Can you believe this is how far we've got in 100 days ....

This is a report from Reuters News Alert, and this is a picture from this morning in Nairobi, Kenya - TODAY, the 8th APRIL 2008 !! I have to say that this is quite unbelievable, but sadly, totally true ....

Kenya opposition suspends talks, protests flare

Tue 8 Apr 2008, 11:16 GMT

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition suspended talks with President Mwai Kibaki's party on Tuesday and police fired teargas to disperse opposition supporters protesting at deepening deadlock over a power-sharing cabinet.

Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga traded blame on Monday after a disagreement over how to share ministries delayed the naming of the cabinet for the second time in two days.

"We have resolved that negotiations ... be suspended until (Kibaki's party) fully recognises the 50/50 power-sharing arrangement and the principle of portfolio balance," Anyang' Nyong'o, secretary-general of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement, told a news conference.

The protests in Nairobi's Kibera slum were the biggest since Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing deal in February to end a crisis that killed at least 1,200 people after Kibaki's disputed re-election in December.

"People are burning tyres and shouting. Police are firing teargas and also firing into the air ... I think there are over 100 protesters," said witness Justine Mokua.

TEMPERATURE RISING

The tough words from both sides have revived fears for political progress and modest economic recovery in Kenya.

"I believe the temperature is rising among Kenyans and so I pray things won't get out of control," said John Mwangi, a 50-year-old businessman in Nairobi.

Most of the disagreement centres on a handful of ministries that Odinga's ODM said Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) had promised to give up.

Odinga, the country's prime minister-designate, said he was ready to discuss the cabinet again with Kibaki once there was "clarity" over the disputed ministries. Kibaki said he was ready to conclude the process at the earliest possible opportunity.

"The reason they want them is because there's money there," she said. "If there is a corruption-free government it shouldn't matter who has what. It seems everybody is bent on securing something for themselves and that's what makes us upset."

Mmmm, 'corruption' - you don't say!

.... and then this from our own Nation Media Alerts:

Message from PNU MP's to ODM: Drop conditions and resume talks, Kibaki hands not tied by current Cabinet, ready for lean Govt - or even fresh elections.

It really sounds like we are not just stepping backwards, but running at high speed !

Anyone got a torch ??

According to the latest news out of the BBC - these international chaps seem a damn site more reliable than our local ones with the sellotape over their mouths whilst the media council and ministry for misinformation fight it out about how "free and fair our media is"
.... Ha ! ...... Ha ! ...... Ha!
Oh my god, sorry, just couldn't stop laughing there for a minute.
Sorry, where was I - er, F.R.E.E A.N.D F.A.I.R - er, did I write that really??!!??

Seemed to have strayed from the point which was that the Beeb has just released this;


"Ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has announced considerable progress in talks between Kenya's government and opposition aimed at ending the political crisis.

"I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel," Mr Annan said after negotiators from President Mwai Kibaki's government and the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) adjourned their talks on Thursday.

The negotiators are expected to report back with a possible final deal to be signed on Friday."

Yup, OK Kofi, we're with you there, Yup, er, sorry, 'light' did you say - Er, no, sorry mate, can't seem to see a damn thing, oh, er, wait, er, here's something else coming through from the Beeb;

"None of the details has been confirmed by Kofi Annan's team, "

Yes, thought so, now it all makes perfect sense. F*** All has really happened, it's just bloody hot, you're fed up with all these idiots shouting at each other and you could do with a damn good swim in that gorgeous pool glistening outside your conference window.

That's OK Kofi, you should have just said so. We're Kenyans - you may think you can pull the wool over our eyes but actually we have dead cool rumourmongering services that can outshine the whole worlds rumours in one and if you don't want to tell us anything honey, that's absolutely fine, because we'll make it all up anyway and by the time you get back to that conference room tomorrow morning, we'll have probably rumoured up a coup or something drastic like that. So you go ahead hun, relax, take it easy, enjoy your swim, and we'll try our best to keep those pangas blood free and matches unlit ......

"Fresh violence breaks out in Mathare slums as homes are burnt and police shoot into the air to try and disperse the crowds whilst one person is known of being hacked to death in the early hours"
Oh, sorry, didn't manage it this morning, but we'll try better this afternoon, honest !

The whole of Kenya sits in despair

I sit here in my office trying desperately hard to focus on the computer screen through watery eyes and a pounding head.

Turns out I’ve got a touch of flu – not the 'Man Flu’ kind that would have me huddling under my duvet sipping hot tea, but the ‘Womanly’ type which means I’ve taken some dawa (medicine to the rest of you), and am sipping lemon and honey tea at my desk during my lunch hour, after dropping my son at school, accomplishing a full mornings work, and and all the rest of my single working mother duties. (Eat your heart out Kofi !)

Sadly there is no news from our end. All is quiet outside. (By the way, when I say ‘quiet’, I mean no gunshots or marauding protesters). We have heard nothing on the local news apart from in Eldoret where the hospitals are now paralysed as the majority of the doctors and nurses have fled for their own safety and the few remaining staff are totally overwhelmed and unable to cope. I’m sure this scene is consistent throughout most of the Rift Valley and Western Kenya by now.

