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7:48
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
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10:28
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
One thing that has become abundantly clear is that the caliber of leadership we have in Kenya is wanting to the extreme. Looking at the ilk of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, and indeed almost all the leaders in this country, one is unsure if they could lead people who fell out of a boat into the water.
I mean, some things don’t need you to be a rocket scientist to figure out. If you are insisting that you are the duly elected president, and giving speeches to that effect, then it beggars belief that you would leave your burning country to attend some nebulous summit (as most AU summits are wont to be). It makes even less sense to commit to dialogue here and while in Addis undermine the same dialogue by throwing sand into the engine you have committed yourself and your “government”.
Look a the members of parliament. Almost all of them are here in Nairobi, and what’s more they have refused to go back to their constituencies until the fighting ends. Which beggars the question of how this fighting is supposed to end if the people tasked with the responsibility of leadership are unwilling to step up and lend a hand to stop it!
Look at the religious institutions. When they are not deafeningly silent they participate in the chocolate teapot of press conference appeals for peace. The main religious bodies, Catholic, Anglican, Muslim and the Independent Churches have just not impressed at all. They didn’t mind advising their flocks during the constitution. Why are they so quiet now? This touches on something I mentioned in my last post about the hypocrisy of Kenyans filling churches and immediately afterwards collecting weapons and setting upon their fellows. I find it difficult to believe that this is a 0.005% or whatever percentage that is being bandied about. I refuse to believe that the other 99.995% just disappear into thin air!
How many leaders have visited the clash hit areas? In fact how many leaders have gone to Jamhuri Park? Has Mwai Kibaki? Has Raila Odinga? Who purporting to be in authority went there on their own violation? Last time I checked it is only well wishers who have taken the trouble and the expense to visit the internally displaced.
Look at the police. When the spokesman is not blowing hot air, explaining this with doctored rambo footage, his boss Commissioner Ali appears on TV to proudly inform us how he has facilitated security for people to leave their homes, without a doubt one of the most ludicrous statements I have head this year. Commissioner, that is nothing to be proud of. Believe me.
Look at the assorted councils of elders. The Njuri Ncheke. The Luo Council of Elders. the Kaya Elders. The Kalenjin Elders. The Kikuyu Elders. Where are they? They’re always waiting at the wings for earth shaking developments like the sacking of “their” sons so they can rush into the limelight. Where are they now? Why have they lost their voices as this insanity continues? Why do they not use their influence to prevail upon their people to end this madness?
Who will tell the foolish machete wielding youths that it is extremely moronic and self defeating to evict “foreigners” from amongst their midst? That this will only trigger resentment towards them and retaliation across the board?
Who will preach that no matter how self sufficient you think you are, you will still need groundnuts from the coast, beef from North Eastern, fish from Nyanza, sugar from Western, milk from Rift Valley and vegetables from central?
Who will remind people that Kenya is Kenya because of the contribution of everyone and if we pull apart we will all be the worse? Who will remind the population that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts?
Who will point out to people that if this nonsense continues you cannot simply go to Masai Mara or climb Mount Kenya or go to Lake Victoria or go to Mombasa! What will it benefit you to live in a country where you cannot go wherever you please!
Who will address the youths and tell them as reasonably as possible that if you burn buses in the morning do not be surprised to lack transport in the evening. Or if you uproot the railway tracks do not complain about lacking cooking oil. Or if you loot your workplace do not complain about lacking a job. Because they need to be addressed and have these things pointed out by someone in a leadership position.
But then again on retrospect leaders are quite the effective mirror of society … as we did last year, in 20 years from now some of those panga wielding, stone throwing, shop looting fools will offer themselves for leadership and we will elect them.
The question is - who is really to blame there?
Shining Examples
Mercifully there are people stepping up. In their own little way to do something practical rather than endlessly mundane appeals for peace from Narobi. Parallels between Mohammed appealing to the mountain ought to be drawn here.
People like Rachel Wambugu and Wesley Chebii. People with the guts and gumption to step up and lead.
These are the kind of leaders we need. Enough self obsessed pontification from the likes of our current leadership, demanding for extra security. Why should you be given any extra security? Is your blood somehow redder than ours? What about the rest of us? Do we not deserve to be alive too? That if anything should speak volumes about the integrity and selflessness of these windbags. Face it my friends. Looking to this lot for leadership is like sheep looking to wolves.
We need more Rachels and Wesleys. These are the sort of leaders we should admire. The sort of leaders we should stand behind. Ready to go into the lion’s den for their people. True shepherds indeed.
Spare me the Kibakis and the Railas! What do they care about us? A man who a month ago promised to be the president of all Kenyans had the audacity to LEAVE for some nebulous summit as the country literally burnt and its people were dying?
