Disturbing news from the Buru Buru area (thanks WathiiFM)

• Paramilitary men are camping right outside gates
• There is the modern equivalent of the Passover in operation. If your security lights are not on mobs will enter your house. Woe unto you if you and yours are there
• Mobs have been forcefully circumcising people. Latest counts indicate about 20 people have suffered that fate. (NB circumcision is generally not practiced by the Luo community)
• 5 people have bled to death after forceful circumcision

More news from the rest of Kenya

• More about the burnt church in Eldoret. There are conflicting stories as to the number of people that were inside. Numbers are ranging from 50 to 250
• Despite the government banning the rally on Thursday, the ODM insists it will go forward. I plan to be nowhere near Uhuru park. Mobs repulsed from rallies are generally not forgiving.
• There is looming fuel shortage in most petrol stations in Nairobi
• The unrest in Kenya is affecting Uganda as well. (Uganda, being landlocked, gets a lot of its supplies from Kenya). Fuel stations in Uganda are running out of fuel.
• Goods are being held at the port at the request of buyers for fear that they will be looted/destroyed en route.
• Kibaki still refuses to directly address the issue of insecurity. Sometimes silence speaks volumes
• Samuel Kivuitu, ECK chairman has made some interesting comments on TV
1. He was under intense pressure to make the announcement
2. He contemplated resignation but felt that he would be perceived as a coward
3. He claimed that the ECK had no legal standing to act on the objections of the political parties (Which I don’t buy, especially the discrepancy between results announced at constituency level and those at the KICC)
4. He made an even more fascinating statement about presidency being very challenging, and then proceeding to say that the problem was some of the people around the presidency. He culminated by saying that some of the people around the presidency should never have been born

• US Ambassador denies that the US had ever congratulated Kibaki for his victory. He clarified that what the US had congratulated were the Kenyan people.
• So far the US, the EU and Australia have voiced concerns about the presidential poll results.

 
Neighbours gather to discuss the events

News On The Ground

• A church with 200 sheltering people in Eldoret torched with the people still in it. Not many were able to flee
• The monument Nicholas Biwott built for his mother has been torched. So has his mother’s house
• The Central Business district apparently is a no go zone
• Government Spokesman and Information Permanent Secretary falling over themselves to describe precisely what a ban of live transmissions means.
• A armed mob of thousands was marching towards Burnt Forest a few hours ago
• It is impossible to find Safaricom airtime.

Commentary

I have received hundreds of text messages, emails and comments, and have participated in several conversations about these elections. A good chunk of them are extremely bitter about the events of the past 48 hours. There are a few that are pleased with the results.

I would just like to make one thing very clear. If you are happy purely because Kibaki won, or your are angry purely because Raila lost, my friends your myopia will cost you a lot more than you think.

Why? This is going to be a long and controversial post so grab some coffee and settle down. I’ve posted some more pictures that I took yesterday of the aftermath of the unrest in my hood.

Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts, and not to be taken as gospel truth

Genesis Of A Problem

The problem (the nature of which I will get to last) began almost 5 years ago, in the hastily cobbled together amalgamation of political parties of NAK and LDP that was called the National Rainbow coalition. Analysis of the voting patterns showed a country that was solidly united behind what they believed to be the path to a change of destiny. Raila Odinga went to Central Kenya and was wildly cheered, more than most of the Central Province leaders. Kibaki went to Nyanza and was wildly cheered. People by and large ignored tribe and voted for change.

  
Estate gate broken by the mob

Cracks immerged shortly after the new cabinet was named. The LDP felt that they had been shortchanged, in contravention of a pre-election memorandum of understanding, the infamous MOU.

Now much hubbub was made over  the MOU. People loudly wondered what the contents were. People contended that such documents made behind closed doors and out of the public eye were not binding. Such sentiments, in my opinion, are the height of naiveté. The fact of the matter is that in politics lobbying and dealing are a part of the game. These things are done well in advance in privacy away from you and me. They are done EVERYWHERE and not just Kenya. It is naive to presume that you have a say in the distribution of cabinet positions. You have none. Get used to it.