The local media is full of ‘ancestral homes‘ and ‘ethnic origins’ and the words ‘tribe’, ‘tribal’ and ‘tribalism’ seem to have been banned from the pages under the suspicions of inciting violence.

The international media seems to think that the Kikuyu’s – Kibaki’s tribe – are the main victims in all of this but I’m afraid people they are very wrong, ALL Kenyans are the victims.

In the central provinces (which is Kibaki strongholds), they've hardly had a mention, as things seem to be fairly calm there and there seems to be less murder and burning of property as in other areas, but there is still ethnic cleansing going on. All non-Kikuyu’s have been driven out of their homes in fear and are living in police station compounds all over Central Kenya, and those that try desperately hard to stay on in their homes and ignore the threats cannot survive as everyone boycotts their business and refuses to sell them food to eat, so they have no choice but to join the others in the camps.

So even without the horrific violence, there are many thousands of other Kenyans just living with threats hanging over their heads, and looking around the Western regions and seeing the death and destruction, can they even dream of trying to ‘hang in there’ when those are the same threats they are faced with?

If Kibaki’s government is really a legitimate government in all this, why is not protecting Kenyans? He seems to be doing fine in State House there, with his god knows how many fenced and guarded acres of land around him but what of the 36 Million + other people living in this country, can we really say we feel safe in our houses at night – that is of course if we are still lucky enough to have a roof over our head. What is this government exactly doing for us? It certainly does not seem to be protecting its citizens in any form at all and why is it now being seen as biased towards certain tribes, er sorry, “ethnic origins” is what I meant ( – we’ve gone off the word ‘tribe’ remember!)

Depending which district the police are operating in depends on how much force they are willing to use (translate that as how many live rounds they should fire directly at the people). But this has become a Catch 22 situtation as now the police have actually become targets in certain areas of the country, especially after the MP Mr Too was killed by a policeman after being involved in a tragic ‘love triangle’.

Now that the police have lost control, our country is being ruled entirely by gangs and gang culture is the only thing keeping half the wanainchi alive ironically.

You pay some thug to guarantee your safety from the main road where the bus drops you off up to your house. You pay another thug so that you can sleep through the night knowing your home won’t be torched before morning. You pay again whilst you go to work to make sure your house is safe from looters ‘shopping’ throughout the day, and you even pay an excess on your bus fare as the buses coming into your area of town have to pay a toll to gangs of thugs at makeshift roadblocks and so therefore the bus drivers pass that cost onto you.

I certainly do not wish to come across as partial to one party or the other, I just want to make a point that a lot of the international press are missing that it is not only the people in the Rift Valley and Western Kenya that are suffering through all this, every single Kenyans life is in torment in some form or another.

But is this really a life – or is this just some kind of sick existence ?

And here's a slight update I have just been sent through my SMS right now from Nation Media: South Africa's RAMAPHOSA withdraws from Annan team after Government side rejects him.

- so there's a smashing start to our week then!

The 4 point peace plan according to Mr Annan

Before I start my post today will all those reading this, please place their tongues firmly in their cheeks before I begin (or you just won’t get my points, and I could get arrested!)

Well Kofi Annan did his bit of mediation yesterday with the ‘Big 6’ (3 from each sides of the opposition), and said that they had an agreed an AGENDA !

Whoopee and well done boys (and girls). That’s only taken you the best part of this week – best you take the weekend off don’t you think – Oh you will, OK then don’t mind us whilst everyone gets on with a spot of lynching, shooting, hacking, looting and burning then!

Funnily enough, that is what’s been going on for most of our Saturday in and around Western Kenya. So far I’ve heard of at least four killed and hundreds of homes burnt up in the Western areas around Eldoret and Kericho, and yet another few hundred people are now displaced.

So how exactly has Mr Annan helped us so far?

Well, it seems the agenda is a four-point plan (or a 44 point plan if you listen to the latest media reports, but I'll go with the 4),with short-term and long-term issues that need to be sorted. The short term ones are;

First is to take ‘immediate action’ to stop the violence and restore fundamental rights and liberties – these include the right to life (which is always a bit of a bonus), the freedom of the press in their reporting of events (which would be nice as perhaps less rumour mongering would be in order), and the right of assembly (which may mean we’re in for a spot more rallying which will be smashing – literally probably!)
But here’s the first catch. I never realised ‘immediate action’ would mean, well lets have the weekend and a bit of time out seeing as we worked for a whole 10 hours yesterday so we need at least 48 off for good behaviour, and we’ll return Monday after both parties have battered each other with more abuse and more innocent Kenyans are robbed and killed, and then we can settle down with a cup of coffee and get back to business.

