Silaha

Around Nairobi in One Night

2017-02-12T15:01:00.000-05:00

I'm copying this here because I don't ever want it to disappear. I am not the author -- who I believe is Charles Chanchori on Facebook. What a great story. I hope to see the movie one day.

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*Around Nairobi in One Night*

February 7, 2017. 22:49h. Hurlingham, Nairobi.

I have just dropped a young lady off at "The Hood" when the request comes through. An unwanted request because I wanted to go home after dropping this client off.

Before I go too far, let me dispense with the introductions. My name is Daniel and I am an Uber driver. I come from Githurai 45. I wanted to go home at around 23:00h because my wife doesn't like it when I go home past midnight.

As soon as the request comes through on my phone, it is followed up by the next client's call which I answer reluctantly. And the client's name is Charles.

Me: Hello

Him: Hello Daniel. I was hoping you could pick me up at the Department of Defence Headquarters ASAP.

Me: Where to?

Him: I don't know yet. I was thinking Utawala. Maybe Machakos?

Me: Um, Charles, I was actually heading home to Githurai so maybe you could do me a favor and cancel your ride then request another one? Please? Just say the driver asked you to cancel.

Him: Home, huh? And where is home?

I guess it is at this juncture that I start recognizing the confidence in his voice. A certain kind of sharpness and metallic substance that is used to throwing orders around.

In my line of work, I meet many people. Students, lawyers, doctors, business folks, and they all talk the same. Though some lawyers can be a bit arrogant. And students can be irritating especially when they travel in groups and are collectively drunk as sailors.

And there are soldiers. These don't make requests. They order you around if they speak. Mostly they just ride in silence. Especially those who have seen combat.

Me: Githurai is my home.

Him: Which one Daniel?

Me: Githurai 45.

Him: OK. Then that has just become my new destination. Pick me up right away.

It takes me less than five minutes to drive from The Hood to the Department of Defence (DoD) gate where I find him waiting for me.

As he walks towards me, I notice that he looks different from his voice. Whereas his voice is authoritative and intimidating, his frame is a bit small. He must be about five seven and weighs around sixty five kilograms. Considering he looks thirty, he is of a small build.

He is in a trench coat with the collar turned up, khaki trousers and brown boots like those won by the United States Marines for those who watch movies.

He walks, or rather's marches stiffly towards my car, leans against the codriver's side and peers in through the open window.

Him: You're Daniel, yeah?

Me: Yes. You must be Charles?

Him: Last I checked (He opens the door and climbs in swiftly). Let's go.

Of course I have questions because obviously, the man in my car has no clear destination. He just wants to go wherever.

I have carried thousands of passengers in my car, but I have never carried one without a destination. Is he running away from something? Is he a criminal?

Me: So where in Githurai do you want to go?

Him: I don't know. Any sites you might recommend to me? I have never really been to Githurai before. I just see it from the comfort of a car as I drive by.

Me: No. Not really. It is just an overcrowded little place with cheap housing.

Him: Daniel?

Me: Huh.

Him: I was just joking. (He smiles. His smile seems sad. Lonely. Painful even)

Me: Oh. They must have just invented a sense of humor where you come from.

Him: (Laughing) Where I come from, they only have bullets, guns, bombs, khat and prostitutes. Humor is something they are yet to discover.

Me: Look at that. You just might be the Issac Newton of humor where you come from.

Him: Who's Issac Newton?

Me: (Lost) Oh. (I cast a glance at him to see if he is kidding. His stone face tells me he is not) He's the guy who discovered gravity.

Him: Daniel

Me: Huh?

Him: I was just kidding.

Me: (Smiling) Really? Coz your face told me you were bloody serious.

Him: Where I come from, we have perfected the art of a poker face.

Me: Yeah? Where do you come from?

Him: So Newton discovered gravity, huh? What does discovery mean to you exactly?

Me: Excuse me?

Him: Gravity. Surely it existed before Newton noticed that apples don't fly around in the air when they are thrown up but they come hurtling down to the ground. All he did was give that a name. Is that what discovery means? Giving a name to something that already exists?

Me: (Wondering where this conversation is headed) I am sure it's more complicated than that.

Him: Like this other dirt bag who apparently discovered Mt. Kenya. Weren't there people who were living around that area when he "discovered" it? Or was it invisible to them? If memory serves, the Kikuyu people used to face it when they prayed because they believed that their god lives up there. Then comes a white guy who sees it and says; drumroll; "There lies a huge mountain that the natives don't give a shit about. But because I'm the first white guy to see it, I have discovered it and I have named it Mount Kenya!! Yay! Now my name will be in history books forever! I'm awesome!!!"

Me: (Chuckling) Are you always this radical?

Him: Radical? No. What does discovery mean to you?

Me: Finding something that hasn't been found by anyone else before?

Him: I would say that is kind of right. Then I must ask, have you discovered youeself?

Me: Discovered myself?

Him: Do you know who you are?

Me: (Laughing uncomfortably) I guess I'm just a normal guy.

By now I am driving globe cinema roundabout and then up to Ngara where I speed down Murang'a Road towards Thika Superhighway which starts at Pangani. It is going on 23:00h and there is no traffic around this hour.

Matter of fact, driving around Nairobi at 23:00h can be quite therapeutic.

Him: Just a normal guy, huh? With a normal job and a normal relationship and normal friends and normal beliefs, right?

Me: You question me like there's something wrong with normalcy.

Him: I have nothing against normalcy. It is what our ancestors fought and died for all those years ago. It is what soldiers are dying in Somalia for. For the right of Kenyans to lead their normal, boring lives. Because that's what peace involves, you know? Peace is normal. Peace is boring. You wake up from your boring bed in the morning and say "good morning" to your uninteresting wife and she smiles and says good morning to her uninteresting husband. Maybe you have a quickie before it is time to jump of out bed and grab a shower. Which is quite normal. Or she is on her period and you're horny so you masturbate in the shower. Which again is normal. Then you have to make sure your normal kids are ready for normally uninteresting school and then they are off. And you have to come to your uber driving job which forgive me for saying, is pretty boring. If I had to drive around Nairobi for a living, I'd probably turn into a serial killer and follow my passengers home and kill them in their beds just to sweeten my life up. I mean, who'd ever suspect a taxi driver, right? At night, you drive back home to your wife and you're both too tired to have an interesting shag so you just grab another shower and collapse in bed like a log. Before you know it, you're sixty with one foot in the grave. And that's OK because you have lived an entire lifetime. But the thing about peace is that people forget to live, you know? I mean, when was the last time you smelled a rose and realized it doesn't smell good? When was the last time you went to watch a performance at the Kenya National Theatre? Leave that. When was the last time you spanked your wife's ass? When was the last time that the both of you played around like children? When was the last time you chased her around that cheap apartment of yours? Peace will do that to you. You will get comfortable with life, focus too much on earning a living, then completely forget to live. What's the essence of living then, huh?

Me: So what would you rather we do? Go to war with Uganda over Migingo Island?

Him: No. But forget the rules every now and then. Have fun. Live a little. Because you know what, there are people dying for you to live. Everyday. Because when your life is in danger, that's when you start appreciating it. When you discover you have cancer or other terminal illness, you start living each day like it means something.

Me: That's deep.

We are at Survey now along Thika Road and we're right in the middle lane. Which is why I'm shocked when he says,

Him: Stop the car. I want to take a shit. Do you have toilet paper?

Me: We're right in the middle of the highway.

Him: Just stop the fucking car Daniel!

Maybe it's the way he says it that gets me to pull over at the side of the highway. I don't have toilet paper but I have some wet wipes which he grabs, gets out of the car, walks to the back, pulls down his pants and squats. Right there in the middle of the biggest highway in the country.

He takes one long dump without any hurry or care in the world. I have my 'hazards' on but two minutes into his unhygienic business, I decide it might be a great idea to place the triangle on the road for safety. But the moment I step off the car, I'm hit by such a stench that I fall back inside.

It takes him a whooping five minutes to conclude his business and get back inside the car. And I make a conscious decision not to have a conversation about it. But at this juncture, I start wondering whether he is crazy.

Me: Are you a soldier?

Him: Why?

Me: Just asking.

Him: You didn't 'just' ask. You must have asked for a reason. What reason was it?

Me: Forget it.

I am growing increasingly uncomfortable with him being inside my car so I press the fuel pedal to the floor because I want to get to Githurai as quickly as possible and be rid of this Charles character.

Him: Why are you driving so fast?

Me: There's no traffic. Besides, I'm getting sleepy so I need to get home quickly and sleep.

Him: Why did you ask if I'm a soldier?

Me: (Snapping) I said forget it!

Him: OK! But just so for your information, I think any man who drives an automatic car is a coward.

Me: (After witnessing him conducting his "human dignity" business in public, on the highway, I have lost my respect for him. So I have no intention of engaging him in a conversation) OK.

Him: And you sir, have a shitty car.

Me: (I am driving at 140km/h now and we're just approaching Roysambu) OK.

Him: Have you ever cheated on your wife Daniel?

Me: I doubt that that's any of your business.

Him: Aww. Are you sulking now because I did something you deem inappropriate?

I turn on the radio and normally I listen to Inooro FM because it is MY radio inside MY car. Currently playing is Sammy Muraya's "Dictator"

Him: (Pumping up the volume then yelling above the song) I love this song! It makes me feel sad!

I'm surprised that he has an opinion about a Kikuyu song. I didn't think he knows it. Then it hits me. He's just jerking me around. So I reduce the volume and press the brakes pedal because we're approaching another set of bumps.

Him: (Singing along) Dictator wayuni, watuire uthaka waku silaha unyarirage arume... (Dictator Wayuni, you weaponized your beauty and used it against men)

Looks like he understands the song after all.

21:08h. Githurai 45.

I pull over at the Cooperative Bank and ask him again where in Githurai he needs to be dropped off.

Him: (Seriously) I have changed my mind. I have decided I want to go to Donholm via Kangundo Road. That means you will travel to Ruiru and use the Eastern Bypass.

Me: (I am beginning to get my first rush of fear. This looks like trouble) Look, just pay me then request for another ride, OK?

Him: You didn't hear me. (That metallic taste in his voice again) I need to get to Donholm. Now!

Me: (Putting my foot down) No.

Him: (Chuckles and runs his palm down his face. His smile no longer seems sad. Or lonely. Or painful. Now he looks like he's having fun. Finally) Daniel?

Me: (Hoping he'll say, "I was just kidding") What!

Him: I am going to deep my hand inside my trench coat. Then when I pull it out, I will be holding a 1911 Colt .45 semi automatic side-arm. I will cork it, then I will slowly lift it to your head (points at my temple) right here and I will not even count to three. I will just shoot you dead. (He looks right into my eyes so severely I am downright scared now. And he seems so calm like he has done this a million times.) Do you want me to kill you right now Daniel? Because trust you me, I will kill you. Then I will drive myself to Donholm with your headless body bleeding in the seat I'm occupying right now. Because that's what a Colt .45 will do to you. It. Will. Behead you.

I don't even pause to ask myself if he really does have a gun. I start the car immediately and drive fast towards Ruiru because the last thing I want is for him to ask me to take him home to where my wife and children are. So I drive him out of Githurai as fast as possible.

Him: So, why did you ask whether I'm a soldier?

Me: I um... I um... I just saw your boots.

Him: Come on Daniel. I thought we're friends. Friends don't bullshit each other. If you answer me honestly, I'll answer your question honestly.

Me: Well, if you must know, I asked if you're a soldier because I wanted to know what I'd be dealing with if you posed a threat to my life. Guess now I know..