Spare me the absurdity!
AOB - Goodbye Barack. It’s Been Real
I’m following the hype around the newest Kid on The Block, Barack Obama with much a somewhat cynical eye. Is he popular? Yes. Does he drive crowds into frenzies? Yes. Could be make one hell of a president? Yes. Would I personally vote for him? Hell yes! If I was an American that is.
But elections in America follow the very same unwritten rules as those all over the world. Which means what? That the people at the conventions and speeches are the typical iPod listening, notebook carrying educated city dwellers. These are not the people with the votes. The people with the votes are the maws and paws: apple pie baking break-your back work ethic church going rural folk. These are the people with the votes.
And an unwritten law somewhere says that the people who attend rallies are not the ones with the votes.
Keeping in mind the painfil fate that befell John Kerry and Al Gore to George Bush Jr, what it will boil down to is as follows.
Given a choice between a black man (Mr Obama) and a white woman (Hillary Clinton) I would not be surprised the people with the vote will make the inevitable choice of voting for John Sidney McCain.
NOTE: That last statement is put exactly the way I intended it it. I am perfectly aware of their party affiliations, nomination processes, stands on issues like health, Iraq, and all that jazz.
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© M :: tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008.
Comment On Who Really Failed Us?
Category: Elections, Hubbub.
   
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2:37
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Events over the past 5 weeks have afforded me much opportunity for introspection. From what I have seen, to what I have heard, to what I have read. I cannot tell a lie. I am deeply affected by the events that took place for the past 5 weeks. I asked what have they done? Almost 4 weeks ago. And it is clear that people just don’t realize what has been done to this country — every time they think they do it gets worse.
This election my M.O. was that I was going to see things for myself and not rely on the traditional media. And so I went out to capture the pulse of the country. Of course, I saw a lot more that I would never have imagined, more intimately than most; because unlike most people
- I actually went to KICC towards the tail end of the announcement that set things off. I fashioned my own Media badge (scrutiny was quite cursory) and took myself there. I saw with my own eyes doctored tally sheets. I saw the infamous 16A and remember laughing outright when the figure the chairman read out was absurdly different from what was on some of the actual forms.
- I actually visited some polling stations and saw clumsy attempts to modify tally sheets
- I actually went out and into the Mukuru slums a couple of days after the residents stoned our houses and forced us into an impromptu curfew. I have seen horrible things and heard horrible tales. I have inhaled quite a bit of teargas and my reflexes to sounds like gunfire have to be seen to be believed.
- I still go out to Mukuru even now. I tell you its one thing to see these people on TV and it is quite another to talk to them and share their experiences.
In fact that is what I think every man and woman of goodwill who is serious about helping should be doing. Personally I think we’ve had enough of these bullshit conferences, press briefings and what nots. Enough of them. The same things are said over and over again. What new things are said? People just go there, make the same old same old bleating for peace, then get into their 4×4s and drive to their cushy estates. I no longer attend these things because I fail to see the value that they add. There comes a point when you must stop talking and start doing.
You can’t appeal for peace on TV. You must do it face to face. So please, spare us these media briefings and press conferences. We can only get peace by making people see sense one at a time. So the more of us that do it, the sooner it will be done.
Some time back I shared my concerns that perhaps the youth have had a hand in the morass this country is currently in. Watching the footage of events in Nakuru and Nyahururu leaves me in little doubt.
Granted, this was started by politicians. The elections were just the flint that set alight the situation. However I refuse to absolve the participants of the mayhem of their share of the blame. The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day you must take responsibility for your actions.
If you threw stones, hacked people, burnt houses or looted then you are also to blame.
If you didn’t throw stones or hack or burn or loot but you spread hate through your blogs, your text messages, your emails and your conversations, please believe you are just as bad as the panga wielding youths. You are equally to blame.
It was absolutely chilling yesterday to watch footage of rowdy youths pulling men out of matatus and proceeding to lynch them.
I have for a long time been opposed to capital punishment. But now I ask myself would I really shed a tear if these murderers and looters in Eldoret. Kisumu, Nakuru, Naivasha, Molo, Kuresoi etc were strung up? I doubt it.
Questions
What I want to know is
- Where is the President? Mr Kibaki cannot have it both ways. If he insists he is the duly elected president then it is incumbent upon him to act accordingly. He must not only do something, he must be seen to be doing something.
- Where are our MPs? Why are they all here in Nairobi, and it is on record that they have only done a single day’s work? All MPs should be on the ground in their own constituencies doing their bit to ensure that this madness ends. We’ve had enough press conferences from comfortable hotels saying the same thing. Mr Kibaki should be in Othaya. Mr Odinga should be in Kibera. All their lieutenants should be at their constituencies moving from door to door campaigning for this foolishness to end. I won’t buy any arguments about government having to continue. What is there to govern?