Secondly is ‘immediate measures’ – of course you know what they mean by ‘immediate’, it’s as explained above – is to address the humanitarian crisis. Of course, those IDPs (internally displaced people for those of you new to this humanitarian speak, which I was actually before the beginning of January 2008!), can just starve a little longer whilst the Red Cross struggles with security on the roads trying their damndest to help to feed, clothe and give these people shelter. But not to worry, as we highlighted earlier, we’ll be back to the cozy boardroom in the Serena Hotel with our coffee and biscuits working on that, first thing Monday.

Thirdly on the four-point agenda is how to overcome the political crisis.

Ah, now this one could be slightly trickier seeing as Kibaki has just told the African Union conference that basically Raila can ‘get stuffed’ if he thinks he’s going to get any kind of justice with regards to the election because of course Kibaki says that he won fair and square and if Raila has an issue with that, then best he gets himself down to those law courts and have that smashing bunch of chaps that he personally appointed as judges, sort it out.

And the last agenda point concerned long term issues such as unemployment, poverty and land reforms.

The mediation team (or ‘facilitation’ team as Kibaki insists it is), have all assured us that the first three points in this agenda will be resolved between 7 and 15 days from the start of the dialogue on January 28th. So seeing as we’ve had lots of time off and now a bit of a weekend, in my book we are supposed to be looking at things being sorted starting Monday the 4th February (which already looks completely unlikely as they will only just be getting stuck back into the coffee and biccies by then back in the boardroom), and Monday 11th February.

– so perhaps they best they stop faffing about and get on with it wouldn’t you say?!?!?!

Gossip, Rumour and Assumption

Kenyans are excellent when it comes to a spot of rumour mongering and gossip. You can always tell it's going to be a great Kenyan story as soon as it starts out with;

"You know, I don't like gossiping, but ......... Weellllll, Have you heard?",
and that's it, you know you're going to be all ears, you just can't seem to help yourself.

Well, when the story broke yesterday of the second MP from the Opposition party being shot dead not even 48 hours after coming to terms with the fact that the first MP, Were was shot, that was it, Kenyan's were off speculating before the sentence of "Did you hear?" was even finished, and from the comments I was left on my last post, we were all at it.

But here's the thing - Yes, we will all agree with the one comment saying that 99% of our MP's seem to have a zipper malfunction with their trousers and just can't seem to keep it up (the zip that is, now - stop it !)

We all know that 99% of Kenyan MP's (and a good majority of all Kenyan men in fact) are really quite partial to a bit of take-away (or a 'bit on the side' as they call it overseas), but I'm with the majority on this one that seem to point to the fact that it was 'Oh so convenient', that our friend Mr. Kimutai Too just happened to be cruising town with a spot of take-away, - that happened to be a lady cop – (I assume on duty, as she was in uniform, and was armed), a relative of his, and the fact that our very own police Commissioner, Major General Hussein Ali was so quick and forthcoming with a total explanation of what exactly happened in great detail without conducting any apparent investigations, and all within a just a few hours of it actually happening, it’s all extremely odd to say the least.

In the paper this morning we’ve had some superb reasons as to why Mr. Too had the lady policeman in his car;

“they were driving to the nearest hotel” – but obviously were totally lost as apparently there are no hotels anywhere near the area where they were shot

“the MP was teaching the woman how to drive” – er, most definitely why we vote our MP’s in – to teach the police how to drive – Gosh, of course, how silly of me not to have known that. In fact, next time, let’s just vote for the AA

“the MP was off to view a plot of land” – the only one that is perhaps vaguely plausible.

Other details that don’t seem to add up though in my book are –

Why was the policeman who committed the crime said to be one minute “known but on the run”, then an hour later he had “turned himself in”, then last night “he was caught up with in the next town and arrested”. Does anyone know anything about his arrest at all, how it came about and at what time of the day?

Then, once the police had the suspect in custody, he was “flown to Nairobi from Eldoret” and not kept in a cell in Eldoret so that he could be charged there. But why? Surely the cells in Eldoret are also lockable and the courts there seem to be dealing fine with charging the people they have caught so far to do with the rioting, etc.

The policeman's family were evacuated from their house within an hour of the shooting incident when a taxi came to collect them and took them away with a police escort to an unknown destination. Mmmm, ok, so why would the police assume his family was in danger if it really was just a 'love triangle' - surely we'd feel sorry for the woman?

The thing that really gets me after all this is the fact that the police, government and anyone else who has ‘assumed’ authority at the moment in this great country of ours, seems intent on pulling the wool over the eyes of all Kenyans.

I really wish Mr. Annan could just sort out this honesty issue first – then every other issue would surely fall into place.

Perhaps all MP’s, Presidents, Police Commissioners and anyone else with a bit of power in their hands should walk around with a lie detector strapped to them so that anytime they opened their mouth and total lies emerged, they’d get themselves electrocuted or perhaps kicked in the arse (both in fact would be good for me), and once their hair sticks straight up on end with all the electricity charged through it and their bums well and truly hurt from all the kicking,

THEN perhaps we may get somewhere – peace may be a possibility – and Mr. Annan can return to his lovely wife and children (I’m assuming here he does have some of those), and Kenyans can live happily ever after.