Him: Why do you think I'd pose a danger to your life?

Me: Because you had no destination. I thought you were a criminal. A fugitive.

Him: And what would my being a soldier have anything to do with my being a criminal?

Me: I would have asked if you'd seen any combat. Then maybe I could conclude that you're probably suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Him: I'm Captain Charles Gachora. And yes I have seen combat in Somalia. Do I have PTSD? I have no idea. Maybe. Maybe not. Ask me that question that you really want to ask

Me: What question?

Him: Don't an idiot. Ask!

Me: Will you kill me?

Him: No. I'm done killing civilians. But am I done killing? I don't know Daniel. Am I?

I cast him a defiant look and maybe that's what prompts him to dip his hand inside his jacket and pull out a pistol. And this is the point where I realize that I am very scared.

Him: Just in case you're wondering, yes I have a gun. You're driving too fast. Slow down.

I am driving at 110km/h. I slow down. I have just left Kahawa Sukari and now I'm driving up the Kenyatta University hill and driving at 100km/h, I should be in Ruiru in a minute or two.

My feet and hands are trembling and I'm feeling cold all of a sudden.

Him: You didn't answer my question.

Me: Which one?

Him: Have you ever cheated on your wife?

Me: Nope.

Him: Do you love her?

Me: Yes.

Him: When was the last time you had sex with her?

Me: What? Why?

Him: (Frustrated) OK Daniel, here are the rules. If you don't answer my questions, or of you answer with an attitude or if I realize you're lying to me, I won't even warn you. I'll just shoot you in the head, throw your body out of the moving car and drive on like you never existed. And do you know how they'll report your death on the morning news? (Imitates a newscaster) "The decapitated body of an unidentified male was found dumped along Thika Superhighway last night. The body which is unrecognizable because of being ran over by motorists, was taken to Kenyatta University Funeral Home. The police suspect that he was trying to cross the busy highway when he was struck down by a speeding vehicle. The areas OCPD Mr. Reginald Omwamo has requested pedestrians to be extra careful while the road. We'll take a short break and return with the sports news shortly."

Me: It's been a few months.

Him: How old are you?

Me: I will be forty in an hour.

Him: Aww! Daniel!! Happy Birthday!

Me: (Mirthless) Thank you. You're far too kind.

Him: (Smiling) Look at you! Even with a distinct threat against your life you still have a sense of sarcasm. Good for you.

Me: Please. I have kids. I have two young kids who rely on me.

Him: Oh, really? (Meekly) I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that a man of your age had kids. Oh my bad. Please turn the car around and drive home to your kids. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience Daniel. (Grabs his chest) I have broken my own heart. How dare I carjack a father?! I must be a terrible terrible person.

I realized he was being sarcastic five minutes ago so I keep driving. I'm now speeding down towards Outer Ring Road along which Donholm lies.

Him: How long have you been married?

Me: Twelve years.

Him: And in all that time, you have never had sex with a woman who wasn't your wife?

Me: No.

Him: Well, well, well. You're one of the good ones, aren't you? Are you happily married?

Me: I.. I... (At once I ask myself, "what does happily married mean? As opposed to what? Sadly married?") I like to think I am.

Him: Yes or no, Daniel? Yes or no?

Me: Yes.

Him: Have you ever been tempted to lie with another woman as you would with your wife?

Me: Yes.

Him: Tell me about them. These other women.

Me: There was only one. Her name was Sharon. We went to the same church.

Him: Did you ever attempt to act on your temptation?

Me: No.

Him: You're lying to me.

Me: I swear on my life I am...

Bang! The gun goes off and in my terror, I swerve the car to and fro all over the road and fight really hard to regain control of it. Charles is screaming at the top of his voice;

Him: By all means, fuck up the car! Crash it! Crash the car! See if I care! Go on! Drive us both off the road! Kill us Daniel!! Kill us both!!

But I manage to focus on regaining control of the vehicle and as soon as I bring it to a screeching halt at the side of Kangundo Road, I turn to him screaming as loudly;

Me: What do you want from me Charles??!! What the hell do you want from me??! Do you want the fucking car? You can have it! You want to kill me? Put the gun on my head and do it already!

Him: Do you want that? DO YOU Ll WANT ME TO KILL YOU?

Me: Yes! Do it! Do it!

Him: Fine!

He points the gun to my head without any hesitation whatsoever and I am sure he will kill me without any second thoughts or regret. This is a man with nothing to loss. With no conscience at all and no regard for human life. So I scream;

Me: Wait!! Please wait!

Him: (Pressing the gun against my head so hard that my head is being pushed against the window on the driver's side) For what Daniel? For what? Do you want to pray? To what God? To the one of the Jews? Or the Christian one? Or Allah? Or Buddha? Or do you want to turn to Kirinyaga mountain and say "Thaai Thathaiya Ngai Thaai" to the God of your ancestors?

Me: (I'm confused. And scared. I'm thinking of my children and my wife.) Please don't.

Him: (He's still pressing the gun against my head really hard) Huh?

Me: Please don't kill me.

Him: I can't hear you begging Daniel! Beg Daniel, beg!

Me: Please don't kill me. Please. For my kids. Please don't take my kids' daddy away from them. (I don't know the point at which tears roll down my face)

Him: Have you ever cheated on your wife?

Me: No!

Him: You're lying! (He must be pushing the gun against my temple with all his might now because the hot muzzle starts cutting into my skin.) NO!

Him: YOU'RE LYING DANIEL!! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE ALIVE!! No soldier should be in Somalia dying for you!!

Me: (I figure he's about to shoot so I yell) She is the one who cheated on me, OK? She cheated on me. (The pressure of his gun against my head relaxes) She cheated on me, OK? (Then the weight of my words hit me) OH my God. She cheated on me.

Charles gets the gun off my head in silence, puts it back inside his trench coat and pats me on the shoulder like we're buddies and asks me to get out of the car. He doesn't order. He requests nicely like he genuinely cares about me and I find myself appreciating the gesture. Maybe I'm developing a case of the Stockholm Syndrome.

I get outside the car and he sits behind the wheel as I walk around and sit beside him.

He starts the engine and drives slowly and in silence towards Donholm.

February 8th, 2017. 00:15h. Donholm, Nairobi.

Charles has stopped the car outside Steers because he has a craving for Pizza.

Him: Let me grab a pizza in there. I hope it's as good as I left it when I left for Somalia. But if they put pineapples in my pizza, I'll kill them all. Wait in the car, OK? And if you try anything weird, I'll kill you then kill myself. That way I can spend eternity in hell terrorizing you.

I want to say "I'll go to heaven" but I'm in no mood to make jokes. Not that me going to heaven is funny but because I don't want him to think I'm joking by saying that.

So he disappears into Steers with my phone and the car keys and after having locked me inside my own car like I'm a family pet.

To make sure that my wife doesn't call me endlessly, Charles made sure we talked (through a "supervised call") and he made me explain to her that I had just landed a client who needed to be taken around Nairobi in one night and who would tip generously at the end of it all.

He comes back carrying an extra large pizza, a two liter bottle of soda and plastic cups. He puts them all at the back seat, sits behind the wheel and drives slowly at 60km/h along Jogoo Road towards Nairobi Central Business District.

As we approach Buru Buru, he changes the channel to Classic 105 and the song playing is Lonestar's "Let's Be Us Again"

Kirinyaga Road, Downtown Nairobi. 00:46h

Charles stops the car at Shell Petrol Station along Kirinyaga Road facing Globe Cinema Roundabout and turns to me.

Him: I am hungry. We have an extra large pizza. You could join me if you aren't in a sulky mood.

He grabs the pizza and the soda, gets out of the car, places them on the bonnet, leans against the car and starts enjoying his meal.

I join him silently and I don't know what to feel about this whole night. Part of me wants to make a run for it, but he's the man with the gun. He could just shoot me in the back.

Me: When we started dating, my wife and I, she had an affair with this choirboy which I came to know about. When I confronted her about it, she broke down and apologized profusely begging me not to leave. A few days later, she made me listen to that song, "Let's Be Us Again." I can still hear her voice in my head singing, "Tell me what I have to do tonight, coz I'd do anything to make this right. Let's be us again..."

Him: And you forgave her and went ahead and married her. I dare even say that you married her because she cheated.

Me: Yeah. Two months after we got back together, I bought a nice ring for her and popped the question. She said yes amidst a stream of tears on her face and that sweet voice. "Yes baby. Yes. I'll be honored to be your wife." I guess I didn't want to lose her, you know? She was the only thing that meant anything to me. My whole lifeline. Without her I felt like I was nothing. Do you know what I was thinking about as I went down on one knee to propose?

Him: Not really, but I can imagine.

Me: Yeah. I was thinking about her and the choirboy having sex behind the church. I was thinking about her facing the wall with her skirt up her waist, her panties around her ankles and him...

Him: Yeah yeah Danny. I get the picture.

As we enjoy our pizza and soda, a couple of street kids start hovering around, then their number grow to four, then six. So I start getting nervous.

Kirinyaga Road is lonely this time of the night. And when robbers commit their robberies, this is where they come to divide their loot. When cheap hookers get cheap clients who won't pay for a room, it is not strange to see them having coitus under a lamppost along Kirinyaga Road. And here I stand with a complete stranger, enjoying dinner.

Me: Maybe we should drive up to Kimathi Street or something. It doesn't feel so safe down here.

Him: Are you nervous? Are you afraid that a bunch of street children will eat our pizza?

Me: (Annoyed because he has this way of belittling everything and I find this irritating) No. I'm nervous that some armed gangsters might steal my car and shoot me for good measure.

Him: I am armed too.

Me: Great! It will be just you and six gangsters shooting it out. And you will be victorious, obviously because you're a big bad soldier who has been involved in a big bad shoot-out in Somalia, right?

Him: (Chewing his pizza nonchalantly) No. I will emerge victorious because I'm the big bad soldier with the big bad hand grenades. (He fishes two hand grenades from the insides of his trench coat and places them carefully on the bonnet) Do you feel safer now Danny?

Me: No. Not particularly. (Voice lost in various degrees of terror) Who are you?

Him: (Waving off the subject like it doesn't matter) Thing about sex with many people Daniel is, it starts to lose value after a while. You meet a woman in the morning, you have a conversation during which some chemistry is realized, you have lunch and supper together and you spend the night together. Next week, same thing happens with another woman and before you know it, you're sleeping with three women in one week. And since you have realized that sex comes easy, you stop valuing it. It becomes something you expect from every woman on the very first night you meet her and if you meet a good one who doesn't want to give it up on the first night, you walk away to another tree where the fruits are lower and more accessible. You even become too lazy to go on an actual date because your objective is to get laid and you know you can and will get laid by someone without even having to buy her a cup of coffee. Soon, you find yourself thinking you should get laid by any woman with whom you have some sort of chemistry. Like it's your right. I mean, you're clicking four or five women in a week. And they are not prostitutes either. No. They're just women who you meet at work, or during a night out or at a training in some big hotel. It starts getting to your head. You Are special. Especially because the reviews you're getting are along the lines of "You're amazing!" If even three out of the five a week decide that you're good in bed, it must be true. Then one morning you wake up feeling empty and sad and you can't call any of them for a chat because you don't even like them. You evaluate yourself and your life and come to the conclusion that you really are nothing. You belong to any one who will open their legs for you. You're not special. You are cheap because you can be had by any one. We're you currency, you wouldn't be a thousand shillings note. You'd be a twenty shillings coin. And there's nothing worse in a man's life than to wake up realizing you don't value sex any more. When sex is just another thing you do, like brushing your teeth or taking a shit or shaking someone's hand in greeting. You find that you have grown cold, emotionless, inconsiderate. You find that you have turned into something you thought you'd never be.
Me: Is that who my wife is? Someone who doesn't value sex with me anymore?