But I digress.

 
Security tried to lock the gate but it was just broken

The LDP felt strongly that it had been shortchanged on two fronts: consultation in the naming of the cabinet and in the number of seats allocated to them. They actually held a press conference to protest the developments. The public was largely hostile to these attempts to besmirch their rosy eyed view of Canaan.

The LDP may have kept quiet subsequently but they did not forget what they perceived to be a betrayal.

The second problem was entirely of the incoming President’s making. Upon being sworn in he sacked large numbers of civil servants who happened to be principally from the Rift Valley. Many were dispossessed of benefits like cheap housing. Many were threatened with court, and a good number were charged in court. Ministers like Kiraitu Murungi very arrogantly demanded the President Moi go to herd goats and watch how government was run.

This very fact I believe is what cost Kibaki support in the Rift Valley. The people were not about to forget what they felt were injustices done to their sons and daughters. Things were not helped by the last minute marriage of convenience between Moi and Kibaki. The people of the Rift were even more resentful of what they perceived to be a turncoat. People vividly recall the indignities Moi was subjected to on his exit, and the only way that he and Kibaki could be reading from the same script was if Moi had been promised something that he was not about to share with them.

The third problem begins with the fact that it was perceived that a disproportionate percentage of the Cabinet was from Central and Eastern Kenya, principally the Kikuyu and the Meru. A similar situation seemed to present itself in senior civil servant positions, where it was felt a disproportionately large number of the numbers were from a single region. If you recall there were email forwards enumerating senior positions staffed by members from a single part of Kenya. The Government hastily prepared another one listing positions staffed by people from other communities but it is always about perception. The fact of the matter that percentages based on regions favour one section of Kenya.

This led to the birth of the notorious term, “Mount Kenya Mafia”, who were perceived to be in control of the affairs of the country. Kibaki then, and still projects a hands off approach that verges on lethargy. This very perception of apathy actively cultivated the notion that there were a few friends and associates of Kibaki that were actually running the country, and not him.

Burnt watchman’s booth

This is the source of the infamous sentiment “It is not Kibaki. Kibaki is a good man. Its those around him that are the problem”.

A sentiment,I’m afraid, that does not wash because you can delegate duties but not responsibilities.

Bitter complaints rose from cabinet ministers protesting being denied access to the president.

The fourth problem was the sheer arrogance with which some Cabinet ministers conducted themselves. Top of the list were ministers like Christopher Murungaru, Kiraitu Murungi, John Michuki whose pronouncements on and off the camera raised the ire of the public, especially during the ill fated referendum campaigns.

This house was broken into and completely looted

The fifth problem revolved around the corruption scandals that plagued the Kibaki administration, and what, it was perceived, was its subsequent cover up. Ministers who were forced out of office by the allegations somehow ended up back in their posts.

Chickens Come Home To Roost

These taken together sowed the seeds of perception last seen in the Kenyatta area … that of one community taking very good care of itself and its interests.

Like I’ve said before, perceptions are everything. And perceptions at the top, whether valid or not, eventually trickle down to the bottom. And unfortunately what trickled down to the bottom was the perception that some communities were more equal than others, and were benefiting at the expense of others.

This house had both its cars burnt

And perceptions trigger action. If you are from Central Kenya, especially if you are Kikuyu, you must have over the past couple of years experienced increasing discomfort at the sentiments coming from other people. What used to be tongue in cheek jokes about the “Mount Kenya Mafia” degenerated into snide comments about “You Kikuyus” and today, as we are unfortunately seeing, violence.

Being in such a situation leads to discomfort and ultimately to fear.

The nabobs, drunk with power and opulence were blissfully unaware of the ugly perceptions they had created and propagated. One thing this government has consistently been is totally out of touch with the situation at the grassroots. Every time they have failed to read the mood of the people, as referendum and parliamentary results have demonstrated.

