::: I love my country and this post is not on capital markets but the situation in Kenya:::
I came back home to vote but what has happened since then is just unbelievable and sad.
Maji yakimwagika haya zoleki..
We really, really need to move on.
I am not taking any side here and as a Kenyan I cannot even imagine driving this country to where Rwanda was a couple of years ago.
Ethnic cleansing will not solve anything, if anything. it will just make matters worse.
Let the government and the opposition come together as Amb. Kiplagat has already set up a reconciliation team. Everyone knows the election tallying process was not solid and we can begin negotiations from there but killing our brothers and sisters is purely criminal.
For heavens sake Raila's own son is married to a Kikuyu lady. and even in ODM's pentagon, the party's highest office, there is a Kikuyu, Joseph Nyaga.
Similarly in PNU, Kibaki garnered votes from Luo's also and the issues about the election have no bearing to being a Kikuyu or a Luo.
Kenyans are suffering and dying, yesterday(31/12/2007) I went out to try and buy some food, cabbage was retailing at Kes: 100.00 from Kes: 40 and less a few days ago, scratch cards are retailing 10% or higher above their marked prices..
War has never solved anything, look at Iraq and other Kenyan neighbours.... We don't need to be another statistic or example.
We have always been sending peacekeepers and mediators around Africa, who will come to us?? if we are the ones who provide mediators??
Before the 27th,.. actually before the swearing in of Kibaki, no one really cared whether Riba is a Luo or Kikuyu, all you wanted was news on capital markets from a Kenyan.. Why shouldn't that be the same anymore.. We are Kenyans first and tribes don't really matter.
Today (01/01/2008), is relatively peaceful and atleast from Eastlands in Nairobi where am publishing this article, I have not heard a gunshot or even seen smoke in the skyline, neither have I seen crowds running and shouting as was the case for the last few days.. I hope this continues to be the case...
I am Proudly Kenyan.. and that won't Change...
Tomorrow, (02/01/08), the stock market might open, depending on the situation of course. And I project a dip in prices as foreigners and locals withdraw from their positions until the country stabilises, this is so sad especially considering we were preparing for the biggest IPO in the region, currently I don't expect the Safaricom IPO to take place until some sense of stability returns and people feel confident to invest again, this was a great chance to project the maturity of the Kenyan economy and hopefully we can still salvage the situation by maintaining peace and calm as seen today.
I will post some more as events unfold, but I also call on fellow bloggers not only to report on the dark side of these trying times but the positives too, for the sake of Kenya.
For instance:
Uchumi supermarkets were open for most of the previous day's and only closing when things went out of hand and I actually shopped there, despite heavy police presence and long queues.
Today, the shops are open and Matatu's (public transport) is back on the roads and people can move around freely.
KCB and Barclays ATM's are however down though they were previously working, the problem could be because they were not replenished once they run out of bank notes.
Pesa point was also down but should be up very soon.
MPesa, the Safaricom service has been working, but was down shortly, I still cant confirm whether its up again.
