Kenya Update 1

There is a vast amount of media coverage surrounding this election chaos, but I thought I would write updates from how I have experienced it. Here is a brief recap:

• 12/27/07- E-day arrives! It was mostly peaceful. The Kenyans were extremely patient, waiting in lines that wrapped around and around. They waited in the scorching sun and the pouring rain. From what I saw, everyone’s mood was high and people seemed hopeful for elections. There were isolated instances of vote-buying, but that was by far an anomaly.
• 12/29/07- Results began to come in and the streets were empty because we were all glued to the television, which, typical election coverage seemed to continue to say the same thing. As the day progressed things became more frantic. The press room holding the ECK, press corps and party agents erupted a few times, causing them to stop for prayer before resuming fighting. The ECK stopped counting in the evening and said they would continue the next day.
• 12/30/07- The press room was explosive today. Results from the missing constituencies finally began to come in. There were irregularities with the central district, which includes Meru. Though Raila had been winning, the votes from this area were enough to potentially push Kibaki over the edge. Nairobi had check points preventing most from entering the city and we found that because votes were contested in the Meru area, the public transport that made it to the city was being targeted for attacks. At the end of the night, the votes were all allegedly counted and twenty minutes after the announcement that he was re-elected Kibaki was sworn in. On the TV, there were the beginnings of a speech from Raila, then it cut to the media blackout. This lead some to suspect the government was dispensing troops to beat any rioter and did not want it aired on TV. The little information we gleaned was from a banner on CNN telling us that riots had broken out across the country and the police had shot 5 people in Nairobi.
• 12/31/07- Meru was in a jubilant mood, people happy about Kibaki being re-elected. The rest of the country was full of chaos with looting in Kisumu, people running away with washing machines and TVs. Nairobi was essentially closed, a complete ghost town. Widespread violence occurred n Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombassa and Nairobi. The road into Uganda was closed. In Meru, members of the Luo tribe were targeted, 2 were killed, 4 were circumcised and others had their doors marked, causing them to flee to the police station. This is when the term, “Ethnic cleansing” began to be passed around. ATMS begin to run out of cash on this day and phone credit is increasingly difficult to find. People are afraid to leave their homes in Nairobi.
• 1/1/08- There is a tense feeling in Nairobi. Some try to return to normal, but most shops are still closed. There are widespread killings with machetes in the slums of Kibera. 8 more people are killed in Mombassa. We find that some constituencies had over 100% voter turnout. Petrol shortages begin.
• 1/2/08- Fearing I will be stranded in Nairobi, and on the recommendations of friends of mine who have more information than most, I am evacuated to Nairobi. I wander around the city thinking things seem ok, just quite empty. It turns out there is widespread violence in other areas of town. Getting to Nairobi was extremely difficult due to a shortage of petrol. I waited in line for almost 3 hours to get it along with my driver. Arriving in Nairobi into a house that is in charge of the security situation in many of the places in this world most would deem hell-on-earth, who has now found their home-base to be erupting, I am privy to information as it flies around the house, though I know they are keeping the vast majority from me. I found out that in Mombassa, tourist’s vehicles are stoned as they try to escape to the airport. The secret service is in the country along with security consultants from around the world. Some special forces come in (on the down-low) to prepare for an evacuation if proves necessary. Troops are flown into Kisumu. Things are tense, but the locals I spoke with seem optimistic. The EU election observation team releases a report that states there were irregularities with the election. They do not come out and say there was fraud but they hint at it. Meanwhile, the slums of Kibera are a place of rape and murder. Children are starving to death amidst the violence. The refugees that have been displaced are estimated at 70,000. A man is asked to come help with a peace agreement in a town in Western Kenya and it turns out to be a trick, he is hacked to death. Kibaki calls together parliament but around 100 of the 210 seats belong to ODM, others are ODM-K. I think the number of MPs that showed up was 86, the opposition refusing to come, a statement that nothing is going to get done in this government.
• 1/3/07- The day of Raila’s banned peace protest in Uhuru park. So far, people that tried to attend were shot with tear gas (which we can feel here in Westlands where I am) and water cannons despite carrying branches symbolizing their peaceful intent. We headed out in the morning to assess the situation and try to enable me to take some photos, but the city center is completely cordoned off and in the 15 minutes that we drove close to town, they were beginning to close the rest of the roads off behind us. It was ominously quiet with scattered groups beginning to gather wearing the ODM orange. There was widespread fighting elsewhere in the city, calls coming in throughout the day of more death and rape.