- Where is the Church? I’m not impressed at all by any of the churches in Kenya. The Catholic Church, The Anglican Church, the Islamic community and the Independent churches have been very lethargic indeed. What happened to the men of faith who did not hesitate to speak for the people in word and in deed like Bishops Muge? Okullu? Gitari? Why are their successors so quietly lethargic?
- Why wasn’t the Army deployed in Eldoret 3 weeks ago?
Shattered Myths
- Kenya is an oasis of peace. Is it now?
- Kenyans are a deeply religious people. I find it difficult to reconcile this alleged deep devotion to The Maker, the innumerable filled churches and mosques and the images of brother turning against brother with crude weapons. It is bandied about that Kenya is 70% or so Christian. If this is so I can see much in the phrase “Jesus wept”.
- Kenya believes in the right of law. The ODM refuses to challenge the elections in court. While I understand their reluctance, it is also scoring an own goal because it can be argued that they are not going to challenge because they know they lost. Impasse right there. Also the PNU allege the ODM also committed electoral malpractice. Why have they not gone to court either?
Fueling The Fire
[ED]It would appear ODM Embakasi MP [ED]Mugabe Were was shot outside his compound. This is the absolute worst time for such a thing to happen.
AOB
My attention has been drawn to an online equivalent of a pissing contest. My response is exactly what it was before. There is nothing magical about blogging that absolves you from the responsibility to check your facts before you post them. There is nothing magical about it that makes it okay for you to say as you please without repercussion. Everyone has their own opinions on what blogging ought to be. For some it is a means to diary their exploits. For others it is a cash cow. For others it is a means to build castles in the air. For others it is an opportunity to be big fish in small ponds. For others it is a way to purge their souls. For others it is a way to express their creativity. For others it is a ticket to yet another blogging conference. For others like me — it is a way to express what I happen to be thinking.
But make no mistake about it. Whatever your reasons it is still incumbent upon you to be responsible with whatever you blog. My idea of responsibility is that if you are purporting to be speaking as someone telling people authoritatively what is happening on the ground, you’d best have your facts right as you write. Hoping that it turns out to be true later is not good enough. Hiding behind innuendo is not good enough.
Buzz words like ‘citizen media’ and ‘one man publishing press’ do not change a thing. Neither does pontification from behind podiums at conferences. At the end of the day bloggers are still human beings and must still be held responsible for their words and actions. Whether or not bloggers choose to get lost in their grandiose delusions of grandeur does not change a thing.
A WordPress installation does not exempt you from this any more than a calculator exempts you from knowing how to add.
A cursory glance at blogs today speaks for itself. Just read some of the blog posts that have been written over the past month. A good number make my skin positively crawl. What defence do all the authors of those ridiculous ‘letters’ have? Freedoms are not absolute. They have responsibilities as well.
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© M :: tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008.
Comment On Kenya Burns!
Category: Elections, Hubbub.
   
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6:36
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Without a doubt one of the most uttered sentences in Kenya today is along the following lines …
Me? A tribalist? No! I am no such thing!
A more refined version goes as follows.
I am not a tribalist! In fact I have friends who are Kikuyu/Luo/Kamba etc.
Interesting. A feeling of déjà vu took over me and it’s just this morning I figured out what was causing that feeling.
About two years ago I wrote a post about tribalism, or to be precise an amazing creature that had been introduced to me called “positive tribalism“. I remember how astounded I was when I first heard it. I thought it was the most outrageously preposterous thing I have ever heard. And there were people who objected to my objection. The post, needless to say, triggered a healthy debate, replete with the usual fare of outraged indignation, threats, and insults, thinly veiled and outright, that I preserved in their entirety. The only comment I obfuscated was one attacking someone else (the only fair game I allow here is myself!)
My opinions have not changed. I think positive tribalism is about as absurd as positive racism. I think it a thinly veiled attempt to legitimize the illegitimate.
I think if you voted for Mwai Kibaki because he is Kikuyu, or Raila Odinga because he is Luo, then you’re an ass.
I think if you didn’t vote Mwai Kibaki because he is Kikuyu, or you didn’t vote for Raila Odinga because he is Luo, then you’re an ass.
If tribe was one of the considerations in your voting decision, then you’re an ass.
What makes me especially sad is that many of the people I know born in the window between 1970 and 1990, who really ought to know better by virtue of being brought up in a cosmopolitan Nairobi have left me puzzled and saddened.