Him: I don't know your wife. You'd have to tell me.

Me: She has been carrying on an affair for the last three years. She thinks I don't know about it but I do. I keep waiting for her to show up with the divorce papers but she never does.

Him: You're still desperate for her. She's still your entire lifeline.

Me: Yeah. At first I thought I was sticking around for the sake of the kids. But truth is, I can't stand being alone.

Him: But you're already alone. But who am I to act marriage counsellor? I'm not married. Just do whatever you want. Spend your boring little life however you want to spend it. It's your life. That's what freedom means.

By now, we're full and Charles passes a huge chunk of the pizza to a few street children hovering around. I notice that he passes the slices to the youngest of them and warns the older and the bigger ones not to steal from them.

01:34h

I am now the one behind the wheel and Charles has instructed me to drive to Alliance Francaise where he just sits in the car and stares at the place blankly.

Him: To me, this place is the soul of Nairobi. When I was younger and before I enlisted in the army, I used to come here to recite poetry. One night I met a girl. Wangu was her name. She seemed so exotic, you know. Her hair was short, she wore no make-up and was always dressed in something African. Made of Kitenge. Either her trousers, or top, or headgear... She had to have something African.

First time I said hello, she smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek. Then she asked to rehearse with me because she would be performing in a jiffy. And her poem was about her. About who she was, how she felt one with the soil of Mukurueini where she came from, how she respected the elders who had informed her of Wangu wa Makeri. How she was this true African empress, endowed with all the honor and glory that came with that. When she recited the poem, she received a standing ovation that lasted about five minutes. And I knew I loved her. Especially when later she rushed into my arms, hugged me and asked how she had done. Like my opinion meant more to her than the five minute standing ovation. And that Daniel, that was the last time I cried. She saw in me what nobody else had ever seen.

Me: What became of you two?

Him: I ran away from her. She seemed mystical. Like I didn't deserve her. She was too good for me and if we started dating, one of two things would happen. (A) I would want to change to be better so as to deserve her. Or something. I know it doesn't make sense but relationships change people. (B) She would change and be more like me. I don't want A to happen and I would have hated for B to happen. So when the army opportunity presented itself, I couldn't take it fast enough.

Me: You just let someone you were in love with and who loved you back go? Because you didn't want to grow up?

Him: That was the idea. But she joined the army too. I didn't know that until we met in Somalia.

Me: Second chances don't come to us all.

Him: Let's drive to Lang'ata barracks.

Me: What's there?

Him: I'll show you.

And so off to Lang'ata barracks we go. He asks me not to be in any hurry. That he wants to see the sights.

And as I drive down Uhuru Highway, he lowers his window, puts his hand out and makes waves against the wind. He seems at peace. Like this whole exercise is therapeutic to him.

I drive around the roundabout and up Lang'ata Road. Just as we are going past Nairobi West, he spots a drunk man beating up an equally drunk woman. She is scantily dressed and appears generally dishevelled. Consider it is going on 02:00h, it is easy to conclude she is a prostitute.

Him: Stop the car. Now!

He opens the door and jumps out even before the car has stopped completely. With his Colt in his hand, he runs towards the man and woman, yanks him away from her, kicks him on the stomach, hurls him to the ground and starts whipping him with his gun.

There's a beat down and then there's a gun whipping. I have never seen one before and I never see one again.

First a cut appears on the victim's face. Followed by another. Then the cuts get too bloody. You can't tell how many cuts there are exactly. Then the victim spits out a tooth followed by another and soon enough, he is choking on teeth and blood. His eyes are rolling to the back of his head and it looks like he is on the verge of dying. That amount of blunt force trauma to the face and head can't be good for anyone's brain.

Then Charles stops suddenly and turns to the woman. I'm watching all this from a far. Humans react differently to violence. Fight or flight. That's what schools teach. But nobody ever tells you that there's a third reaction. Freezing. Most people freeze in the face of violence. Me being one of them.

Charles takes his trench coat off and covers the woman up with it. She is trembling. Whether it is because she's terrified or cold, I'll never know.

He then hugs her and rubs her back continuously for a few minutes as her assailant lies on the ground groaning and choking.

After retrieving his hand grenades and other belongings from his coat, he hugs the lady again and joins me inside the car.

His hands have blood all over them. He wipes them clean with my wet wipes and wipes the gun too. But blood is never easy to clean off. After dumping the dirty wipes on the road, we drive off towards the barracks.

02:09h. Lang'ata Barracks. Nairobi.

We're seated in the car outside the gate and he points to a place among some trees above the gate.

Him: Do you see that structure up there?

Me: (Leaning toward him to catch a glimpse of what he's pointing at) Yeah.

Him: In that structure there is a .50 calibre machine gun with over a thousand rounds of ammunition accompanying it.

Me: What's a .50 caliber machine gun?

Him: Well, when I was a kid we used to call them general purpose machine guns or GPMG. They are those huge machine guns you see hoisted in the back of a Humvee in movies.

Me: What's a Humvee?

Him: It's a fucking military jeep Daniel! Jesus Christ! You're a good old pot of ignorance, aren't you?

Me: Well forgive me for not knowing military jargon. You just picked me off the streets, remember?

Him: Well, a .50 calibre machine gun derives its name from its bullets. If it hits you, it could bloody well cut you in half.

Me: So why are we seated outside the barracks at half past two in the morning staring at weapons of mass destruction?

Him: Wangu and her company were patrolling a village about 100 kilometers south of Mogadishu when they are stopped by a kid. The kid is about eight to ten years old and she is cradling an elderly gentleman in her arms. The man's legs are missing and from what Wangu and her company can see, his stumps are still fresh. He must have been a victim of an IED. Improvised Explosive Device. Nasty things those are. So she instructs a Sergeant to grab two soldiers and get them off the road. But that doesn't happen because as soon as they disembark, the man and the little girl go boom.

Me: They explode?

Him: Yeah. They just say "Allahu Akbar" and their little bomb jackets just blow them and a bunch of soldiers to smithrens. Then bullets start raining on Lieutenant Wangu's convoy like rain and brimstone. It's a bloody ambush. Of course they return fire but the terrorists have the advantage of surprise and that of higher ground. They're just raining bullets and missiles on my men like it's open party. And my soldiers are on the menu. About 85% of them die on that dirt road that day. And those that make it back to base don't really make it, you know? That night I cradle Wangu in my arms one last time. See, she caught this shrapnel in her throat that just had to come out. And she bled out as I watched. And she said that joining the army was the best thing she ever did because then she got to see me again. That Somalia to her was more beautiful than the most beautiful festival night or poetry slam at Alliance Francaise because I was in Somalia not Alliance Francaise. And the moment her eyes lost their light and I shut her eyelids with my fingers, I knew I was done with this war. I knew I was done being a soldier. I was done with the rules of engagement and the Geneva conventions could go fuck themselves. So I took three soldiers I trusted, put them in a humvee without the Commanding Officer's orders and we went to that village in the middle of the night. If they weren't insurgents, they sure were collaborators. And as we drove around that village, I opened fire on everyone and everything I saw using one of those .50 calibre machine guns. I didn't care about children or women or legless old people. Anything that could wear a suicide vest had to die. And so I stood behind that fast spitting machine gun and pah pah pah pah pah pah pah... And the more you shoot, the more you disassociate yourself from your actions. You just as well might be playing a video game. The more people you gun down, the higher the score. We launch missiles in that village and by the time we're leaving, no soul is left breathing. I go back to base with over two hundred kills to my name, expecting court martial but that doesn't happen. I'm issued my orders by the CO and it's business as usual.

Me: What? What about the news? What did the press say about the massacre?

Him: I don't know. What did you hear about the massacre?

Me: Nothing.

Him: Exactly.

Me: So what are you going to do now?

Him: As soon as you drop me off at a yet to be determined point, I will shoot myself in the head and join Wangu in the afterlife if there's one.

Me: That doesn't sound like a good plan.

Him: Daniel?

Me: Huh?

Him: I'm kidding. (He reaches into the backseat where he retrieves an envelop which he hands to me) At exactly 05:00h, you're going to drop this off at the Nation Center.

Me: (Taking the envelop) What is it?

Him: It is none of your business is what that is. Drive off to Karen. The Hemingsway Hotel.

03:28h. Hemingway Hotel. Karen.

Charles has stashed his gun and his two hand grenades somewhere inside the backseats and he has done it so well that not even the security check discovers them.

He points me to the parking lot where I park and he invites me to a meal in the restaurant.

This is one of those hotels where I only drop and pick people but I have never really been. My job doesn't get me past the parking lot. So when Charles invites me to the restaurant, I am pleasantly surprised.

We're not hungry because we devoured huge chunks of pizza along Kirinyaga Road but Charles informs me that though the food here is great, it isn't much.

And at that time of the night, the restaurant doesn't have much in terms of food. But the kitchen, after some convincing by Charles, manages to scramble up an omelette, some bacon, pancakes and sausages for us, which we wait for at the bar.

The place is exquisite. The cream walls seem like the walls of Paradise in the morning lighting and the thick carpets, the shiny piano at the lobby, the thick curtains, the shiny furniture... I have never seen anything so magnificent in my whole life.

Him: You know what you need to do? You need to come here during the day and have a cup of coffee at the balcony facing Ngong Hills. With someone you love. Then you need to dress down to your boxers and jump off the balcony and right into the swimming pool right under you. It's glorious.

Me: Is that something you've ever done?

Him: Yeah. Wangu and I did it once. We had come here on a poetry event. Couldn't really afford it here then. But we had the maximum amount of fun because we were being sponsored by some Dutchmen.

We take some overpriced shots of some Scotch whose name escapes me and Charles asks if I can play the piano. I can't.

Him: But can you sing?

Me: I can croak.

Him: I'll play and you'll croak.

He sits at the piano with his glass of Scotch and starts playing. The tune sounds very familiar and I find myself singing more instinctively than consciously

Me: Tell me what I have to do tonight,
Cause I'd do anything to make it right,
Let's be us again.
I'm sorry for the way I lost my head,
I don't know why I said the things I said,
Lets be us again.

Charles joins me in for the chorus and there's a glint in his eyes that I haven't seen before. I imagine him and Wangu seated at this very piano singing a different song. A song about Africa. About where they come from and the essence that connects them. The energy derived from Mukurwei wa Nyagathanga that brings them together in a bond that no war, no bullet, no bomb and no distance can separate.

Him and I: Here I stand, with everything to lose,
All I know is I don't wanna ever see the end.
Baby please, I'm reaching out for you,
Won't you open up your heart and let me come back in,
Let's be us again.

Him: Look at me I'm way past pride,
Isn't there some way that we can try,
To be us again.
Even if it takes a while,
I'll wait right here until I see that smile,
That says we're us again.

As he sings, he shuts his eyes and I figure he is picturing himself and Wangu at the balcony of this very hotel sipping coffee and gazing into the distant Ngong Hills. I figure he's regretting running away from her and joining the army. I figure he's regretting not deserting with her and running off to a distant country with her. I figure he misses her. And for the first time, I feel sorry for him. Him who is so young yet has lived through such turmoil. I figure he's only trying to rediscover himself.

Him and I: Here I stand with everything to lose,
All I know is I don't wanna ever see the end.
Baby please,
I'm reaching out for you,
Won't you open up your heart and let me come back in
Let's be us (Ohhh)
Baby baby, what would I do?
Can't imagine life without you.