It's all going horribly, horribly wrong.

This photo I took yesterday at the camp on Juja Road in Nairobi.

Since early this morning and news of the ODM MP for Embakasi being murdered last night, things are kicking off all over Nairobi.

In Kibera slums I have a report of at least 2 killed so far, in Mathare youths are fighting, and in Umoja the market has been burnt to the ground. In Karen, an up market suburb of Nairobi, Mungiki gangs are reported to have stormed the shopping centre. The police and army personnel have been reported to be heading that way trying to quell the trouble.

Ngong road, which is the road from Karen and Ngong area into Nairobi is blocked with gangs fighting at the moment.

The story is that gangs from Kibera which are the ODM supporters have headed up Ngong Road to fight the Mungiki (which are the Kikuyu's), who are coming in from the Dagoretti and Kikuyu areas just a few kilometres north of Nairobi.

This is what I've heard mainly through word of mouth so nothing verified at this stage but incredibly worrying. Nairobi is a city of at least 14 Million people. If it gets out of hand here who on earth has the power to stop it? No-one is listening to the calls of the MP's.

Any more of this and surely they will have no choice but to declare a State of Emergency?

God, I hope not.

Someone sent me through the most horrific photos this morning I have ever seen, of people burnt alive in their houses and a mother killed with her own two year old watching. What kind of people could do this to each other. I know I keep saying this, but what on earth has happened to our country and our people?

Tribal warfare ....

This report has just come to me through Reuters, and it tells of what has happened just this morning;
I can't comment really except to say that I think we are begin to live our worst nightmares, and we need to plead with all our hearts to those leaders to help stop this NOW !



Violence in Kenya's Rift Valley kills 7

Source: Reuters

NAIROBI, Jan 25 (Reuters) -

At least seven people have been killed in ethnic clashes around Nakuru town in Kenya's volatile Rift Valley, witnesses said on Friday.
In the latest unrest since a disputed Dec. 27 election, members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group were fighting with Luos and Kalenjins perceived as supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, residents said.
"We can no longer stand back and watch as our brothers are killed in Eldoret while the Luos and Kalenjins have fun in Nakuru," said bus conductor Dennis Kariuki, referring to past killings of Kikuyus around Eldoret town, also in the Rift Valley.
"We have vowed that for every Kikuyu killed in Eldoret, we shall kill two Kalenjins who are living in Nakuru town."
Another witness, Joel Okumu, said his house was targeted in the town on Thursday night.
"The attack was sudden and well planned as they knew which house to burn despite the darkness," he said. "
As I was escaping, I saw two bodies with deep cuts by the roadside and I am sure there are many more as the violence went on for the better part of the night."

(Reporting by Antony Gitonga; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Wangui Kanina)

Thursday in Nairobi's Kibera slums

Well I spent a few hours today, in almost the same spot as I did yesterday, watching the protests unfold in the Kibera slums.

It started off with just a few people at about midday. In fact at the start of the whole thing, there were probably many more Press than there were Protesters, and there were certainly three times the amount of police as there were civilians - protesting or not.

It was a small group initially, a couple of them had slingshots and were lobbing a few stones up the hill at all of the assembled GSU officers who were carrying batons in one hand, riot shields in the other, and more than a few had AK47's slung over their shoulders. Basically it was a bit of taunting of the police and some chanting of "Kibaki must GO" and "No Raila, No Peace" and a spot of dancing (some great spinning manoeuvres and headstands, can i say!), and not a lot else.

The police started off with making a front line blocking the road into the area with their trucks and then tried to keep those in the slum already - in, and those who were trying to get in - out.

Then as the protesting crowd grew, they starting collecting a bunch of rocks and piling them into the middle of the road - I assume as ammunition against the police if they felt it was required - and then they built themselves a large bonfire on which they threw plastic sheets and old tyres and made lots of black smoke.

It went on like that for quite some time but then the police seem to have had enough at one stage, and perhaps decided there were now too many of them in the group, so they began to fire tear gas, one canister after another, to try and disperse them.

As the tear gas canisters hit the floor, some didn't explode immediately, and the protesters tried to throw them back at the police. One of the canisters landed only half way down the hill between the group protesting and the mass of police and one of the protesters thought he'd try his luck and sprinting up the hill, he tried to grab the can and throw it back.

This little manoeuvre brought a big cheer and a laugh from the crowd behind us looking down on all the theatrics but sadly the police were not nearly so amused and about twenty of them ran at the guy and began firing into the air. Anyway he broke a sprinting record and shot back down the hill and back into the crowd at the bottom without any damage.

Then a small group of police got into a LandRover and drove down towards the bonfire site firing tear gas as they went and then a few live rounds in the air for good measure just to scatter the protesters. This went on for some ten minutes or so and then the LandRover retreated back up the hill and the protesters reassembled.

