila for having a presidency stolen from him, or ODM for having the opportunity to rule yanked away, nor is it Kibaki (for those ostriches who think someone is trying to steal a legitimately won election from him). No the loosers are the Kenyan people.

Here is how I see it.

The common person has lost their property, NOT the ruling class on either side.
The common person is not making a dime while this whole episode goes on
The common man is the one HOW HAS LOST THEIR VOICE, which democracy is supposed to be all about
The common man is the one who will have to live in fear of marauding gangs of various ethnicity coming for revenge

While all this is going, on, can someone remember to ask what about the common man and his right to have a government OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE.

At some point, we have to stand up and let the government and all its agents and institutions know that they are the peoples servants, not masters.

SIRIKALI left with the colonialist. Let us stop this endless cycle of replacing one master with another one who looks just like me.

Cant keep quite any more

2008-01-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

First, let me start by saying kudos to all the Kenyan bloggers out there. You have been the oasis in the desert for this thirsty soul over the past 4 days (seems like it has been going on forever). So, I will speak out also.

Sitting here, thousands of miles away from home, it has been scary

So how bad are things ....... I think the full picture is yet to emerge.

I have relatives who have been visiting Kenya for the holidays. We have spent hours over the past few days trying to find out where they are and how they are doing and the story that they tell doesn't paint a very encouraging picture. They have been trying to get to Nairobi since Monday and they finally did today. It looks like it is no longer safe to try and drive. It has taken a police escorted envoy to get them to Nairobi. I had read on other blogs that evacuation flights are being arranged from Eldoret to get people safely to Nairobi, but it seems that this is happening from little airstrips all over.

For those who are trying to paint this dilemma as a Luo/Kikuyu problem, i say if only that were true. My folks live in shags (and by shags i mean no running water and no electricity). We are in the middle of what i would consider nowhere, and yet even there, the roads have been blocked with burning tires, rocks and trees. It is not only the Kikuyus' that are in danger, but other communities who are perceived to have sided with Mr. Kibakis' reelection are taking shelter from the mobs. Although sad to say this is in many ways playing out as a ethnic conflict it is inaccurate to give Mr. Odinga credit for all that has happened. It may or may not be true that he commands blind devotion from his community, but there are very many other people who are out there in opposition to the miscarriage of justice and democracy that has been enacted upon us. My community owes nothing to Mr. Odinga, but they have stood up and are on the streets too.

Whether this theft at the polls is perceived or real, give us the credit to at least put some effort and a little more creativity into it. I think it is a matter of record now that the discrepancies and in the vote tallies are real and have been validated by 3rd parties who are not picking one side or the other. Telling the people to "suck it up and stop being a sore loser" cannot and should not fly in this day and age.

I ask myself what the alternatives are and this is what i come up with

All the ethnic violence and conflict must stop immediately and cannot be condoned.
Allowing this government to stay WITHOUT making sure that they are the legitimate winners is unacceptable. Kenyans have spilt too much blood in the '50s' '92', '97' and '02' to let that happen. If Mr. Kibaki won, then kudos to him, but Kenyans are no ones peons. We have a right to look at the electoral results and determine if you are the legitimate winner. There are too many questions and we the people have a right to an answer. If you are not the winner, then pack you bags and go home.
The legal minds say that the only constitutional solution out of this quagmire is the courts. It breaks my heart to know that in the long run, we loose more than we gain if we put aside our laws even in this situation. But, the judicial systems has been a tool of the government for too long. The judicial system belongs to the people. We are not going to be told to sit quitely while the "grownups" talk. We can and should demand that we will get justice.
If our courts cannot or will not move fast enough, we should stay on the streets and shut the country down (peacefully and without destruction of property - The Georgians and Ukrainians did it, and so can we) until we the people get justice. However, I must be careful to say that we must also watch and learn from the Georgians. This cannot and should not be about Mr. Railas right to the Presidency, but about the peoples right to choose their leader. When the people say it is time for him to leave, he should also be ready to be pack his bags and go home.
It is the peoples right to express their dissatisfaction. If we choose to bring down this government by peacefully demonstrating, without killing each other, then that is our choice as the people. The government cannot use the excuse of national security to crush legitimate and legal protests from the people as long as they maintain peace and order. I applaud all the people who came out today and worked to make sure that they kept the hooligans at bay (although clearly they are still outnumbered).

I read Mr. Kiviutus comments and honestly like everyone else I am floored. And to think he is a lawyer and is supposed to be one of the leading minds in kenya. What incredibly stupid and incomprehensible logic did he use to figure out that announcing the results was the brave thing to do.

And Mr. Wako finally grow some .... or what. I guess we wait to see what happens next. But i guess after all these years, we have a poster child for the yes man.