I find it difficult to believe that to a wo(man), most of my peers with roots (albeit several times removed) in Central Kenya resonate with Mwai Kibaki’s policies and agenda, and that his tribe was not a factor. I find it difficult to believe that to a wo(man), most of my peers with roots (albeit several times removed) in Nyanza resonate with Raila Odinga’s strategies for growth and empowerment, and that his tribe was not a factor.
Let me stress that again. These are not people in Central Kenya and Nyanza who have grown up in a homogenous community. I’m talking about people who grew up in cosmopolitan, multi-cultural estates.
Absolutely preposterous that we, the leaders of tomorrow, the iPod-carrying, blogging, Kwani-reading campus graduates have the temerity to purport to be the enlightened future of this nation and yet we still use tribe as a guide in our decision making!
If the tribes of our play pen mates when we were howling toddlers filling our pants did not affect us, and they did not affect us when we were racing our BMX and Choppers how then are we, the product of the cosmopolitan 80s and 90s, using these very things we ignored against our fellows? How, in 2008, can lawyers and doctors and engineers who will be standing for public office in 4-8 years subtly and openly promulgate the same innuendo, fear, paranoia and outright hate and in the same breath express outrage at people hacking each other to death?
My friends, using blogger.com and WordPress.com does not absolve you from your responsibilities. Neither does using gmail.com or yahoo.com. Neither does using Safaricom and Celtel text messaging facilities. Using technology to spread disunity does not absolve you of responsibility!
Do you get outraged when you hear “thieving nigger”? (Yes, nigger) You do? Then why don’t you get outraged when you hear:
- Money hungry Kikuyu
- Colour blind Kamba
- Violent Kisii
- Extravagant Luos
- Chicken loving Luhya
- Warlike Somali
- etc
I’ll just bet you don’t! And I also bet you forwarded and re-forwarded all those inane jokes starting with “A Kikuyu, a Luo and a Luhya …”, that you fondly believed to be funny.
It’s just a joke, you say? Oh really? Is blackface funny? Disabuse yourselves of that notion!
We are the generation that ought to know better. Why then do our communication, our perceptions, our stereotypes and our voting have anything other than sound logic, merit and character at their foundation?
Have the two-faced youth done this country a disservice, preaching unity from one side of the doubt and undermining it with the other? Could we be the problem?
Given the events of the past 3 weeks I’m beginning to be so inclined …
AOB
I was very serious about hate speech in this blog. If I find your comments fail to live up to the basics of respect for your fellows, even those of opposing views then your comment, and then you, are gone. I am not interested in Oompa Loompas and River Trolls interested in sowing their hate here. I will black list your IP address. I will not remove your IP address from the black list until January 1, 2012. So do not bother emailing me.
USHAHIDI.COM
A brilliant initiative is ushahidi.com, an initiative to keep track of incidences of unrest in the country. Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see. This will be a big help not only in knowing what’s going on, but also some time in the future be a tool for introspection
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© M :: tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008.
Comment On Tribalism & The Youth
Category: Elections, Hubbub, Reflections.
   
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10:38
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
[EDIT 20:21]
“Moving on” is a phrase I’ve heard bandied about a lot of late.
It irritates me as much today as it did the first time I heard it, cleverly slipstreamed into conversation around the imbroglio we as Kenyans find ourselves in.
You hear it used like this:
We need to move on as a country and go about our business.
Or like this:
Yes, the process was flawed. But we need to move on.
Or like this:
So Kibaki appointed a cabinet before the coalition talks. The country needs to function. We need to move on.
Excuse me, but “moving on” is about the most absurd thing we can do now. Patently so.
500+ people have been killed. 300,000+ have been displaced. Businesses and homes have been destroyed. Friends have turned against friends. People have been chased from their homes in the middle of the night. People have lost everything. Some people have lost everyone.
In light of the above I am of the opinion that NO, we FUCKING CANNOT MOVE ON!
The wisdom in “Moving on” is questionable indeed. Are we to forget the dead, the burnt, the destroyed, the shearing of Kenyan society as we know it? Are we naive enough to believe if we don’t address the causes that led to this situation they will pack up like good little boys and bid us adieu?
“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.
I would not be in the least bit surprised to hear some of the political elite, upon hearing that Kenyans are going hungry, wondering, like a woman not too long ago who lost her head, why they “didn’t eat cake”.
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.
Have we learnt nothing from the past 2 weeks?
Indeed, stupidity is doing the same thing twice and expecting the same results.
We need to find out the reason our country exploded and take steps to correct them, so that our future generations will be spared what we have gone through. We need to find out what the problem is now, and address it decisively. Before we get peace, we must have justice.
So no, dammit, we FUCKING CANNOT MOVE ON! 44 years ought to have shown by now that moving on doesn’t bloody work!!!
Oh, and for those of limited imagination, let me remove all ambiguity. Justice does not mean throwing stones and destruction and violence!