Him: Here I stand with everything to lose.
All I know is I don't wanna ever see the end,
Baby please,
I'm reaching out for you
Won't you open up your heart and let me come back in?
Oh here I am I'm, reaching out for you,
Won't you open up your heart and let me come back in?
Lets be us again.
Oh, lets be us again.

I noticed his face shining in the lighting and his eyes shut and I figured he needed sometime alone. If he realizes that he's crying, he doesn't do much about it. He just lets them tears flow.

And as I watch him weep and sing and let his heart go out for the woman he loved and lost, I realize I have never felt what he feels. I have never loved my wife with the same intensity that he loves Wangu. It is no wonder thus that she cheated on me time and again.

Our meal is brought to us and we enjoy it without a hurry in the world and in silence. We both figure that we have said all that there is to be said, done all that there is to be done and even though we only met a few hours ago, I feel like I have known Charles my whole life. Like I have been with him through his ups and downs.

At 04:18h, he tells me that I should be getting back to town because I need to drop off his envelop at the Nation Center at exactly 05:00h.

Him: Not 04:59h and not 05:01h but 05:00h. Do you understand?

Me: Yeah. Sure. What's in it?

Him: My suicide note. (Again, I glance at him to see if he's kidding and again his stone face informs me that he is not) Is that your poker face or are you being really seriously serious right now?

Him: What do you think? (I'm getting nervous but then I relax when he smiles).

We drive out of Hemingsway after he's cleared the exorbitant bill and he instructs me to use Ngong Road which I do. The traffic is still light and I can manage to drive at 120km/h comfortably.

Me: So where will I drop you off?

Him: At the DoD where you picked me up. So you better step on it.

And I drive down Lang'ata Road like bats out of hell and up Mbagathi Road right back to Hurlingham where this strange section of the night commenced.

Him: How much do I owe you?

That question surprises me. After his threat on my life, I wasn't expecting him to pay.

Me: (After consulting my phone) Eight thousand, five hundred shillings.

He takes a wand of notes of his pocket and hands it over to me without even counting it.

Him: That money, use it to live. Do something you've never done before. Take a trip. Take tea-kwon-do lessons. Take a dancing class. Do something that doesn't fall within the parameters of your current boring life.

Me: What about you? What are you going to do?

Him: Me? I'm a soldier. I'll be a soldier till I die.

Me: Thank you Charles.

Him: For what?

Me: For not killing me I guess.

Him: Thank me by living. Thank all those souls that are lost in war so you can live in peace by living. Don't die while you're still alive.

Me: Same case applies to you, right?

Him: (Smiling) So long Daniel.

He steps out of the car and I wave him goodbye. He doesn't wave back. I guess that would be very uncharacteristic of him. I feel like in him I have just made a friend. We'll probably never see him again in my life, but I will never forget him. Maybe one day when I'm ninety, I'll tell my fellow toothless "inmates" at the home for old people where my children will have stashed me that I had a friend once. A friend who I met and together we went on a life changing ride around Nairobi City in one night. His name was Charles. I wonder what became of him.

At 05:00h, I drop the package off at Nation Center as per instructions then I drive on home to Githurai.

Githurai 45. 05:16h

I find my wife fixing breakfast for the kids which they enjoy noisily and rush out into their waiting school bus.

As soon as they leave, I drop the bomb on my wife.

Me: I'm leaving.

Her: Where to?

Me: I don't know. I will drive to Eldoret, then to Kitale and maybe cross the border into Uganda.

Her: What are you talking about? Why would you do that?

Me: Because I don't love you and if I stay with you another year I will do something I'll regret.

Her: What about the kids, Daniel? You're just going to walk out on them?

Me: I'll be back. In a day or a week or a month or a year. I don't know. But I am no value to them right now. I never even see them. I'm always working. I have busted my ass everyday for the last fifteen years with no leave days and I think it's time I clocked out for a bit.

Her: I am not even surprised.

Me: I know. And you don't have to hide your affair with Pastor Jerome anymore. I have known about it for three years now.

Her: Oh my God.

Me: It's OK. You can keep the house and all our businesses and our farm upcountry. You can keep everything. I don't want it. I just need the car. That's all.

Her: And you'll come back for them?

Me: They're my kids. Yes I'll come back for them.

Her: What do I tell them when they ask?

Me: That their daddy has gone back to school to learn how to love himself again so he can love them to the best of his capability.

Her: I'll just tell them you went on a business trip.

Section 58. Nakuru. 09:00h.

"A body was this morning found along Valley Road and taken to City Mortuary. The decapitated body was badly disfigured after being ran over by speeding motorists along the busy road and the police suspect that the man was trying to rush across when he was ran over by a speeding car in a hit and run accident. Area OCPD Mr. Tom Kipruto has cautioned pedestrians against crossing the road and instead use the provided footbridge. We'll be back with sports news after the break."

As I listen to the news and drive to a cheap motel in Nakuru for some shut eye, I remember asking Charles about the contents of his envelop and his answer that it was a suicide note. I remember him saying that a Colt .45 will blow your head clean off your body. In my head I see him watching me drive off and as soon as I'm swallowed by the corner, I see him put the gun to his head and pull the trigger.

I hope he finds her in the afterlife. Hell. I hope for his sake, there's an afterlife.

When I'm ninety, I guess I won't have to think of my friend Charles and wonder what became of him. Him whose suicide note was read on national TV and shocked listeners all over the country and later the world. The confessions of a troubled soul belonging to a gallant soldier whose thirst for revenge drove him into the darkest corners of human existence.

Captain Charles Gachora. The man who in one night, changed my whole life. I hope he found what he was looking for.

Post election musings

2013-03-11T00:23:00.001-04:00

Musings rattling around in my brain after a pretty intense week:

How can the IEBC, which was responsible for tallying the votes, be the arbiter of whether the election was "free and fair"?
Did the media, "especially the local media", abdicate from its responsibility to protect public interest as the "fourth estate"?*
Why is it near impossible to get voting data at the polling station level in spreadsheet/database format to allow all interested persons to form their own opinions about fairness or otherwise?
After a long 20+ year struggle to get a new constitution with enshrined rights, why is CORD being maligned for exercising its right to seek legal redress?*
If the court finds that the IEBC carried out a flawed election/tallying and orders a new election or a runoff, will the IEBC be "independent" enough to manage the subsequent vote?*
When looking at the voting patterns and how regions voted almost to a person for ethnic godfathers, have we arrived at defacto 'majimboism'?
Why the frequent reference to "God"? If Uhuru is elected by "God's will" what does that implicitly say about the other seven candidates?
Ensuring this is ends up without doubt a truly free and fair election is in the interest of the Kenyan citizen and not necessarily in that of Raila or CORD.
It is irrelevant whether or not CORD will be able to bridge the gap in any possible run off, the election had rules and should be adjudicated by those rules. Now is not the time to discuss the costs of a runoff, that should have been done at the time of the drafting of the constitution (an instant runoff voting arrangement would have been preferable in my opinion).

* credit to others in social media

Calling The Election

2013-03-05T08:35:00.001-05:00

OK folks, don't eat me alive (or do backflips)...

I have been playing with data (I love data) from the Mars website, and it appears to me that with these three critical assumptions --
(1) that the provisional results reported are accurate,
(2) that the county results reported are representative of the county as a whole, and
(3) that the turn out in all counties is the same, then:

The worst Uhuru could end up with is 50.28% and the best Raila could end up with is 45.70%. Wow, UK has clearly won this election, but I would posit that it is too close to call it in the first round (any one or more of my assumptions may be off).

I used the confidence interval of proportions... Happy to share the spreadsheet, perhaps my statistics are not spot on, but seems clear to me.

Here's how I calculated it.

I downloaded the provisional results from the Mars website.
I calculated the proportion of votes that UK, Musalia and RAO had in each county.
I then calculated the confidence interval of error for proportions from here and calculated the worst Uhuru could do per county and the best that Raila could do in the same county.
I multiplied those numbers by the numbers of registered voters and simply summed down.

Here is the file...

Comments, thoughts

What Exactly Is Annan Brokering?

2008-02-12T20:02:00.001-05:00

One of the things that has perennially bothered me about the way we do things in Kenya is that we seem to have a horizon of only about a week and a half. Kibaki's reneging on the MOU was probably about the most short sighted thing I ever saw -- did he think that he would be in power for ever. On the other hand, Raila's campaign to overturn the proposed constitution which -- and I did read it myself -- was far superior to our current constitution, was based primarily on trying to prove a point to Kibaki (which he did).

I worry that Kofi and the deal negotiated at Serena/~~Mt. Kenya Safari Club~~ Kilaguni will focus only on what we need to do to resolve this crisis and not work to put in place a solution for the ages.

There is a day after the day after tomorrow.

-S

Jirongo Again, How Can We Recognize This Surprising Hero?

2008-02-09T23:09:00.000-05:00

I am a sporadic blogger at best. I only write when I feel that I have something to say. So my apologies to you folks who regularly visit to see if I have anything new to share.

I recently posted about Cyrus Jirongo's amazing and exemplary behavior in actively dissuading his constituents from hating on the Gikuyu in their area. That one posting has resulted in the most hits to my blog to date. Clearly Kenyans are earning to read about their compatriots who are making a difference in a positive sense. Enough about Kibaki and Raila! This has now become about Wanjiku and Onyango, and those wazees are not looking out for their interests.

Anyway... it seems that as I search for more positive stories about the goings on back home I keep coming back to Jirongo (who quite frankly I did not think very highly of prior to this year -- I mean, YK-92 is not exactly a great resume builder!) Here's the latest Jirongo-bite. (From here.)

In November of last year, I lent my son-in-law, Job, (Beverly's husband) the funds to buy a motorcycle so that he could go into the motor cycle taxi business. By now I know a lot about the motorcycle taxi business which in calmer times I might describe. There are 58 motorcycles and 67 motorcycle drivers and he has been elected chair of the motorcycle taxi drivers association in Lumakanda. He said that all the motorcycle taxi drivers stayed out of the violence, partly because they were charging double for rides and thus making a good income. Also the winning MP from this area, Cyrus Jirongo, had met with the drivers and told them not to participate in any tribal violence due to the election. According to Job, most of the bicycle taxi drivers also stayed out of the looting, but of course in terms of class, a motorcycle taxi driver is far above a bicycle taxi driver.

Another MP Shot Dead...

2008-01-31T05:20:00.000-05:00

This just in...

Ainamoi MP David Kimutai Too has been shot dead by a traffic policeman in West Indies estate in Eldoret.

Jirongo On A Bicycle: An Example For Us All

2008-01-30T19:18:00.000-05:00

Cyrus Jirongo has been setting a great example for all our leaders. Read these two stories and ask yourself why your MP has not been demonstrating such exemplary leadership.

This has been going around in email.

In the midst of the hopelessness that we have watched helplessly, there are rays of hope.

This morning at a meeting, a friend who is Kikuyu but was born and brought up in Lugari (an area where the Kalenjin and several dialects of Luhya are dominant and borders Eldoret), shared with
us a story that I wish could be heard on national radio and TV as we have only been treated to the negative aspects.

After the major eruption of violence on Dec 30, his mother’s two buildings including the granary with the year’s produce was burned and her 8 cattle and 20 goats stolen. This was horrifying as she had always been assimilated into that community even though she is of a diffrent tribe.

Their local MP, Hon. Cyrus Jirongo who was voted in the small KADDU party, however decided to give leadership to his constituents. He put away his limousine and rode a bicycle to every village speaking to the people and showing them the folly of what they had done. They took the cue! They invited back the Kikuyu lady (as well as others who had been chased away) and different members of the community, in remorse and as a sign of their repentance, who are mainly peasant farmers took from their own produce and animals and restored what the lady had lost!