About fifty riot police arrived at one stage all dressed up in their best 'Ninja turtle' outfits , but after standing in a huddle and looking threatening at the protesters for about half an hour, they obviously decided this group just weren't worth their fine padded outfits and they piled back into their Mutant Turtle Truck and headed off for more action elsewhere.

I left shortly behind them (as I was desperate for a coffee and needed to get to school to pick up my son), so I'm not quite sure what happened after that but on summing up I really do believe that these people were really very peaceful and just want to be heard.

In my opinion it is most definitely the police who seem to be causing the majority of this unnecessary violence.

I watched one of the police with his AK47 slung over his shoulder and a long whippy stick in his hand whacking anyone and chasing them down the hill into the slum if they dare defy the orders to stay either side of the 'front line',

I do realise the police feel threatened by the taunting and the stone throwing, but is it really necessary to disperse people with the live rounds - especially when 10 minutes later they're back, I assume again and again, until someone gets killed and they have to give in.

Personally I saw nothing more than a lot of shouting, a few rocks thrown, a few people whacked, and a lot of eyes streaming from the countless canisters of tear gas that were fired down the hill. Apart from that, whilst I was there anyhow, that really was it.

All I can hope for is that it stayed in that 'stand off' for the rest of the afternoon, although I haven't yet seen the evening news to confirm whether it did or didn't.

Well, Hey Ho, yet another day of it tomorrow.

Mmmmmmmmmmm, might just stay in bed and pretend it's not happening.

Don't suppose it'll all go away if i do though!

Correction ...... etc,

I'd like to apologise for an error.

I had reported yesterday that I'd heard 6 were killed in Nairobi, 6 in Kisumu and another 3 in Eldoret.

I have since found out that this is the 'official' report from the police of who was shot and injured in these areas and not who was killed. ( - although chances are the numbers were at least this, probably higher.)

I was around Uhuru Park early this morning but apart from the 100 police standing by chatting, things were very quiet.

More than likely this won't last the day sadly.

What I don't understand (along with half the world probably), is why the police are using live ammunition. All these protests yesterday started peaceful as such. Yes they made noise, put some rocks in the road and lit some bonfires, but it was all relatively harmless stuff. They didn't fight each other or the police and they didn't loot and smash the place up.

What they did do though which our Kenyan police cannot handle is taunt them, making faces and jibes.

Surely though police should be trained to be able to handle that kind of thing - it's just words and gestures, and it certainly won't get you killed. But you see it on the faces of the police. They absolutely can't stand the taunting because as far as they are concerned, they have a job and a uniform and a loaded gun and therefore they can't let people who have no jobs, no uniforms and no weapons get the better of them.

I'm sure that's how they see it, and they completely lose their tempers, and that bravado s**t takes over and they cannot help themselves but use those guns.

Its horrific, and the worst thing is ...........

We've got it all to look forward to again this afternoon.

Kenyans continue to live in a dream world.

Well there's been some marvellous lines coming out of government nominated ministers with regards to the hopeful negotiations that all of us Kenyans have been waiting for in earnest on the eve of the opening of parliament and the arrival of Mr Kofi Annan.

The government has now announced that they are only letting Kofi Annan into the country through courtesy and they had not invited him (he was only invited by the ODM party only), as they have no complaints themselves with the election results and don't see why they need mediation at all! The government doesn't sound like they have any thoughts of real negotiations and will just try and pretend everything is quite normal and get on with business as usual.

I am personally distraught by this new revelation as it sounds like we will most definitely be in for some tense few days and things in this country could go horribly wrong once again.

My driver went home to Western Kenya this weekend to bury some family members, (one of which was caught up in the violence), and he tells me tension is incredibly high still in the ODM stronghold. On the main roads - even now - there are roadblocks being set up by Kalenjins with ODM t-shirts and caps stopping people and asking them what tribe they are and where their political affiliations lie.

I have also heard from someone living in Siaya (which is again in the Western part of the country), that the town is overrun with armed men dressed in Kenya police uniform who seem to know very little Swahili and only speak to each other in Luganda.

This does not bode well at all, as Ugandan soldiers are well known for having absolutely no qualms about shooting anyone who they feel is in their way.

This has been vehemently denied by the marvellous Alfred Mutua - the government spokesman who right now the whole of Kenya seems to want to blat - whichever side of the fence they are on, as he has this fixed smirk on his face that really needs wiping off! The rumours of the Ugandan troops has also been denied by the police spokesman and whoever else on the government side has been asked about it.

Aid trucks from the Red Cross have been attacked in lots of Western areas trying to do their best and feed the people. It seems that they are being targeted by gangs who try and get everything off the truck for themselves and their own groups and they have no wish to share it fairly with those displaced it seems. Perhaps this is because these gangs are the ones who displaced those the Red Cross are trying to feed - who knows, but whatever the reason, people are starving that is for sure.

What is going on out there in Western Kenya is really quite a frightening prospect and I think here in Nairobi we are being shielded incredibly well from the real truth of what is going on right under our noses.