By saying we can’t just move on I am not saying we should not go back to work and get on with our lives. I’m not saying you stay home and await developments! Au contraire! What I am saying is that we cannot go back to the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil business as usual that we have been at for the last 44 years.
It’s not Kibaki and Raila throwing stones and wielding pangas and burning houses. It’s me and you. I am not naive enough to believe that the sight of Raila and Kibaki shaking hands and hugging will magically stop the fighting and people can move back to their homes from which they were chased. Because that is not about to happen.
Working and going about our business as usual will not address the issue of why friends have butchered friends. And until we find out exactly what circumstances led to that and correct it TODAY we shall be reliving this experience perpetually.
Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. Life as usual is not an option.
AOB
Alfred Mutua, our resident Oompa Loompa, always manages to take my breath away with his effortless ability to introduce rocking chairs into a room full of blind cats. Every time the grinning Proudfoot Hobbit has his earnest face behind a camera, the osmotic pressure of the external environment causes his grey and white matter to seep from the areas of high concentration within his cranium, leaving behind doesn’t matter.
It takes an exceptional type of foolishness to say the following with a straight face while 400 of your fellows have been killed
“They [Kufuor and Kibaki] are age-mates and friends and Kufuor is coming to have a cup of tea with him,” Mutua said.
Bloody hell. Kufuor flew all those miles for a cup of tea. Villages looking for that special member of their community can contact me
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© M :: tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008.
Comment On Moving On
Category: Elections, Hubbub, Politics.
   
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6:52
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
The 2007 General Elections in Kenya will be remembered in our history as the most contentious and violent elections. Underlying ethnic tensions came to the surface in a surge of violence that was transmitted live by our national television stations. Those of us from relatively comfortable backgrounds witnessed the mayhem on screen from the comfort of our homes as the oppressed majority revolted against the current injustices surrounding the elections. This is my story as a witness. Read more here. 
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15:54
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
It is not my intention to be alarmist or pedal rumours but I have been in touch with a group of professionals who just evacuated from Eldoret. They are now in Nairobi and they are reporting what is very sobering news. They report that there is genocide afoot in Eldoret North and Mau Narok. Read more from Joel Ngugi. 
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12:30
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Vote Of Thanks
Many thanks to everyone sending all those emails and text of concern. I am alive and well and taking good care of myself. I am a bit flooded with emails but am doing my best to respond to everyone.
Special thanks to all those sending in news and information. Special thanks to WathiiFM for updates from the Buru Buru area and first class pictures
Housekeeping
I fondly believe that most of my readership are adults of sound mind with a modicum of maturity. In case you are not, allow me to tell you this. This is not a site to propagate hate and rumours. I have spent more time than I should moderating obtuse comments. I am tired of that. I have many other things to worry about. Henceforth if you post something even remotely advocating hate or violence not only will I delete it, I shall blacklist you from ever visiting my blog again. I shit you not. If you think this is a convenient avenue for your hate, think again. I have no time for your nonsense. We want solutions, not more problems.
My connection is not the most stable so henceforth I shall be uploading a huge combined post whenever I can.
News Update
- Official death toll is now 300. Unofficial death toll is much larger
- Yesterday there were skirmishes in Bahati, Maringo, Kangemi, Arwings Kodhek, Industrial Area and Thika Road
- A man was killed on Thika Road when police fired in the air, severing an electrical cable that fell on him
- ODM rally was moved to Saturday
- At long last Mwai Kibaki addressed the nation in a lackluster speech long on hot air, ambiguity, vagueness and lethargy and short of concrete solutions
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu arrived and met with the ODM leadership. The grapevine has it that Kibaki initially refused to meet with him. Subsequently it turned out that a meeting was indeed scheduled for this day.
- Again proving that no matter how low the bar is, stupidity will always find a way to slither under, Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua, rose eyed lens firmly on, castigates the international community for interfering.
- Flies on the wall allege that Kibaki himself is pretty amenable to negotiation. But as is the hallmark of his regime other elements in his administration are taking hardline positions.
- Same flies say that Kibaki is willing to form a coalition government with the opposition. This I have to see to believe.
- Nairobi water company allays fears that the city water supply is poisoned.
Kibaki’s Speech Highlights
- He is deeply concerned
- He condemns the violence
- Kenya is a peaceful country (Is it now?)
- Justice abounds in Kenya. No one has ever been denied justice
- He too, just like other Kenyans, was made aware that he was won in that same press briefing of the ECK
- He has followed the law all the while and will continue to
- Anyone with problems with the outcome should take it up with the court
- He would seek solutions once the situation calms down. (WTF?!! People are dying while you wait!)