This is the only way for Kenya to heal back into a nation afre the divisions we have seen! We need more of these kinds of transformational leaders! Pray for more....!

It is such things that make one believe in Kenya, its leaders, and ultimately, in its people. As I see it, WE are all we have!

A few weeks ago there was another story on Jirongo in the Standard.

Lugari MP-elect Mr Cyrus Jirongo intervened to avert bloodshed in his constituency.

He dissuaded enraged youths out on a revenge mission on Saturday.

Jirongo, who had just addressed a peace rally at Lumakanda township, was on his way to Eldoret when his entourage ran into hundreds of people chanting war songs.

The Kaddu chairman alighted from his vehicle and began talking to the rowdy group to abandon its mission.

The move, at first, did not go down well with a section of them.

"Please I am begging you to go back to your homes. I am your MP and I promise to address all your grievances later but not in a charged atmosphere like the one we are in," pleaded Jirongo.

The MP confronted a group of young men, who were wielding machetes and took away their weapons. He warned them against harming anyone.

He pledged to establish a common fund that will assist victims of the recent skirmishes.

Luos Must Go, We Don't Need Them I Am Convinced Of That

2008-01-29T17:55:00.000-05:00

I worry that voices of moderation are disappearing as this crisis drags on. Here is a log of an instant message chat I had with a Gikuyu colleague of mine who is in Kenya. He is truly a progressive moderate -- or at least he was until December 30, 2007.

When I read this I worry and I fear for our country. Where have all the sane people gone?

HIM: Luos must go.
ME: Nonsense.
HIM: We don’t need them I am convinced of that.
ME: You should not say that, we do need them. They are as Kenyan as the Gikuyu.
HIM: We are as Kenyan as them.
ME: True, but the Gikuyu did steal this election. No doubt.
HIM: But the truth is the Gikuyu manage resources better than they do. They stole also.
ME: There is no evidence of that.
HIM: We are all thieves but we make better thieves.
ME: LOL.

(I read online about Mugabe Were’s murder)

ME: Oh dear, taabu, why did they kill Were.
HIM: I don't know.
ME: This thing is getting out of control.
HIM: I tell you.
ME: The Gikuyu mobs in Naivasha, Nakuru and Huruma, who is controlling them?
HIM: We are financing them.
ME: Why, why, why? Self defense I can understand, but burning helpless people in their homes is not right.
HIM: It’s for self defense.
ME: Nonsense, the killing of unarmed women and children huddled in a house in fear is not self defense.
HIM: They wanted to make a point which they have made.
ME: Sawa, then the Gikuyu need to have many kids otherwise in a generation or two they will be wiped out by the some other tribe.
HIM: Hence the self defense.
ME: No. You cannot kill me today because someone of my ethnicity may or may not kill you 10 or 50 years from now.

If Kibaki Is A Demon Are Raila & Ruto Saints?

2008-01-29T16:46:00.000-05:00

I am astounded that so many people in the blogosphere are steadfastly holding to the claim that Kibaki is solely responsible for all that has befallen Kenya since December 27th. I find that a naive and simply untenable view.

Gikuyu were going to die in North Rift irrespective of the outcome of the election. How on earth can Kibaki be responsible for the arming and organizing of these Kalenjin thugs? Why are we not holding Ruto responsible for his actions, or at the very least those of his people?

You know what, maybe these folks are right. Maybe we should charge Kibaki for the killing of the women and children in that church in Eldoret. We should charge him for organizing the destruction of Kisumu and the burning of Kibera. We should hold him culpable for the riots in Likoni and elsewhere. And lest we forget the atrocious burning of terrified residents in Naivasha is his doing too.

We should similarly hold Kibaki responsible for all acts of election malfeasance including those in his favor and those against. He should be held responsible for all those Gikuyu voters in North Rift who were not allowed to get to their polling stations. The amazing >100% turnout in Nyanza and Western are clearly have his paw prints all over them.

While Kibaki's trials are ongoing, I suggest we nominate William Ruto for the Nobel Peace Prize for going above and beyond the call of duty in ensuring that the situation in North Rift did not get out of hand. Clearly his speech in Eldoret this weekend was timely and just what the country needed.

And lest we forget, Raila Amolo Odinga should get the MLK Freedom Award (that recognizes residents dedicated to promoting justice, peace, freedom, nonviolence and racial equality) for his magnanimity in making 2 unforgettable statements. Clearly he too is a class act.
1) " I refuse to be asked to give the Kenyan people an anaesthetic so that they can be raped."
2) "We should have seven of the 10 parliamentary seats in Kisii, but Kibaki men stole the votes and we only got four. The Kisii are our people. We must not touch them."

People, only one politician. ONE. Has shown that he is a true peace lover through this whole debacle. Cyrus Jirongo who supposedly took to riding a bicycle in Lugari to admonish his constituents from carrying out acts of violence.

I am disgusted at how we are acting in the face of this crisis. We're supposed to be the educated ones, the more sober minded but we act just like those thugs on the Nairobi-Malaba highway.

Melitus Mugabe Were, RIP

2008-01-29T08:36:00.001-05:00

Melitus Mugabe Were. Shot dead at 39.

Were, a newly elected Member of Parliament for Embakasi, was the founder and director of Villa Teag Center for Orphans in Dandora. He is pictured alone and with his brothers who are also philanthropists (the deceased is on the left).

What has our country come to when we kill such honorable men?

Source: Soulfari Kenya website

Where Is Kibaki? Or The Return of General Kiguoya

2008-01-27T20:28:00.000-05:00

[Unlike what was suggested on Misterseed, I need to clarify that these are not my words. These are the words of a Gikuyu man with whom I was speaking. Certain possibly identifying details have been changed but not one word is my own. His thesis was not that "Kibaki should kill all the other tribes" as someone said on Mashada, but how can Kibaki as president watch his own being killed by the Kalenjin and do nothing to protect them. I was astonished to see that this die-hard Kibaki supporter was now extremely bitter about the perceived lack of action on Kibaki's part. -Silaha]

A Gikuyu's rant captured almost verbatim

What is wrong with Kibaki, why is he just sitting in State House? We voted for him and we're dying for voting for him yet he is doing nothing. He should protect his people. Kibaki is a do nothing president. Please try and tell me one thing that this guy has done. Useless Kibaki. One month and what has he done? The only places he has gone even in Nairobi are to Harambee House (because Kofi Annan insisted) and to open Parliament.

If there was a vote to be done again, Gikuyu would not wake up at six o'clock to vote for him. We would vote for Kalonzo or Uhuru before we vote for Kibaki who has shown such weakness it is unbeliveable. All he does is to drool and sleep, what a useless guy. What kind of president do we have? Or is he so sick that he cannot function? Did the grind of the campaign take a toll on him? Is he getting senile?

And you're telling me he is a normal guy? No way, this is not leadership. Visibility is important. Think about George W. Bush during Hurricane Katrina, during a crisis visibiliy of the leader, the CEO, is critical. Kibaki is doing zero, nothing. He is not even talking to people in Nairobi. The country is being run by thugs, Kalenjin thugs, Gikuyu thugs, Luo thugs ... being run by thugs.

Why is Kibaki not talking? Why is he not being presidential? Raila makes more statements than our own president. Maybe he should just go back to Muthaiga or to Othaya. That guy has lost marks ... he is a good president when things are good, but when there is a crisis he is a coward big time, or he is senile or sick, I don't know what he is.

Not even one Gikuyu MP is talking, they are shutting up. Is the collective Gikuyu leadership stupid or why are they not talking? During the 1992 clashes Nyanja and company used to talk, they used to say for every one Gikuyu who dies we'll kill two of theirs. Where is Martha Karua? Only Wangari Maathai has the guts to talk.

The Gikuyu have totally forgotten about Raila -- the Luo have been taken care of -- he's not the one who has sent Kalenjins to fight. Since Thursday last week when Nakuru erupted Raila has not been in the picture. There are two things on the Gikuyu mind, we are we being killed by the Kalenjin and where is our president? Where is he sleeping and why? Could you imagine this happening in Kenyatta's time? No way.

Even if this killing of the Gikuyu stops we know one thing, we don't have a leader, this guy cannot even control his own house. We'll have an enemy in the Luos and the Kalenjin, but we'll have an enemy in our own house. We do not have respect for our own leader. We should take things into our own hands, we should not expect help from any quarters.

No business is flowing? The Kalenjin have said that no business will go on. How are the Kalenjin able to function with impunity? Burning houses in front of the President. That day that the President was in Eldoret the Kalenjins had surrounded that location. The Gikuyu were afraid when the President was there. These Kalenjin are warriors.

What government do we have? Is this a government? And we're supposed to have a president? What president? Could you imagine what this would have been for the Agikuyu had Raila been elected president? We would have been destroyed. The Gikuyu right are undergoing crazy things right now all because of Kibaki's inaction. How can these things happen to the Gikuyu during the term of a Gikuyu president?

***

My brother had construction equipment in Sotik and he went there by matatu to go pick it up. When he got there the people told him not to talk Gikuyu. He had to hire a Luo flatbed truck to ship his equipment to Nairobi, but they insisted on driving through Narok to avoid Nakuru and other parts of North Rift. In Molo he saw Gikuyus walking towards Nakuru with their belongings on one side of the road, on the other side were Kalenjin youth with bows and arrows ensuring that all the Gikuyu vermin had left. What astounded him was that while the matatu he was in were being escorted by police but they did nothing about the thugs with bows and arrows.

In Nakuru a few nights ago Kalenjin youth came there in trucks in groups of 200 and they terrorized Nakuru. They only left when the Army was deployed because the police officers, who are mostly Kalenjin, would not do anthing to stop their Kalenjin compatriots from killing Gikuyu. I have relatives in Nakuru town who will not sleep in their houses because they are so afraid of Kalenjins burning their houses down in the middle of the night.

My own relatives are moving from Warubaga (Elburgon) and moving to our home in Kabete, because we have a useless president.

***

Things will return to normal when the Gikuyu and the Kalenjin decide that things will return to normal. The next move is that the Gikuyu will begin to protest against the President. And this will play right into ODM's hands.

Why Not Disarm The Mobs? And Who Polices The Policemen?

2008-01-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

Since the beginning of this fiasco I have watched many news reports and I have been wondering why the security forces are not disarming those people walking down the streets with machetes? What else could these thugs be using those weapons for if not to hack fellow Kenyans to death.

Then the security forces themselves are acting in an unacceptable manner. I am sure we have all seen the shocking footage of the policeman executing the "Man in Black". Simply shocking, but in my mind simply a continuation of the extra-judicial killings that began last year. What happened to the gentlemen policemen like the GSU bloke I saw on footage chatting firmly but amicably with Charity Ngilu. What have we become?

Neo Mau-Mau Presidential Candidate or The Wazees and Mugiki

2008-01-26T09:58:00.000-05:00

Do you know who got the fourth most votes in the recent presidential election?

I did not think you did. Joseph Ngacha Karani received 14,232 votes (according to the ECK – and we all know how well they count). His party has an innocuous sounding name Kenya Patriotic Trust Party, yet a little time spent on Google will disclose that Karani is the chairman of the Mau Mau Original Trust that has been raising money from ex-Mau Mau and their sympathizers ostensibly to fund a case for retribution against the British. In one newspaper article he is reported to have said:

We operate the way Mau Mau operated – secretly. Why should we disclose our secrets?