Some fab Kenyans have taken the initiative and set up a website in order to try and change the fact that we are living in a little bubble here pretending things are just 'business as usual', which from reports of people up-country, are so not. The website is Ushahidi.com and 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 appears on a map-based view for others to see. They are working with local Kenyan NGO’s to get information and to verify each incident.

Meanwhile here in Nairobi the centre of town will be on 'lock down' from 11am as Parliament is scheduled to sit at noon.

I'll be sure to let you know what I hear, as I hear it tomorrow.

DID !

Kenya opposition plans mass rally for Wednesday
11 Jan 2008 12:14:09 GMT 11 Jan 2008 12:14:09 GMT
-->
Source: Reuters

NAIROBI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition called on Friday for police to provide security for a mass rally next Wednesday in central Nairobi to protest against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election.

"We shall be holding a public meeting on Wednesday at Uhuru Park Grounds starting at 10 a.m. Due to the large number of people expected we request the police to provide us with security," said a statement signed by Orange Democratic Movement secretary general Anyang' Nyong'o.

And Kibaki's camp responds ......

Kenya govt: opposition not serious about talks
11 Jan 2008 10:47:57 GMT 11 Jan 2008 10:47:57 GMT -->
Source: Reuters

NAIROBI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Kenya's government said on Friday that an opposition plan to restart protests against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election showed their leaders were not serious about talks.

"Dialogue is not engaged in the streets," Local Government Minister Uhuru Kenyatta told reporters. "Dialogue suggests that people resolve their differences peacefully, over a table, not through destroying property and killing innocent Kenyans."


It's just like a childrens fight in the playground.
"No, I didn't"
"Yes, you did".
"No, I didn't."
"You did."
"Didn't."
"Did."
"DIDN"T !"
........... For goodness sake someone bang their heads together!

(It's Ok there's nothing like soical services here so i won't be done for saying that! - Er, Well I hope not anyway...............)

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO .............

News just in ...

..............................................................................................

Kenya opposition to resume nationwide protests
11 Jan 2008 08:46:44 GMT 11 Jan 2008 08:46:44 GMT
-->
Source: Reuters

NAIROBI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition said on Friday it planned to restart protests across the east African nation against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election after the failure of African Union mediation.

Opposition leaders will hold an afternoon news conference "to announce the immediate resumption of nationwide mass action against the irregular presidential results," Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) spokesman Tony Gachoka said.

....................................................................................................................

Is this really the way forward for us after a death toll of somewhere between 500 and maybe even up to 1000 people dead because of the recent protests?

I'll keep you updated as we hear more.

A small chuckle for you all amongst the chaos ..

"Looters in Mombasa today returned goods that they had looted for fear of reprisals" was one of the headlines in the evening news.

It turns out that the looters have been warned that someone in the Kisauni area (one of the suburbs in Mombasa where there was major violence and looting), will say a 'black magic' prayer if all the looted goods are not returned within the next 6 days.

If stolen things are not returned those looters who stole them will have a spell cast on them and they will go mad and be unable to pee!!

- So can you believe, once word had got around of the threat of this prayer being said, loads of things have already been returned. A lot came back overnight they say but in the news they showed great footage of some wood miraculously appearing back over a wall into the yard it was taken from, and even broken pieces of chairs and sofas have been returned to where they were looted from.

I really must get into this 'black magic' thing - it sounds damn useful. I'll be reading up and let you know how it works out. I do wish someone would put a spell on those big boys fighting it out for the presidency.

Things in Kenya are most definitely looking up - even if it is only for today!

The depressing situation continues .........

(This sign should actually read this Mzungu Chick has sharp edges. Do not touch the edges of this Chick!)


Reports from today are just incredibly depressing.

One of my staff lost a cousin who was only 12 years old and just went out to buy some milk for his mother and somehow got caught in some skirmishes and ended up with a stray bullet in his head.

I spoke to another fellow who had gone upcountry to vote and ended up stranded. He finally arrived back last night and was so very frightened. He couldn't stay up-country as although he is from the right tribe in the right area so he was relatively safe where he was and therefore his family is too, he says he couldn't stay there as his work is in Nairobi and there is no work where he is from. Without working and earning he has absolutely nothing for the family to live off. He had to risk his life to come back here and was on a bus with fellow tribesmen and they were warned that if they went through Naivasha town on their way back to Nairobi, they would be burnt alive in the bus. Anyway they ran the gauntlet, stayed on the highway, and thank god made it safely to Nairobi, but as you must have seen on the international news, not everyone has been so lucky.



I watched our local evening news this evening and cried in despair. It is absolutely shocking what these leaders have done to our fellow Kenyans. They spent millions of shillings on their campaigns and preached to the masses how they would make their lives better. All those who lived close to the poverty line were the ones who bought into all the ideals and voted for change and now, through the complete arrogance of our leaders, have been stripped of what little they had. They are now way below the poverty line and are homeless, hungry and only have the clothes they stand up in to wear. So how the hell did that improve their lives pray tell me.