- He had no time for journalists’ questions. If they had any they should come tomorrow. (People will be dying while we await for you to be comfortable with questions)
State House
Earlier today I drove past State House. A continuous flag like the one that is put on public holidays is very much in evidence. I took some very illegal pictures juggling camera and car. It is no idle rumour that the security personnel there are overzealous. A friend of mine once stopped outside one of the far flung entrances and within minutes a truncheon was being bounced off his amazed skull.
Personally I would take down that flag. It can be construed as a celebration of Kibaki’s new term. I don’t think there is anything to celebrate.
Here are the pics (Quality is not the beast because I was driving and some were taken through windscreen)
Road heading towards State House, adjacent to the grounds
The State House Junction
Approaching the main gate
The main gate
The Rally
I’ve been roving here and there to capture developments on the ground just after the skirmishes took place. The pictures are sobering indeed. My heart breaks when I photograph what some Kenyans have done to others. Scarred indeed are our weary souls.
The following set is from a looted Coca Cola distributor on Arwings Kodhek. I spoke to the proprietor and the owners of the adjacent stalls. The angry mob repulsed by the police in Hurlingham wreaked havoc. The vendors lost their fruits and vegetables. Hooligans would bite a mango and throw the rest at cars, buildings, etc.
At the depot they broke bottles from some 300 or so crates.
A destroyed adjacent vegetable stall. They ate the fruits and took or destroyed the vegetables
Another looted vegetable stall
A torched stall
Broken glass on the road
A closer view of the glass. They broke 300 crates
Pile of shattered glass
A closer view
A still closer view
The distributor
Attempts to recover
Uprooted bus stop
The following set is from the Engen Petrol station further down the road
The empty parking bay
The looted quick shop
The broken door through which they entered
Thrown stones litter the parking
Entrance to the adjacent restaurant
Windows of the restaurant
An ignored plea in the restaurant window
Kenya Burns
I weep.
Rioters burn tyres behind a locked gate
I need not tell you that as I write this our country is on fire. Flames stoked by the ineptitude of the current regime and outright tribal polarization by politicians have finally exploded in a shocking turn of violence and destruction. Neighbours are turning against each other. People are suddenly afraid.
The rowdy mob makes its presence felt
Myself included. As I was driving to visit the missus who lives in an area that happens predominantly of a single community I wondered what exactly I would do if I was stopped by a mob and asked to identify myself. One of the names given to me by my folks happens to be Luo, and it is proudly there on my ID. The fact that I am not actually Luo would not help be because assumptions would probably be made on the strength of my ID, as is happening in many places in Nairobi, let alone Kenya. I have two friends in hospital who has “the wrong names” on their IDs.
An unfortunate is arrested
However I refused to succumb to this situation. I refuse to be a victim of the greed of the political elite.
GSU personnel run after a mob
The fact of the matter is that the political elite is very comfortable in their homes. I drove by State House this morning and not only is the road clean and uncluttered, there are flags all over presumably to celebrate the Kibaki victory. Unlike my hood where there is debris and ashes and broken glass and stones all over.
A GSU office reloads with tear gas
Our politicians are not suffering. They have running water. Milk, eggs, bread, meat and even cake are delivered to their doorsteps.
Reloading
It is me and you, my friends, who risk being beaten up by mobs and shot by the police as we look for milk and bread for us and our own.
A GSU officer ready for anything
The political elite are enjoying cartoons and soap operas and football on their DSTV and GTV. It is only me and you who are watching KTN and K24 and Al Jazeera and NTV to see the carnage being visited on our country. (KBC is not a serious news station. They’ve been showing cartoons and comedy clips as the country disintegrates)
Fully reloaded the GSU set off after rowdy mobs
The political elite sleep soundly in the peace and quiet Kitusuru and Thigiri and Riverside. It is us unfortunates who have our sleep interrupted by screams and shouts and gunshots.
The press in the thick of things
The political elite have access to fist class air tickets to fly out of the country. It is me and you who have nowhere to run to. If Somalis and Rwandas and Ugandans and Sudanese flee here, where o where are we to flee to?
Still reloading
And while our brothers and sisters and cousins and nephews and nieces are dying, pseudo-leaders wallowing in crass stupidity appear on TV to grandstand, blaming the chaos on each other.
Listen, nitwits. We are not interested in your grandstanding and finger pointing. We want solutions. Alfred Mutua, we have no time for your foolishness Kenyans are dying. We need all the help we can get to contain this situation. Accusing the international community of interference is nothing short of obtusely crass stupidity. This is not an episode of your half baked pesudo-thriller Cobra Squad! This is real life!!!