This house’s tenants threw out mobiles and money to plead with the mob not to enter

I believe that the situation of what they had created sunk home in the last 2 months of the year. Even with the formidable state resources the crowds that they were able to draw were dwarfed by those of the ODM, that seems to be the party for the “rest of the people”.

The numerous polls conducted by various bodies, whose results were at first rubbished, consistently begun to paint the grim picture that finally got the attention of the players in power — they were nowhere near being as popular as they fondly believed they were.

The numbers from several polls by several companies consistently showed that the ODM would trounce them nationally as well as in all areas but Central and perhaps Eastern (that could have gone to Kalonzo).

It is then that the grim reality sank in that they were unlikely to win these elections, and real fear began to emerge. Suddenly two and two clicked together. Suddenly the rationale behind the snide comments, unflattering forwards and hostile receptions became clear. They had created a situation where they had completely polarized the country against them, and their communities were guilty by association.

Having created an ugly perception that they were the ones in power, how would the others react if they got that power? How would the monster they had created react?

Or could they have been afraid of the embarassment, the shame of being so unanimously rejected by the electorate? Were they scared silly of the thought of an incumbent president being ejected after a single term?

I believe that one, or both of the above were the basis of a decision that was taken towards the close of the year whose effects we are feeling today. What a few at the pinnacles of power have succeeded at creating is a situation where the poor man on the ground is guilty by association.

What Really Happened #2: Exodus will be posted as soon as I write it. PNU & ODM guys you can get my thoughts about exactly what happened these elections and why it happened.

AOB: If you can’t access my contact form email me your news/feelings/thoughts on roomthinker – at – yahoo – dot – com

Thanks to all of those checking into the welfare of myself and Ory. We’re OK.

For some reason shortly after my post I was unable to access any websites at all. I like to think that it was a purely technical hitch, which persisted all day. I’m now blogging from another connection.

News

• 140 people reported dead as per police estimates. Which means actual numbers are probably larger
• City Mortuary ringed by heavily armed guards, presumably to contain details of numbers of dead
• Government spokesman claims violence is in “one or two places”. Dr. Mutua, I think you need glasses and a hearing aid
• SMS messages threatening prosecution for forwarding some messages beginning to trickle in
• Government bans ODM rally scheduled for Thursday
• Nairobi Women’s hospital reports sharply increased incidences of rape, gang rape and sodomy based purely on numbers of people that have accessed their services. Considering the public transport system has ground to a halt I shudder at the thought of the actual numbers on the ground
• Kisumu and Mombasa have all but ground to a halt.
• Kibera has been cordoned off, as of yesterday afternoon. No going in or out.
• Mwai Kibaki’s New Year’s address goes out of its way to stress the elections were free and fair.
• Raila Odinga refuses to negotiate with Kibaki unless Kibaki concedes that he indeed lost the elections

The Morning After

My hood, South B, is right next to the Mukuru slums. As you can well imagine I have had ringside seats to the action. Stones have been thrown at me, my neigbourhood shops have been looted and torched, houses were broken into and looted and cars have been set on fire. Armed police have been patrolling ever since the 30th and we have been operating with our lights off. Sporadic gunfire, sounding suspiciously like machine gun fire peppers the night.

Mercifully the only damage I have suffered is a few broken windows.

I managed to get some pictures of the aftermath. I dare anyone to hold back their tears after meeting face to face people who have lost everything because of the selfishness of a few.

The above shots are from where two kiosks and adjacent homes owned by friends of mine were looted and burnt

Proprietors review their looted salon

This man ponders what to do after his livelihood is reduced to rubble

Debris strewn after the rowdy mob passed through

This shop was completely gutted

Remnants of the rioter’s roadblock

These shops were broken into and looted

Some businessmen flee

Police on patrol in their chopper

Remains of a gutted house

This shop was broken into and looted

Another shop that suffered the same fate

Depressing does not begin to describe this. Will post more pics later with a response to all those Pro PNU and Pro ODM messages/emails from people who have no clue exactly what happened on the 30th and exactly what we have lost.