The news showed men crying in shame when they were given handouts of food. They had fled from their homes and farms and left behind in the flames bumper harvests of food that could have kept themselves and their families for months and now they are standing in a queue in a field which they have no choice but to currently call 'home', to get something to eat for their families.



What i personally don't understand is how the main two contenders in this election contest really believed that we wouldn't have some form of rigging, and there is reports of it happening on both sides of the fence I might add. I'm not sure if any of you read my cynical blog on the 26th December - http://lostwhitekenyan.blogspot.com/2007/12/things-looking-little-tricky-here-on.html In that post I stupidly predicted a dodgy outcome, but it didn't for one minute cross my mind that it would come to this. Don't forget that we do live in what has been an incredibly corrupt country - although it was one of the most democratic in our region perhaps, it is still up there amongst the most corrupt. I completely understand that we want and deserve democracy but we will not get it this way surely. Killing each other cannot be the way forward.

I understand in Eldoret, which has been the scenes of the most horrific violence, some bright spark has evacuated all those from the Kikuyu tribe in this area for their own safety, but I want to know how it is that suddenly it is that tribe that has no rights to live in that area and yet others do. I think the real reason they are doing this is because the police realised they had lost control of the waring factions, and Eldoret is where the main oil pipeline comes into from the coast and it is from here that the petrol tankers all go to the Western areas of Kenya and more importantly other East African countries. This means they'd like peace here in a hurry so they can get on with supplying fuel around and about. I do understand the meaning behind this, but surely by moving one tribe out of the area is only a temporary solution and forced tribal divisions cannot be good in the long term.

Kenyans have co-existed for years in these various areas and how dare these leaders who have raped our country of millions and now live in peaceful large guarded estates now dictate to the masses who must live where.



Sorry about this post, I think I should shut up now and stop blatting everyone before i get blatted myself as I'm not sure that life is going to continue as free and fair as it has been for years now as I think we have just destroyed the last 50 years of our democracy in the last 5 days.

Please understand these are my personal thoughts of what is going on around us and they are probably written when I am in far too an emotional state to look at things rationally. I will go to bed now and hopefully wake up a little more rational tomorrow.

Goodnight all and please don't forget to stand up with us tomorrow and pray for peace!

Things today not looking so bad .... so far!

Thanks so much to all of you out there for your thoughts and comments. It's been great to know we are not alone in this mess and that people out there are thinking of us.

I'm doing the "It'll be fine" thing as much as possible, although last night it so didn't work for me and I ended up having to take a sleeping pill in order to get a couple of hours sleep at least. Convincing myself it'll all work out peacefully is getting harder and I worry what my son and I should do and am I doing the right thing to keep him safe. I then worry about all the shooting that you hear every night and my friends and colleagues who live in those trouble spots, locked in their bedrooms praying for daylight and living to see it.

I was up early and have already been round and about town. Basically things are pretty quiet. In fact the centre of town is pretty ghostly apart from the odd group of riot police and administration police here and there. A lot of course still in Uhuru Park, but nothing on the scale of yesterday.

Most of them look absolutely exhausted and quite relaxed and I don't think there is major trouble about like yesterday and what little there is is being caught in the slums before it reaches anywhere near town.

Town is very quiet with empty streets, empty buses, a lot of closed shops and the only sign of real life being the queues outside the banks hoping they'll open.

Most of our staff are at work today. They tell me transport wasn't a problem early in the morning in most areas (although a few had to be escorted from their homes by the GSU - the special forces that are deployed all over to keep some semblance of peace.) We do have some staff still trapped though (which i will keep quiet about so that those big boys in their posh compounds don't start spouting the 'commitment' crap at me about them again) and i will keep in touch with them and make sure they are safe.

In Mombasa the staff are not so lucky and there have been a lot of rumours and threats on their lives so they are all currently locked up in their houses until we hear if the situation will change. I spoke to our manager there and he sounds a lot more scared today than even he was yesterday - It is very worrying.

Even within our own staff - who are a young vibrant bunch of Kenyans of all different tribes -, I am seeing animosity creeping in between the Luo's and the Kikuyu's especially. It is awful to see amongst people who a few days ago were perfectly friendly colleagues, now eye each other with suspicion, and reiterating what a lot of you think - these tribal lines are going to get harder and harder to heal as the days wear on. It is extremely frightening.

I will post later if i hear anything but so far, I think the rally for today is not going to come to anything.

The thugs that were on the street yesterday are too hung over probably from all the chang'aa they consumed, and the genuine peaceful protesters are tired of no solutions, and tired of fighting, and in general it seems the majority of the Kenyan population would just really like to get on with their lives.

Rally in Nairobi has been “put off”!