The GSU at work
We’ve had enough of nonsense press statements from comfortable hotels and the State House lawn. Come and make those inane gestures from Kibera or Mukuru or Thika Road or Kangemi. I dare you. Come down like me and other Kenyans who have no security detail and do your grandstanding!
What Should Be Done?
- Every politician and their offspring should have their visas canceled and should be denied new ones. Let you and your children experience the Kenya that you created! Let your children come back from the US and Australia and Canada and England and live with the consequences of what Mama and Papa created like the rest of us!
- The grandstanding between the government and ODM should stop. We are not interested in your foolish finger pointing games. It is we, not you, who are suffering. Shut your mouths and give us solutions, not problems. The media (local and international) should give the ilk of Alfred Mutua a total blackout.
- Kibaki and Odinga should visit the affected areas and make their statements for there. If they are so sure they are right then there should be no problem in facing your people.
- PNU and ODM must negotiate without pre-conditions. This is no longer about you.
- This is not merely a matter of getting peace. We need to treat the disease, as well as the symptoms. The disease is justice, or lack thereof. If we don’t sort out this root cause then the violence will just flare up again later.
- Recounting the votes and re-checking the tallies I fear is no longer an option. It would seem that some form 16As have been conveniently stolen from the safe in which they were stored. Presumably ballot boxes are being stuffed with votes as we speak.
The ideal solution I would think, would be along the following
- Kibaki and Odinga agree to a government of National Unity, with the former as president and the latter as vice president. The cabinet would then be split between PNU and ODM
- In 6 or so months, fresh elections to be held
- Neither Odinga nor Kibaki should offer themselves for election. They are even more polarizing than they were before. We need a completely new shift in governance. Those political fossils still in power need to go before they sink us all
- The election should be overseen by an imported Electoral Commission. I would not trust the ECK to hit the water if it fell out of a boat
- Usage should be made of all the TV footage and camera pictures. Neigbourhoods and communities should be called upon to identify the murderous and destructive fools that have been the instruments of destruction. They should be dealt with ruthlessly once identified.
As with most ideal solutions this one has a fatal flow. Neither Kibaki nor Odinga have demonstrated putting the welfare of the nation above their own.
What can we do?
Stop the fighting.
Go into your hood and talk to people. If you’re waiting for someone else to do it you’re part of the problem. You have youth groups and fellowships and estate committees and outreach programs and tuition groups. Go and talk to them. Go into the community and preach peace.
People in the slums do not have TV to watch the televised campaigns. The most powerful voice is yours. The people know you and they probably trust you so they’ll listen to you.
If I do that and you do that and the people you talk to do the same pretty soon we’ll have covered this country.
Stop the fighting. Why are we losing our lives while the elite, who don’t care, are comfortable?
Show them they no longer have power over us. Show them that they work for us, not us for them.
Show then their days of lording over us and using us as cannon fodder are over.
Stop the fighting.
Stop the fighting.
Stop the fighting.
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© M :: tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008.
Comment On Kenya Is Burning. Stop The Fighting!
Category: Elections, Grey Matter, Hubbub, Politics, Reflections.
   
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10:57
From: Kenya Imagine
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I just made it back to the US yesterday after spending several weeks in Kenya. Several claims are flying about the country, but the thing that should be worrying us most of all is the state of affairs in the country. From my observations while I was there and phone calls I have made after my arrival, most people in Nairobi are almost out of food. Not only are shops and supermarkets not open but there are no food deliveries in the city.(and as we all know, Nairobi has no shambas) Read more from Daniel K Rubia here. 
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1:57
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
First, for all those who took advantage of my time away from the blog to turn the comment section into a space for your tribal-based vitriol - SHAME ON YOU! From reading this blog you should know that I don’t entertain that kind of crap, and my readers have always respected that. [...]
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17:25
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Presidential: Raila 53% - Kibaki 48% - about 7 million votes counted. Both have 25% in more than 5 provinces. Kibaki picked up from Central and North Eastern. Interestingly, Kibaki leading in Nairobi though ODM picking up all the parliamentary seats so far.
MP results:
- Juja: George Thuo [...]
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15:32
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
- For those who are asking - only 3 seats have been announced in Nairobi - Westlands, Langata, and Kasarani. Have no idea what is going on with the rest though violence reported in Kasarani and Kamkunji.
- Current tally of seats: ODM 72, PNU 19, Safina 4, ODM-K 9, MGPK 1, [...]
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14:23
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Stepping out again for a bit. Will be back to keep updating through the night.
Latest news:
- The presidential race might come down to Rift Valley. Gap between Raila and Kibaki narrowing - Raila leading by about 10%
- Ruyenjes - Cecily Mbarire in
- Marakwet - Jebii Kilimo in
- Matuga - [...]
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13:11
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Just got home, quick update.