I originally became aware of this when Kivuitu mentioned it soon after the election. So why has nobody else picked up on that -- except for 14,232 other souls.

...

My heart bleeds for my country, our Kenya. This is not, however, a time for much reflection. We need to act and act with haste. The events in Nakuru yesterday and in Huruma Nairobi last weekend are not isolated incidents. They signal the rise of the militant Gikuyu response to the post election mayhem and with that Raila and Kibaki may have unleashed a monster that will not easily be contained.

Could it be that the Gikuyu have been planning a resurgence of the Mau-Mau for a while now? What the Luo/Kalenjin foot soldier may not realize is that they cannot eliminate the Gikuyu. The Railas and Rutos know this, but the average Onyango and Kip-whatever does not. They are fighting against an army that has been intact for 15 years. They will lose -- or more likely -- we will all lose.

The Wazees hated Mungiki when it was a "menace" and it interfered with their business interests, but now that a greater threat has come against Gikuyustan they will form (have formed?) an unholy alliance against the Kalenjin primarily but also the Luos and to some extent others. But they need to be careful. Michuki (one of the Wazees if there ever was one) said once "if you step on a snake expect to be bitten", well what happens when you get into bed with a snake?

Food for thought: Kenyatta knew nothing about the Muhimu the central Mau Mau leadership until it threatened him in September of 1952. What do the Wazees really know about Mungiki? Or, as earlier news reports suggested, have they already been threatened.

The Quad of Death: Kenya's North Rift Tinderbox

2008-01-11T12:55:00.001-05:00

(click on image for larger map)

Over the last few days I have been trolling the Internet capturing stories about the troubles and mob activity from various blogs and websites. It is becoming apparent that there is an area of the North Rift broadly bounded by Kericho, Nakuru, Kapsowar and Kericho where the clashes were most severe and, to quote Bishop Korir, probably planned. The heart of this Quad of Death is Eldoret.

If the ethnic cleansing was successful in this granary of our country how will we measure the cost both in human and economic terms. Even if the evictors are as capable and productive as the evicted there is a learning curve to everything so we will see a significant drop in output over the next few years. Are we ready for this? Can we be ready for this? How do we convince business owners and farmers who fear for their lives to return to their homes? Are they really their homes or does the land truly belong to the indigenous people?

Questions, questions. We'll need to address these issues or they will recur.

Worried.

Kenya Troubles -- View From North Rift

2008-01-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

Double 6 writes Conflict In Africa blog. He says:

I have considered Kenya home for over 4 years. In many senses, I feel I’ve come of age while living in this East African Eden. It does things to me that no other place has. I have always felt Kenya was different than other African countries.

After witnessing peaceful voting in Nairobi on the 27th, he left with a friend to drive to Uganda on the 29th, this is his story.

On December 29th I was driving with a friend towards Uganda. We were going on a safari for a few days to celebrate the New Year. To get to Uganda from Kenya you must drive through Nyanza,Western, and Rift Valley provinces, all ODM strongholds. We started to get text messages that things were stirring up in Nairobi with large groups of demonstrators taking to the streets. Shortly after learning of this, we pulled into the town of Eldoret. There was a strange vibe in the air. At one end of town the road had been blocked by huge boulders pushed across the road. We drove around them, and cautiously proceeded into town. We saw smoke burning at one end of town. We headed north on the road to the Malaba border. The street was lined with men, standing shoulder to shoulder, two or three deep. It was noon, but all of the shops were eerily closed. The men looked pensive, the crowd was charged; they pumped clinched fists. The air felt combustible. We hurriedly proceeded through town, swerving around a tire burning in the street. We then came to our first roadblock. Rowdy youths were beginning to congregate and had blocked the road with stones. We rolled up the windows and drove around them as they cheered, waving machetes, clubs, and rocks in the air. My heart rate went up and I felt adrenaline surge through my body. The Uganda border was an hour away. We proceeded, not knowing what was ahead. In minutes we met another roadblock, a larger crowd blocked our vehicle. We continued, unsure what to do. Then we came to several youths lying across the road, some sharpening their machetes by scraping them across the tarmac. I rolled down the window to negotiate. They demanded money and stated we couldn’t continue. Looking down the road we saw a crowd of at least 1,000 people blocking the road. Traffic ground to a halt. We were pinned. My friend JP turned the Landcruiser around and we conversed in quick, sudden bursts, fear oozing through the vehicle’s interior. Several more young men surrounded our car. One raised a boulder and threatened to throw it at the windshield. Another knocked the rear glass with a club. They began yelling. JP lunged the Landcruiser at a guy standing in our path. He dove out of the way and we quickly accelerated back towards Eldoret, clearly shaken.

At the junction with the Kitale road, all transport trucks and cars had pulled off the side of the road. I chatted with several people. They said fighting had started in Eldoret, the town we’d passed through 30 minutes ago. We inquired about the Kitale road. We decided to give it a try. Within 10 minutes, just south of the village of Soy, we met another angry mob. They were shouting ODM party slogans and demanding that the ECK pronounce the winner. Most of the protestors were ethnic Luos and Kalenjins. They began to take out their political frustrations on ethnic Kikuyus. This is one of the reasons they were blocking the road. They were looking for supporters of PNU (Kibaki’s party), angered by fears that the votes were being manipulated. We couldn’t proceed and again turned around. The uncertainty of what was unfolding was most unsettling. We were trapped. We had been blocked and threatened in both directions. Civil unrest simmered, while political frustrations fueled ethnic conflict. Luckily, a few hundred meters back there was an army barracks. We pulled in and drove up to the heavily guarded gate to shelter with several other travelers who sought refuge from the uncertainty of the mob. A Kikuyu driver was hiding with his vehicle. He was clearly afraid. Fighting back tears, he said that he was forced to lock himself in his room and hide under his bed earlier in the day. Another group of Kikuyus fearing retribution from the frenzied mob, hid in a shelter near the barracks. I went and spoke to them. They were terrified. The soldiers guarding the base assured us protection.

No cars were moving. Then the mob went on a rampage, and started raiding shops and homes on the road a few hundred meters in front of us. One man ran for his life. I was sure I was about to witness him being beaten to death. I witnessed his beating, but he managed to get up and run. His attackers didn’t pursue. We stood there, with our ringside seats to this sick event, paralyzed by this sudden onslaught of violence. Now I know this was not an isolated incident. It was merely the start to a bloodletting that has been going on for three days. After several hours of remaining in the shadows of soldiers who had assured us protection, the crowd dispersed and cars started to move again. We waited a while and then also proceeded, wheeling back onto the road to Kitale.

I studied my Kenya map and found several rough roads that went east and south, avoiding towns and villages. It was the only way to get back to where we came from and away from the violence, without passing through Eldoret. The day was getting late and we needed to be off the road by nightfall. We were staying in touch with other friends and colleagues around the country who were also bracing for whatever was coming. Thankfully our cell phones continued to work. JP pushed the Landcruiser hard as we raced south towards Iten, and then into the Kerio Valley. We climbed up the eastern side of the valley and entered the town of Kabarnet. Things were quiet, but a clear tension was felt. The interactions on the street were not those of a typical day at dusk in a rural Kenyan town. Something was amiss, astir. We filled up with diesel and considered our options. Two other friends were already camping within the compound of a hotel next to Lake Bogoria. They were about an hour away and had reported no problems in their area. Deciding it was the best option, we blasted out of town and slipped down towards the village of Marigat in darkness. Within an hour we reached the Lake Bogoria Hotel where our friends were camping. We put up our tents and began swapping stories.

Will Raila Link Derail Obama's Candidacy?

2008-01-10T19:46:00.000-05:00

I have this eerie sense of foreboding that Kenya's troubles will have significant negative impact on US presidential contender Barack Obama. As an Obama supporter, I am concerned because I think the link could possibly ultimately derail his campaign, or at least put it into major damage control mode. I don't think that Kenya's post election problems, in and of themselves, would have had a negative impact on Obama -- Americans recognize that everybody is originally from somewhere -- had it not been for Raila's recent assertion that "Obama's father was his maternal uncle". Those are words that Obama will come to regret deeply.

The level of scrutiny that US presidential candidates are subjected to is totally and unashamedly intrusive. (Not anything that Raila could ever imagine.) Every pup journalist in the US (and an old dogs or two around the world too) wants to break the next big story. By claiming kin hood to Obama, Raila has opened himself up to this same scrutiny. He will wish that he had not. Everything about Raila -- his education (in communist East Germany), his businesses (oil trading as Minister of Energy), his son's name (Fidel Castro), his Hummer, his wealth (so how exactly does a politician in one of the poorest countries in the world become that rich, there are reports on the internet claiming that he is worth about US$60 million), even the odd thing or twenty that Raila himself may have long forgotten -- is going to be uncovered in the next few weeks. Probably most concerning to the American populace will be his MOU with the Muslims and his endorsement by NAMLEF (National Muslim Leaders Forum) supposedly because of Kibaki's "renditioning of Muslims to Guantanamo, Ethiopia and Somalia".

There are things that Raila has done, I am sure, that, while they may not be illegal or even unethical in Kenya, would not be kosher in the US, and the US media and blogosphere will measure these actions with a US yardstick. (American's are not renowned for their empathy.)

I think this is unfortunate, even if they truly related -- more than the sense that all Luos are related or all Gikuyus are sons and daughters of Mumbi -- Obama should be evaluated on his own merits. But Obama has built a relationship with Raila (or vice versa) and when Obama was in Kenya he was often seen in Raila's company. I can see it now... Raila and Obama are cousins, Raila studied in East Germany and named his son Fidel Castro, Raila is friendly with Muslims and thus against the War on Terror -- his supporters even burned women and children in a Christian church -- (a stretch I know, but they will say it), Raila and Obama are not just cousins, they are friends, Obama's middle name is Hussein, therefore Obama is not going to continue the War on Terror. Not logically sound, but brace yourselves ... expect it.

The scrutiny has already begun.

On the Kenya front the newly disclosed kinship may similarly work against Raila. The US presidency is far bigger than anything Kenyan -- after all the US has about 25% of the world GDP. I expect that Raila will get a more than gentle nudge from his dear cousin to settle this post election impasse like yesterday even if he has to acquiesce. "Come on cuz, if I win this far bigger thing we will settle this Kibaki thing once and for all, trust me."

Oh, things are getting more interesting by the moment.

Cellar Group: Citizen's Solution for Lasting Peace

2008-01-10T16:26:00.000-05:00

The Cellar Group has come back with another iteration of their document (I published the earlier version a few days ago). I think they have advanced their thinking considerably. Here goes.

CITIZEN’S SOLUTION FOR LASTING PEACE

We the citizens of Kenya went to the polls on December 27, 2007 to elect a new government. However, the election has resulted in a stalemate. Following this, we the citizens would like to observe the following:
• Both sides of the divide have substantial support across the country, with over 4 million of us voting for each of the two leading presidential candidates, Hon. Raila Odinga and Hon. Mwai Kibaki.
• We the citizens are disheartened at the loss of life, destruction of property and the increasing polarization of our people. We observe that the current situation has created an opportunity for the emergence of criminal gangs that are harassing us. We fear that if the situation is not addressed, things could get worse.
• We also recognize that the current conflict reflects shortcomings in the electoral process as well as in our constitutional order. Of particular concern are issues of regional and economic equity and opportunity.
• In our view that unless the two of you work together, the country will remain deeply divided and unstable.
• It is our view that a power‐sharing arrangement is critical as a way forward.
• We appeal to you, Hon. Mwai Kibaki and Hon. Raila Odinga, to lead us out of this state of hopelessness by considering the Citizens Solution for a Lasting Peace outlined below.

