Kenya up in smoke as Britain, USA, EU, UN, AU and EAC watch from a distance

The world risks loosing over 33 million people in Kenya’s post election violence that has rocked the country over the past one month. The European Union, The commonwealth and the African Union raised concerns that presidential vote tallying was deeply flawed and fell short of international standards. Even local Kenyan observers and some Electoral of Kenya officials including its chairman raised the red flag regarding the legitimacy of vote tallying before announcements were made. Many believe that the hasty swearing in of Mwai Kibaki as the President of the republic of Kenya was a sign that his camp had stolen the December vote, a move that did not go well with many Kenyans, many taking to the streets in protest. Over 800 people have already been killed and property worth billions of dollars destroyed.

Despite the rising cases of violence related deaths and destruction of property, the situation has taken an evil turn after two opposition law makers were felled by the gun within hours in the past one week. The first MP Hon. Melitus Were was killed by under mysterious circumstances in what the Kenyan police have called “normal crime”. The Second Hon David Kimutai was killed in an apparent “love triangle” according to the Kenyan Police. A group calling itself the “mungiki” claims to have executed Mr. Were and issued similar threats to journalists whose reporting appeared to be “anti government”. The invincible hand behind all the undertakings is yet to show up in a country that was once was a beacon of peace and stability in Sub Saharan Africa.

The mere talk from Britain, USA, European Union, African Union, UN and East African Community suggest that they have failed to even recognize that there is trouble in Kenya. I can tell you now, Kenya is hanging on a thread. As a journalist I expected to hear and see firm commitment through action from these institutions relating to Kenya. People are dying and a country is falling apart and all we hear is just talk through the international press. It is shocking that No word has come from Tanzania despite the fact that Local Tanzania media is awash with such headlines as “Wakenya waendelea Kumalizana” (Kenyans continue to tear each other apart ). President Kikwete is yet to utter a word ever since the country erupted in chaos. I don’t mean that it is his problem but as the closest neighbor to Kenya, just a cough would be enough to show that he deplores or suports the status quo. EAC chairman and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni quickly jetted into Kenya earlier in January saying that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in the country. That was the last we heard from him even though there have been allegations that he had deployed troops to “help quell” the situation. Early in 2007 there was simmering tension regarding the position of Tanzania in the proposed economic integration of East Africa. Apparently, Tanzania has always viewed Kenya with suspicions and one will be forgiven to think that the country is rejoicing when the purported economic powerhouse of East Africa is going up in flames. Of late there have been a lot of Tanzanian advertisements in the international media inviting people to tour the country as “the ideal destination”.

The US Secretary of State warned of “stern action” against leaders who fail to embrace dialogue to end the current political stalemate. Britain has also joined in the fray of TALK with no action while Kenya mourns the death of its people its sober leaders and democracy.


It started with Rwanda where millions of people were brutally murdered under the watchful eye of the international community including Kenya. No one had anticipated the magnitude of the Rwanda genocide until numbers of those killed started coming in. Millions had died and the country was just a shell of what it used to be. Southern Sudan has never stabilized; Somalia was quickly erased from the world map. Zimbabwe is now a basket case. History will indeed judge us harshly because Kenya is on the way.

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Koffi Annan's Peace Mission doomed to fail as Another Kenyan Oposition MP is killed in cold blood
Kenya's Collapse

Koffi Annan's Peace Mission doomed to fail as Another Kenyan Oposition MP is killed in cold blood

Another opposition (ODM) MP has been killed in Kenya, as violence continues over last month's disputed election. David Kimutai Too was shot dead Thursday and his body taken to Moi Teaching and Referal Hospital. The man was shot dead in the western town of Eldoret, said a spokesman for his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

He is the second ODM MP to be killed this week. The shooting of Mugabe Were in Nairobi sparked violent clashes in slums seen as opposition strongholds.

Scanty reports indicate that "he was a victim of a love triangle" involving the police who apparently shot him. Whatever the reason, a wrong message has found its way home.

More than 850 people have been killed and 250,000 have fled their homes since the disputed presidential poll.

In an earlier post, the international press had published an article citing "kenya's collapse" now that appears to be imminent as the death of another MP may not go down well with the Kenyan people especially those from the Rift Valley Province. It is a very sad day for a country that has experienced peace for the last 40 years, it has been a source of hope to many conflict ridden African countries like Somali and Southern Sudan.

It is sad that Kenyan political elites are sending political messages the wrong way pitting Kenyans against each other. Reports that terror gangs have resurfaced has raised fears in the country forcing people to flee from their homes for fear of being killed by these gangs. It is unfortunate, unforgivable, unthinkable that a political message can be sent in this way. Just how possible is it that two Mps affiliated to the opposition get killed within hours when it was very clear that the opposition had more numbers in parliament. This is crazy, it is madness and should be condemned in the strongest terms possible.