- Chaos in Garsen as Mungatana declared winner despite claims of rigging. Also violence in Starehe and Kamkunji.
- Presidential results via NTV: Raila 50.2%, Kibaki 40.9%
Raila leading in Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Coast. Kibaki leading in Central, Nairobi, North Eastern. Kalonzo leading in [...]
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4:53
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
- For guys who are asking about Sakuda, no updates as counting has been suspended as I said in my last post due to chaos.
- For guys who want more updates - relax - I’m one person doing the best I can on a voluntary basis and with a family that’s been [...]
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3:49
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Folks this is a historic election by Kenyan standards, regional standards and international standards - I don’t think there is a precedent for the number of incumbents that are going down despite having massive resources behind them and attempts to bribe voters. And I challenge you to find an election in the Western [...]
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0:43
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
More provisional results from this morning
- Kamkunji -Ibrahim Ahmed over Simon Mbugua
- Langata - Odinga 60%, Livondo 37%
- Matuga Mwakere 32% Mwanyoha 29%
- Bahari - Gunda over Tete
- Igembe South - Iringo over Muriungi very close
- Baringo North - Kipkorir (ODM) over Kipchumba (Kanu)
- Narok South - Ole Lankas over Stephen Ntutu
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0:36
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Other results from TV stations:
- National elections: Raila 64.5%, Kibaki 33.%, Kalonzo 1.7%
Western - Raila 68%, Kibaki 31%; Nyanza Raila 90%, Rift Valley Raila 83%, 16% Kibaki; Eatern - Kibaki 61%, Raila 22%, Central Kibaki 98%, Raila 2%; Nairobi Kibaki 49% Raila 42%
- Eldoret South - Peris Chepchumba wins [...]
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23:17
From: Kenyan Pundit
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Sorry guys, I had to sleep for a few hours…it’s going to be another long night…and baby KP wakes up bright and early with many storos for me.
Only 5% of the results counted nationally.
OK, latest results for MP - some big guys gone done and the results confirmed a lot of the “lowly [...]
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19:22
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Thanks for all the supportive comments.
Been waiting for some decent MP results for most of the night, because I think they will be far more interesting than the Presidential results and of course because of Mzalendo. Here’s what I have so far again via NTV. Lots of surprises - Kisii, [...]
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18:03
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Some MP results via Citizen TV:
- Orengo leading Mwanga in Ugenya.
- Sambu leading Kombo in Webuye
- Chikati leading Kituyi by slim margin
- Ahmed Shakil leading in Kisumu Town East (Kibaki got quite a few votes here).
- Olago leading in Kisumu Town West
- James Rege leading in Karachuonyo
- Kamanda has a very very slim [...]
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17:24
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
These results are from Nation TV and only 2% of the vote has been counted so far.
National: Raila 55%, Kibaki 42%, Kalonzo 3%
Eastern: Kibaki 58%, Musyoka 36%, Raila 6%
Central: Kibaki 98%, Raila 1%
Coast: Raila 60%, Kalonzo 36%, Musyoka 4%
Nairobi: Raila 47%, Kibaki 43%, Musyoka 10%
Rift Valley: Raila 72%, Kibaki 26%
Nyanza: Raila 86%, Kibaki
Western: [...]
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13:54
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
First to address some of the questions asked in the comments:
- The missing names situation in Kibera was a result of a split register. This means that voters were reallocated to different areas within the polling station depending on their last name - this is done in areas where there is a high [...]
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6:06
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
I voted this morning at Madaraka Primary School.
It was my first time voting in a national election, having been out of the country in 1997 and 2002. It was a very empowering process - especially in this election that is going to be a tight one.
Despite turning up at 6:15 [...]
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13:46
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
First a response to the comments on my previous posts.
Thanks to everyone who appreciates the election posts. As a rule I don’t feel compelled to defend what I write about on my blog, but I think it is necessary to reiterate (for those who don’t get it for whatever reason) that [...]
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2:37
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
- I attended an election observer training yesterday at KNCHR. It was very interesting. This election has the potential to be controversial so everyone is on the alert for irregularities, especially with the persistent rumors that the government is going to engage in rigging. Key concerns [...]
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18:47
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
- Nation TV is carrying a really great series produced by Hilary Ng’weno called Making of a Nation. It traces Kenya’s political history since independence. I’ve only caught 2 episodes, but what I’ve seen so far has been fascinating and enlightening - it does a really good job of stringing together various [...]
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8:29
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
In Nairobi…without luggage. Again! With a baby to boot! Talk about nightmare. So instead of catching up on politics gossip been busy scouting supermarkets for the infrastructure that is part of travel with a baby from bottle brushes to wipes etc. It sucks, especially when you don’t [...]
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