Proposed Structure of Government

Head of State (President and Commander‐in‐Chief) – 5 year term
Appoints with parliamentary approval:
• Minister for Internal Security & Defense
• Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Judicial Service Commission and Public
• Service Commission

Head of Government (Executive Prime Minister) – 5 year term
Appoints with parliamentary approval all
• Other ministers according to a pre‐agreed party mix and regional balance formula
• Chairs Cabinet

Notes
• First order of parliamentary business will be to fast‐track legislation to entrench the above structure
• For all constitutional offices and senior government and parastatal positions, Public Service Commission and Judicial Service Commission will perform recruiting and vetting and then submit shortlist to the Head of Government with a view to national diversity IPPG becomes law and is operationalized
• Adoption of PRSP as the over‐arching development plan of the country
• Judicial Service Commission to appoint judges subject to parliamentary vetting
• Staggered 5‐year term for Head of State and Head of Government

National Reconstruction (Medium Term)
To implement the above government structure and to heal the deep divisions among the people, the following activities must start immediately and continue:
• Immediate joint initiatives for peace including weekly Joint Peace Rallies and call for return to calm.
• Urgent repatriation and resettlement of displaced people
• Independent review and improvements in the electoral law and process going forward and reconstitution of joint election commission
• Infrastructure Marshall Plan with regional balance as a priority and strengthening of Regional Development Authorities
• Funded Land Restitution Mechanism administered to the principles that every Kenyan has the right to live in any part of the country and that local people in every community should be facilitated to own land in their own community
• Significant expansion of the Constituency Development Funds and establishment of ministry to administer it
• Repayment Commission where those alleged to have illegally acquired property return it in exchange for immunity from future prosecution
• Affirmative Action (special attention in all government activities and allocations to regional balance and economic equity)

Send comments to: citizensolution@gmail.com

Kenya Troubles -- View From Jamhuri Park

2008-01-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

I found Nairobi TypO's blog today and she has a heart wrenching story about the lives of the 4,000 internally displaced people seeking refugees at Jamhuri Park.

My Tuesday started with the good news that the Association agreed to donate money to a local charity that is working on the ground with displaced people here in Nairobi. We were also lucky enough to have a guest speaker, Merry, speak on behalf of the Jamii Bora Trust and tell us what was going on in Jamhuri Park which has become a haven for internally displaced people (refugees) who have been affected by the post election violence.

The picture she painted was so vivid that I immediately asked around the table if anyone was going to the Park to volunteer and if I could tag along. Spice, a Kenyan friend of mine, said that she had been there on Saturday and would be happy to take me around the next day to see what was going on.

This morning, I spent two amazing hours at Jamhuri Park and saw firsthand what was going on there. Currently being run in conjunction with the Red Cross, the National Alliance of Churches, Map International, World Relief, and other local organizations, the grounds are currently home to over 4,000 people, over half of whom are children. After registering, the “guests” are given access to food, water, counseling, medication, and most importantly, security.

Our first stop was a building that usually housed agricultural displays but was now home to more than 50 people who slept on its cement floors. Although most people in this room had a mattress on which to sleep, not everyone was so lucky. This would also be the first of many times over the next few hours that we would hear about people not having enough food or blankets despite reports to the contrary from the organizers we spoke with.

Sleeping spaces are first come, first serve. So people who have been here longer were able to obtain covered spots to sleep. Those who have arrived more recently, and those we saw registering today, will likely have to sleep outside in the arena. I asked how people slept under the mosquito nets I saw being readied for distribution, if they were sleeping under the stars. One of the volunteers said that some people wrap themselves up in the nets but most have to do without – this despite the huge number of mosquitoes that have been in the area lately.

The next sleeping area I was taken to had families of 3 to 6 people sleeping in cinderblock areas that are probably normally used for vendors. The three-sided blocks are about 2 meters by 4 meters and plastic sheeting to form the door or fourth wall. The first “cube” we visited had a different family in it than Spice had met last week as the old family had left to live with families in a local shamba.

Families, many of whom were busy cooking meals, occupied most of these cubes. One mother explained that her kids were not being given enough food so she had to find extra food and ask the volunteers for cooking oil.

Next to the cubes was a small area where people placed their rubbish to be burned. This too, we were told, was home to several men who slept there at night.

I asked one of the organizers about the police presence in Jamhuri Park and was told that they had not had many problems and that the police made people feel safe. The previous night some men from Kibera had crossed the arena wall to bring in a man who was accused of raping children. The men, he told us, knew there were police in Jamhuri who could help them.

The police were also there to deal with what may have once been called petty theft. We saw one crippled man who was talking to several officers about how his clothes had been stolen. A few shirts might not seem like much, but when that’s all you have in the world – the loss isn’t that petty.

I realize that today’s blog is getting long so I will finish my tale tomorrow by telling you more about the food situation, why some people won’t be able to go home for a while, and why that worries many of the organizers.

Cellar Group: Citizens Pathway to the Future

2008-01-09T21:06:00.001-05:00

A group of concerned professional Kenyans met at the Cellar Restaurant at Valley Arcade, Nairobi and produced this document that they are going to share with Raila and Kibaki.

A stellar job and part of the reason why I am convinced that we have the capacity (with a little international facilitation perhaps) to come up with a creative Kenyan solution to this very Kenyan problem.

1 Citizens pathway to the future

An analytical framework to inform efforts at resolving the current impasse

At this unfortunate stage in our nation’s history, we have come together as a group of professionals to offer some analytical input into the current situation with a view to guiding efforts aimed at achieving national reconciliation, healing and return to the development path that Kenya is known for the world over.
The analytical framework includes six elements together with a 7th on how this input may be shared with other interested groups and the media and begin to bring sobriety to the present tragic situation. The six elements include:
Key pre-election issues: We highlight some of the key pre-election issues that are a feature of our society and based on how these were dealt with during the campaign period, may have accentuated divisions and continue to contribute to the hard-line positions taken by the major protagonists;
The election process and its impact: Here, we capture a synopsis of the election process and how it has impacted on the current situation;
The case for negotiation for the two protagonists: We present the propelling case for both President Kibaki and Hon Raila Odinga to come to the negotiating table;
The path to, and consequences of failure: We extrapolate how the current hard-line positions could pan out to what may appear to be short-term success for the protagonists but will ultimately lead to failure of Kenya as the nation we know today;
Possible negotiation agenda: We highlight the key issues that need to be negotiated to come to a settlement that will not only solve the current crisis, but also strengthen national institutions to guard against possible recurrence of similar situations in the future;
Post-crisis negotiated scenario: Predicated on successful negotiations, we paint a picture of how the present dark circumstances could transform into a possible desired future that we can all be proud of and earn Kenya pride of place among the international community.
Sharing and dissemination: This sets out the possible approaches to sharing this framework with a view to putting on the agenda of the key protagonists as well as in the public domain.
The group that has deliberated this framework brings to the table professional experience, objective analysis and integrative complexity that enables all actors to obtain a broader perspective of the present circumstances, likely outcomes and possible pathway to a positive future. We believe Kenya has the capacity to emerge from the present circumstances a stronger nation.

1.1 Key pre-election issues
The current national crisis may be traced back to a number of historical issues that are a key feature of our society and which need deeper analysis and specific policies to manage them as they cannot be wished away. During the pre-election process, the key ones that were used to accentuate divisions and whip up emotions include:
Transition failure: The NARC Government that came into power in 2002 was elected on a reform platform to redress both the political and economic failures of previous Governments. Whilst there are some credible gains on the economic front, little attention has been paid to the building of a robust political institutional framework and restitutional justice. On the contrary, efforts at political reform and redressing historical injustices have been thwarted by the Government including in the lead up to the elections. The continued focus on the economic pillar with little regard for political reforms has left the country with a strong foundation on one side and a crumbling one on the other. The pursuit of an economic agenda at the exclusion of political reforms has been demonstrated to be unsustainable by the current crisis. This had already been foreseen as a possible outcome in “Kenya at the crossroads: Scenarios for our Future” published by the Institute of Economic Affairs in April 2000.
Class/ access to resources/ exclusion/ us and them: The issues of inequality and inequity were used to bring out class divisions and to highlight how some groups have been denied access to economic resources and thus continuing to exclude them from economic activity and further impoverishing them. These issues were targeted at particular regions (Rift valley, Nyanza, Nairobi, North Eastern and Coast provinces), as well as the youth. The culprits were identified as the ruling class who happen to comprise largely one community, as well as the Asian community particularly in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu;
Ethnic tensions: Ethnic divisions go back to pre-colonial times and the country has yet to come to terms with the reality of our ethnic diversity and see this as a source of wealth rather than a basis for heightening divisions. Unfortunately, the election campaigns were characterized by a whipping up of emotions and ‘demonising’ of particular ethnic groups leading to the current rift in the country (the Luo as violent and hungry for power and any candidate from the community being unelectable; the Kikuyu as arrogant, selfish, domineering, and unwilling to share economic gains with any other community; the Kalenjin as corrupt or beneficiaries of corruption).
Disregard for the rule of law: In the lead up to the elections, we saw state-sanctioned disregard for the rule of law on the one part (whether this be Matatus, hawkers, and the dolling out of development goodies), and violence visited upon opponents and their supporters with impunity. This may have further fanned the powder keg that ignited in the last days of the tallying process and escalated into a national crisis after the announcement of the final results.
Campaign financing resulting in strong vested interests in each camp which may be contributing to the hard-line positions taken there is need to take cognizance of these issues and draw lessons on how the treatment of these issues may have contributed to the current crisis. More importantly, we must identify more responsible approaches for managing some of these deep rooted issues especially in pre-election periods. Key amongst the approaches is establishing the institutional framework for policing the campaign process to ensure that these do not accentuate divisions and spread hate the way the last campaign did.
1.2 The election process and its impact

Since the late 90s, there has been a comprehensive programme of civic education mainly undertaken by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) with the support of various international Development Partners. This together with the voter registration campaign resulted in increased civic awareness by a large section of the population, and especially the youth. As a result, the number of registered voters increased from about 9m in 2002 to over14m at the time of the election in 2007. The result of this civic and voter education was considerable improvement in democratic empowerment and the realization by the people of Kenya that they indeed had the power to determine how they are governed.

This civic awareness manifested itself in individual commitment and sacrifice by voters to turn-out in large numbers on election day to make their democratic choice. This also provided the point of individual involvement and responsibility for the present circumstances. As was evidenced on election day, most voters believed that they had fulfilled their civic duty and it was now up to the ECK to play its role of ensuring free, fair and transparent elections that would reflect the will of the people. This appeared to be going on well with the counting and public release of results. By the end of day on Friday 28th December, there appeared to have been acceptance that Hon Raila Odinga was poised to be the next President of Kenya and even those constituents who may have voted for the opposite camp appeared to be resigning themselves to such an eventuality. And then the disputes begun to emerge on Saturday 29th December and by Sunday 30th, the election results appeared to have taken a dramatic turn in favour of the incumbent. Going by the objections that had begun to be raised, the delays experienced in announcing some results, and the pictures of chaos emerging from various tallying centres, the credibility of the results, particularly the presidential poll, begun to be put in question. The circumstances under which the final presidential results were announced and subsequent hurried swearing-in did nothing to allay the fears that had been raised about the results.
Before and after the announcement of the final results, a number of people came forward to present evidence which indicated that the final result announced by ECK may not have been accurate and therefore subverted the will of the people. Those who thought that the results had robbed them off their democratic choice had already begun to express their anger and frustration even before the final announcement and this has now culminated into national crisis of a scale never imagined in this country. Suddenly, this became a traumatic incident that we had all individually contributed to through our voting as well as the debates we were having and the inner sentiments we harboured about the possible outcomes. This personal involvement by virtually every member of the populace perhaps explains why the circumstances have gripped the nation the way they have.