The whole world is calling for peace to prevail in Kenya but some of our leaders appear not ready to embrace peace. This is putting to jeorpady the efforts by Koffi Annan and his team to broker peace in the country. It seems an invisible hand is playing dirty games just to stall the talks. During the first day of the peace talks the government ask for more time to "consolidate their position" on the matter. The meeting was supposed to proceed today but the new developments of killing an MP are bound to further delay the search for peace in this once beloved country. I mourn for Kenyans, may be this is the price for freedom. Its deplorable that it is happening in Kenya.

Kenya's Collapse

from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE
January 31, 2008

A rigged election, ethnic violence, economic dysfunction and now a political assassination -- the crisis in Kenya has hit a sad superfecta. Worse, the politicians who loosed these forces don't look capable of reining them back in.

It's been a month since this once-placid country exploded. When incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the December 27 election, supporters of challenger Raila Odinga took to the streets. They claimed Mr. Kibaki, who had been trailing in opinion polls, stole the election through massive fraud. International observers say the vote was such a shambles that it's impossible to know who really won.

Hopes that the civic outrage at electoral fraud was a sign of democratic maturation were fast shattered. The death toll surged, with reports that police were ordered to put down the early protests with lethal force if necessary. Now human-rights groups claim the opposition has been organizing brutal attacks on members of Mr. Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe -- a charge that Mr. Odinga denies. In all, at least 850 Kenyans have been killed and more than a quarter of a million have fled their homes. Another spate of interethnic killings was triggered by the apparent assassination in Nairobi Tuesday of a moderate lawmaker aligned with Mr. Odinga.

Messrs. Kibaki and Odinga have ill-served their own people by doing little to nothing to mend the political rift -- which, in the meantime, turned into a potentially far more dangerous tribal conflict. Both politicians are to blame for the machete-wielding men and innocents burned to death in village churches, bloody episodes that are eerily reminiscent of Rwanda in 1994. Some in Kenya now wonder whether either man still wields control over his ethnic faction.

A political solution, perhaps involving a form of power-sharing until calm returns and a fresh election can be called, is a prerequisite to stopping the violence. But it will be difficult to pull off. One possibility that's been floated would have Mr. Odinga serve as Prime Minister alongside President Kibaki. But the Odinga camp may not trust Mr. Kibaki to follow through, since the President earlier reneged on a deal to make Mr. Odinga the Premier in exchange for his support in the country's 2002election.

Rerunning the election soon, or recounting the December tally, would also be highly problematic. At this point, there's little reason to believe that the loser, whether the Kibaki or the Odinga side, would accept the results. The vote itself, one Kenyan democratic activist says, would have to be either beyond reproach or result in a landslide win for one candidate. A democracy in which only large margins are respected isn't really a democracy.

Even if a political deal can be struck, the violence may not end quickly. The Luo tribe of Mr. Odinga, along with the Kalenjin and other clans, feels that the Kikuyus have kept too many of the spoils of independence and recent economic growth. Unhappiness with inequalities in wealth and land ownership are as much of a sore point as who gets political power. The two sides are forming militias -- in many cases, we're told, with the help of organized crime -- that will not necessarily be satisfied by seeing the politicians playing nice.

A lasting peace will have to include a shift away from granting power and wealth solely on the basis of tribal identity. This favoritism is a form of corruption, one of the most persistent ills across all of Africa. Rooting out such an ingrained system won't be easy. The democratic institutions that so far haven't stopped the current ethnic violence will have to be strengthened. They include an independent judiciary to review vote-fraud allegations and law enforcement that citizens respect.

Messrs. Kibaki and Odinga could best help their countrymen by finding a way to work toward these goals. Otherwise, they're merely arguing over who gets to preside over the next African tragedy.

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The Situation in Kenya is So Sad (Warning: Contains Very Disturbing Pictures)

There is a very grave situation in Kenya at the moment that calls for international support to end violence that has rocked the counry over the past one month.Just Yesterday, a Kenyan Lawmaker was killed fuelling further violence across the country. Business is at a standstill, Losses are being reported and many workers are stranded since they cant report to work. Another strange twist is that most workers can nolonger go to their previous places of work if they happen to be from a different tribe because of fear of being lynched or bruttaly killed. My plee to Kenyans is to stop these sensless killings that will only damage the country's reputation and hurt its economy very badly.In the two pictures, bodies of Kenyans burnt alive at Naivasha while a woman brutally murdered at her house in the same location infront of her crying child. Its hard to imagine the horror going on in the childs mind or the people viewing bodies of the violently burnt Kenyans. This a very sad year for Kenya.

Please stop the Violence.