I have just got home from my day out in mayhem and received this message from Nation Media:

“ODM puts off Uhuru Park rally to Tuesday ‘for the sake of peace’”

- can I just say – seeing as I’ve been out and about all around Nairobi City Centre including around Uhuru Park most of the day and seen what has been really going on, the only reason that ODM has put off this rally is because they couldn’t get into Uhuru Park and it had nothing to do with the ‘sake of peace’ as there was not a lot of peace around town this morning, that’s for sure.

What I can’t bear is that they are going to try and hold this meeting again on Tuesday – arrrgggh ……….I can’t bear it – Please will someone knock these peoples heads together, get some sense out of them and stop the carnage.

I saw riot police harassing a taxi driver for absolutely no reason. Their only excuse was that he wasn’t doing a ‘U’ turn fast enough for their liking. There were others who jumped on a perfectly innocent loner that happened to be walking past a group of them and although quite decent looking, they decided they didn’t like the look of him and so started harassing him anyway.

I saw tens of ODM supporters with water bottles in their hands, (which you can be sure were full of chang’aa – which is the local brew), eyes big as footballs from smoking bhang strutting down the middle of the road in groups (and also falling off the pavement if they happened to wander into it!), and watched helplessly as a small group of about 10 of them mugged a completely innocent passer by. I wanted to stop and help him but couldn’t for threatening of stoning and burning of the car.

I saw a massive group of ODM supporters move down the road and trash everything in their wake. They looted the kiosks and what they didn’t steal, they smashed or burnt. They even tried to burn down this petrol station but were luckily moved on too quickly for them to succeed.

There were people shouting at their ODM leaders outside their headquarters in Nairobi that their people were being killed and they wanted revenge.

I saw two of the ‘Pentagon leaders’ from the ODM party on the road, (Norman Nyagah and Charity Ngilu). My driver told them their supporters were causing mayhem and heading their way and all they had to say was “We know, we know, come and join us!”

We had people throw themselves in front of the car, rocks in either hand shouting ‘We want Peace’

Their chant is “NO RAILA, NO PEACE” and I saw it written on walls of buildings they passed.

Please STOP destroying our country. If you really do want peace talk to your leaders and ask them to please talk to each other and solve this awful situation one way or another.

The first ‘working day’ of the Kenyan year.

Being the 2nd of January, and the first working day of the year where we generally all rush back into the office and are rearing to go after our Christmas break, today seemed a little strange.

I started off in the supermarket at 8.30 as soon as it opened in order to catch the few deliveries that had hit the shelves before the hordes of panic buyers rushed in. Basically, apart from their being absolutely no meat to speak of, no bread on the shelves and a meagre offering of mostly expensive fruit and very little veg to speak of, the shelves were fairly well stocked considering the mass panic buying that has been going on in the last few days, where the queues have been absolutely shocking and the supermarkets so overwhelmed that they have had to restrict the numbers through the door at any one time.

After doing my shopping in a relatively calm atmosphere, which was quite a novelty considering the antics of the last few days, I then headed for town and my office which is on the periphery.

We got there without any issues at all on the road - 'we' being my driver and I (my driver’s a rather large burly Luo chap who everyone thinks is my bodyguard and is armed – he’s not actually – but people often ask me the same!).

Once in the office people slowly trickled in. The police were stopping all the cars and matatus on the way into the city centre first thing this morning and were making all the passengers get out and walk to work, although as the day progressed, this seem to relax and as I was coming home this afternoon there were even a few public buses running.

It ended up being quite an odd day though. Some of the banks didn’t open before mid morning (if at all), and most of the shops, apart from the supermarkets and the odd cafe, stayed shut throughout the whole day. Traffic was easy, with very few cars on the road which was quite a nice change to the norm, but the few shops that were open were bustling with business.

Talk was all of politics and what had happened where and to whom, and who was still trapped in their houses surrounded by trouble. SMS's came through throughout the morning warning of roadblocks being manned by gangs on the road out of Nairobi to the west of the country, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu, where apparantly the vehicles were all being stopped and all those of the wrong tribes (depending on who was manning the road block), were being thrown out and allegedly threatened with their lives.

We called around and found all our staff safe and well – although some of them are not able to move out of their estates for fear of their own safety. In some of the slums there is still a stand off between the different tribal factions with armed police in the middle keeping the two sides apart with live gunfire to stop them fighting.

Raila, the opposition leader disputing the results, has insisted that he will go ahead with his ‘peaceful’ demonstration in the morning, but after the last few days of absolutely shocking violence rocking the country, absolutely no-one trusts that the demonstration will be at all peaceful as all it will take is one tribesman from the wrong side to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and it will more than likely all go pear shaped.

The government is insisting that the rally is illegal, but the opposition say they have gone through all of the right channels to announce the demonstration and are calling their supporters to go ahead with it.

We have no idea how it will pan out and all we can do is wait and see, but the police and military have been deployed all over the city and I’m sure will try and stop people marching into the city centre at all costs.

I understand Desmond Tutu is headed our way for a spot of mediation. All I can say is I hope he’s doing a lot of praying for us right now too, as I really think we will need it tomorrow.

Please wish us luck and a peaceful outcome.