Sunday, January 06, 2008
Kenya woes linked to dashed hopes, not tribalism
Monday, 7 January 2008
Kenya woes linked to dashed hopes, not tribalism
Gwynne Dyer
More than two years ago, when Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga quit President Mwai Kibaki’s Government, I wrote the following, “The trick will be to get Kibaki out without triggering a wave of violence that would do the country grave and permanent damage ... Bad times are coming to Kenya.”
The bad times have arrived, but the violence that has swept Kenya since the stolen election on 27 December is not just African tribalism. Kikuyus have been the main target of popular wrath and non-Kikuyu protesters have been the principal victims of security forces, but this confrontation is about trust betrayed, hopes dashed, and patience strained to breaking point.
More‘We need your help’: appeal for donations for Kisumu
It has been a peaceful weekend in Kenya but things are still uncertain. Most of you will know that we have a serious humanitarian crises at hand now. We have set up a blog (http://sukumakenya.blogspot.com/) with an online donation facility to raise funds for displaced people in Kisumu which has been one of the worst hit areas. As my folks have been running a charity called Ladies in Action for several years now, they are already involved in feeding displaced and clash victims and want to scale up to meet the needs. The bottom line is we need funds. So am asking something I have never asked before. PLEASE DONATE whatever you feel comfortable with. The details are on the blog as is all the background. The online facility is 100% safe and you can use your credit card or debit card. If you don’t have a paypal account you can use any other service as it will show you.
The reality of what has happened to Kenya is not sinking in to me yet. It does not really matter I guess when you are as comfortable as us. Ladies in Action have been doing this for years. I don’t think I could do what my mother does but I know I can help and I know we all can to. Thanks and do write if you have any questions…
Dipesh, Elodie and Maya
Police chief says Kenya security returning to normal
The security situation in Kenya is returning to normal after more than a week of political violence that has killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands more, the country’s police chief said Saturday. “The situation in the country is reverting back to normal,” Police Commissioner Major-General Ali Mohamed Hussein said in a statement, nine days after disputed presidential elections which sparked major rioting. “Police headquarters is once more reiterating it’s commitment to do the extra mile to guarantee that all Kenyans enjoy their human rights including the right to own property anywhere in the republic,” he added. Ali said that of the 1,068 people arrested since President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of December 27 polls on Sunday, 451 have been charged in court, 70 are still in custody and 547 were released within the statutory 24 hours.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080105/wl_africa_afp/kenyavoteunrestsecurity_080105161124
Mugumo Munene: Disputed election has left death and destruction in Kenya
Nothing ever prepared me for what has happened to my country.
By now, the world knows the story here in Kenya. A disputed election has turned our country inside out, wreaking havoc from the coastal city of Mombassa to the lake region of Kisumu.
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/432527.html
Peace does not live here anymore! Anne Kithaka
I wrote this piece sometimes in November this year, a few weeks before the outbreak of the present mayhem. I am submitting it in the hope that you will publish it (even with amendments!) because I feel it is still very relevant to the current situation. Due to the stress that I have been undergoing for the last one week I am not able to update this article. I live in the conflict area, western Kenya. Many of my friends have lost their houses in fires; many have left for Nairobi under heavy police escort. Many are still residing at the open grounds within the police station; many are helpless, unsure of tomorrow. We need to bring a sustainable peace in our country, a peace that will see us through crisis of this nature in future.
MoreUpdate from Tom Maliti
Tom Maliti: Sunday 6 January 2007, 10.52 am, Mombasa, Kenya
20 Trucks carrying WFP aid enough to feed 35000 people for a month have left Msa. 11 for Nairobi, 9 for Eldoret
Media round up on Kenya election crisis 5 January 2008
Kenya press: 6 Jan
The Nation reports that at least 80 people have been killed and 180 others injured in Nakuru and the surrounding areas since the announcement of the election results:
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=56&newsid=114039
According to the Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, 5400 Kenyans have sought refuge in Uganda. ...
MoreCall for help in setting up Rape crisis centers
Urgent Action Fund-Africa has supported The Nairobi Women’s Hospital to set up 4 crisis response centres (Women’s Gender Recovery Unit s) in Mathare, Huruma, Jamhuri Park and Kibera to provide , shelter, security, and more importantly medical and psychological care to rape victims who are unable to access the services because the informal settlements have been sealed off by security personnel and violent protestors. The hospital is now FULL , it has dealt with 19 cases in the last 24 hours. There are 75,000 displaced people in Jamhuri park alone, majority of whom are women and children. Total numbers of displaced Kenyans has topped 300,000 and growing daily.
MoreTransforming the Current Conflict: Betty Kaari Murungi
Over the last 20 years Kenya has had serious episodic occurrences of direct violence but none as serious as what we have witnessed over the last one week where the violence is widespread and systematic. Indeed the present violations amount to crimes against humanity. These crimes will continue to occur unless we are prepared to deal with the root causes of the discontent. And I don’t mean the disputed presidential election. Our problems run deeper.
MoreMbeki mum on Kenya
Johannesburg, South Africa 05 January 2008 11:10
President Thabo Mbeki on Friday declined to disclose his views on the legitimacy of Kenya’s presidential elections, saying it was too early to make any pronouncements.
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ECK could go to court soon
The Electoral Commission of Kenya may go to court this week to have an independent audit of the December 27 presidential ballots set up.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=114057
Kenyans For Peace, Truth, Justice
We speak in the name of Kenya’s governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last week.
We strongly condemn the violence that has erupted across the country following the questionable outcomes of the counting and tallying done under the electoral process. We express our deepest sympathy to all those who have been injured, raped or killed, those who have lost property, those who have been internally displaced as well as those who continue to live in fear. We are only too acutely aware that the survivors and victims continue to be those with the most to lose from the violence as well as those who least deserve to experience it—Kenya’s impoverished women and men in both low-income urban areas as well as in rural areas.
We are aware that the violence…
MoreSaturday, January 05, 2008
Lawyers to sue Kibaki over polls results
THE Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has said it will go to court to challenge President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election. Opposition leader Raila Odinga had rejected the option of going to court, saying the judiciary is packed with Kibaki loyalists and legal appeals may take years. According to the East Africa Standard, the LSK chairman, Okong’o O’Mogeni, said the lawyers had the mandate to help the public on legal issues. “LSK has concluded that the electoral process was flawed and Kenya is extremely polarised,” O’Mogeni said.
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=605216
Reports by Tom Maliti on the action in Msa on Saturday 5 January 2008:
4.29 pm - Brief demo today before cops blocked Jomo Kenyatta Avenue. Balala made constitutional argument about freedom of assembly. Police talked of notice. Now notice filed for Monday
4.36 pm - As convoy of ODM leaders and activists went to file notification, police lobbed tear gas at protesters escorting vehicles but cops were in the wind direction and gassed themselves!
4.41pm - Now downtown Msa more active than yesterday afternoon when I arrived. In South coast to get a sense of what has happened over the past few days.
4.51pm - At the neighbourhood kiosks. Residents say the cost of basic goods is: a loaf of bread KShs 70/-, a leaf of sukuma wiki Kshs 10, a quarter kilo of maize flour Kshs 100!
Media round up on Kenya election crisis 4 January 2008
ODM leaders postponed their rally on 3 January as security forces prevented demonstrators from reaching Uhuru Park. Street battles took place in several parts of Nairobi:
http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143979914&cid=4
Violence continued across the country. Five people were reportedly shot and killed by
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