A number of conclusions can be made of the election process and its impact:
Individual Kenyans had invested heavily in the process and therefore had a stake in the results. Many people remain baffled by the turn of events and wonder how their positive contribution by voting could have led to such negative and painful outcome for them.
The conduct of the ECK and party agents both and constituency tallying centres and at KICC left a lot to be desired and considerably undermined the credibility of the results;
Flawed as it was, the final result indicated that no one candidate received the popular mandate of the majority of Kenyans. Each of the leading candidates had more Kenyans voting AGAINST them than those who voted FOR them;
Fundamental issues remain that need to be addressed if Kenyans are to restore faith in the electoral process. Such issues include a re-tallying of the votes, amendment to electoral laws and regulations, as well as constitutional reforms to address the shortfalls identified.
As a search for reconciliation continues, the priority should be placed on:
Putting an immediate stop to the violence and destruction of property following the flawed elections:
Bringing closure to the election through a re-tallying of votes or otherwise agreeing on the result;
Administrative, legal and constitutional changes to address the institutional weaknesses identified by the election fiasco.
1.3 The case for negotiation for Kibaki and Raila

Both President Kibaki and Hon Raila, as well as their parties appear to have taken a hard-line position that does not lend itself to dialogue and a negotiated settlement. However, both need to realize that they have a major stake and interests that make it necessary for each of them to come to the negotiating table at the earliest opportunity. That is what we, as citizens are calling for.

As the incumbent, President Kibaki has a lot to lose from the present circumstances. To start with, his five year legacy has gone down the drain overnight. Kibaki promised improved economic performance, the events of the last few days will see the economy perform dismally leading to lower domestic revenues and growth rate worse than what we saw during the worst Moi years. Kibaki promised democratic empowerment but the impact of the post election situation is a reversal of virtually every gain made over the last five years – more than half the population feel disenfranchised and the gains made in opening up the democratic space have been eroded – especially media freedom. Kibaki promised national unity but the country is now more divided than it has ever been at any other time in our history. In addition, Kibaki has identified himself as a champion for business but the current circumstances will see most of the business constituents suffering considerable losses which could lead to their reconsidering support for the president. Some sectors are already projecting significant losses, including total collapse of some the sectors. The Kibaki Government came in with the agenda of restoring international respectability for Kenya but the current situation has dented the country’s image almost beyond repair as the world watches horrific images emanating from the country on virtually every international media. Above all, this being Kibaki’s last term, however long that lasts, it is in Kibaki’s interest to leave the country on a firm footing for greater development as envisioned in Vision 2030 which PNU run on rather than have the dubious distinction of being the president who led Kenya to disintegration and failure. The case for negotiation for President Kibaki is predicated on how he wishes to fulfill the interests of his core constituent and the legacy he leaves behind. This has a very personal implication for the president. How this crisis is resolved could very well determine whether President Kibaki is able to live in this country after his exit from State House – and the timing of such exit.

On his part, Hon Raila Odinga also has a strong case to come to the negotiating table. He mobilized considerable resources from his financiers and backers on the promise of good governance but what we are seeing now cannot be described does not qualify as good governance in any shape or form. Hon Raila may argue that he does not hold the instruments of power to deal with the situation and that the responsibility lies with President Kibaki. However, Raila cannot altogether wash his hands off the situation and yet continue to claim legitimate leadership. In his final submission to voters, Raila was categorical about various things that “he will not do”. Key among these was the promise not to divide Kenyans on whatever basis. The current scenario is definitely one that a Raila government would not do. Raila needs to climb on the same platform and show Kenyans that indeed he will not watch as Kenya disintegrates along class, ethnic and political divides. He has a high stake and interests that need to be protected through a negotiated position.
Hon Raila promised the business community, including the Nairobi Stock Exchange that his leadership would not introduce a level of instability that would undermine the gains so far made. Hon Raila needs to come forward and demonstrate that he can stem the loss to the business community rather than exacerbate it in his singular pursuit of power.

Hon Raila also went to great lengths to allay the fears of the Kikuyu that they had nothing to fear in his leadership – this is not what is being experience on the ground and Hon Raila needs to come forward in a statesmanlike and presidential manner to demonstrate that, if indeed he is the legitimate leader he is, as confirmed by over 4m Kenyans, that he can use this popular mandate to stop the violence rather than being seen to be sacrificing the community in resolving the disagreement with President Kibaki. If his leadership credentials are to remain intact, Raila has a moral responsibility to stop the violence and contribute to restoring order in the country.

Hon Raila’s campaign was supported by many stakeholders who hoped to reap the benefits of good governance. Raila needs to participate in a negotiated settlement and be a participant in delivering the good governance he promised. This will enable his backers to reap the dividends they anticipated from his contribution to positive change in the country.

Ultimately, Raila’s campaign was run on a platform of ‘Transformative leadership’, a complete break with the poor governance that we have experienced since independence and which has resulted in the impoverishment of the bulk of the population. This promise resonated well with the population and in particular the youth and should be safeguarded if Hon Raila is to have claim to national leadership in future. As matters stand now, the country is quickly degenerating into a basket case and Raila or any other leader will not have a country to speak of that can be transformed. History will judge any of our present leaders very harshly if they are seen to have stood by as spectators as the country disintegrated. Depending on how he deals with the situation, Hon Raila could also find himself having to seek a new abode outside the country and may very well end up as Kibaki’s neighbour in some African country that is willing to receive both of them.

Hon Raila’s case for negotiation is predicated on the promise of transformation and real change as well the hope he offers the emerging generation and in particular the youth. These are the ones who have the highest stake, and therefore the most to lose from a disintegrated Kenya. This core constituent will demand that Raila actively engages in resolving the current crisis and put the country on a path to a positive future.

1.4 The pathways to, and consequences of failure

Each of the protagonists could maintain their hard-line position and this is a sure recipe for failure with far reaching consequences for them as individuals and for Kenya as a country.

President Kibaki and PNU’s position is that they won the election and anybody who is dissatisfied with the results should go to court. This position fails to recognize the anomalies in the election process which have been highlighted by various groups. It also fails to recognize that more than 50% of the voters did not vote for the president and that PNU has less than 25% of the parliamentary seats.

It appears that the President and PNU are confident that they can weather the current insecurity and vandalism – for that is what they see it as. Followed to its logical conclusion, this could mean that the president could cobble together a coalition government and continue to run the country in a ‘business-as-usual’ manner.
On Hon Raila’s and ODM’s part, their hard-line position is that they won the election and it was stolen from them. Their agenda now is to take back what is rightfully theirs and get President Kibaki to concede and somehow handover power to Raila and ODM. Short of this, ODM will continue with a protest campaign until the Kibaki Government gets to admit the injustice that has been committed against Kenyans or is forced out of office through mass action.

Raila and ODM’s position does not appear to take cognizance of the voting patterns – that again more than 50% of the population did not vote for Raila and that more than 50% of the parliamentary seats were won by other parties other than ODM.

If both camps maintain their hard-line positions, this is a recipe for failure. In order to understand how these hard-line positions could still prevail, we need to identify the key stakeholders on each side. On both sides of political divide, we have Kibaki/Raila at the top, there is the PNU top leadership or ODM Pentagon, key backers, and financiers whose main concern will be their interests - that the country is able to continue to run and that they can recoup the economic gains from the support they have provided to the campaign. This category is unlikely to accept any settlement that does not provide them the opportunity to reap the benefits of their support – and that means their man has to be on top, for this category it is all or nothing! However, if their man is not able to deliver, they may quickly ditch him and seek the next best alternative to deliver the gains that they seek. This is one of the sources of the real risk that both Kibaki and Raila may find themselves unwelcome in this country if they are unable to come to a negotiated settlement.

Then there are the newly elected parliamentarians who are torn between holding out until they can realize their expectations of positions in Government, or accelerating their swearing into parliament to enable them to replenish their exhausted finances. On the one hand this group could prolong the crisis but it is more likely that they may want a quicker settlement and one that does not require them to go through the election process again. This could encourage Kibaki to believe that he can form a coalition Government from a cross section of parliamentarians, especially since the new Politic Parties Act is not yet operational.

At the bottom of the pyramid on both sides of the divide are the citizens who are being used as pawns and facing the brunt of the crisis. For the civic aware, the resolution will require a commitment on both sides to build a robust political institutional framework that will guard against any future crisis. For ordinary citizens, their main quest is an improved quality of life and ironically, the crisis may present the bulk of the poor with the opportunity to access the resources they have been denied for so long. Whether it is through rent-seeking road blocks, looting or invasion of the properties of the rich – this could turn out to be a class crisis of such proportions than could ever have been envisaged by the protagonists.

If both sides of the divide dig in, President Kibaki could form a coalition Government with ODM Kenya and other smaller parties and use state might to overcome the resistance from ODM. This would prove to be a hugely unstable environment with little prospect of the economic gains expected by his core supporters. Ultimately, President Kibaki could end up impoverishing the country even more and the result would be his alienation even by his closest supporters. On this pathway, failure would mean that the country continues to suffer disruption, economic growth comes to a halt or even decline, and the country degenerates even further into chaos. President Kibaki would not last the full five-year term in State House and it may even be untenable for him to remain in the country. This scenario would cost all stakeholders on Kibaki’s side – him personally, his key backers and financiers, the members of parliament in his Government and ultimately the general population. The impact of such state failure would be far reaching and take considerable time to restore any semblance of normalcy.

On their part Raila and ODM could maintain their hard-line stance and continue with mass action to force Kibaki out of power. For such a strategy to succeed, Raila and ODM have to be prepared to continue to stretch the security forces on many fronts, including bringing the country to the brink of civil war, until they make the country so ungovernable that they create the opportunity to take over the presidency. Given the current situation, that could take anywhere between six to over 24 months. Business comes to a standstill and we have to go out begging for resources. This could also result on a strain on regional economies to a point of near collapse – however, our neighbors will not sit back and watch as their economies are damaged and raising new political and governance issues for their own countries. On its part, the international community will continue to be concerned as they shoulder some of the responsibilities for Kenya’s failure, including having to cater for large numbers of displaced people as well as the disruption in the regional economies, some of them still very fragile. This could result in sanctions against Kenya and being seen more as a pariah state.
The result of such a campaign could mean a number possible scenarios: short term success for Raila and ODM, but long-term failure for Kenya as the country we know today; long term failure for ODM and Kenya as a country; short-term failure for Kenya but long term success as the country is rebuilt on a more firm political foundation. The conviction by ODM that they could deliver this long-term success could result in a more drawn out conflict. However, the success of such a long drawn out campaign would depend on the appetite that the key backers, financiers and citizens have for extended losses and suffering. It is unlikely that any of these stakeholders would withstand extended hardships and they may very well turn against Raila and ODM. This could mean immediate failure for Raila and ODM as Kenyans take back the agenda. In such an eventuality, Raila may also find his stay in the country becomes untenable.

1.5 Possible negotiation agenda

Once the protagonists are convinced to come to the negotiating table, the following could form part of the negotiation agenda:
Beginning the national healing - bring an end to the violence – cooperative effort by all parties including bringing on board the post-serious incident therapy professionals.
Trust and confidence building measures for the political players need to be instituted
Election closure
Composition and duration of an Interim Government/ Government of National Unity.
Priority agenda for the Interim Government/ Government of National Unity (take account of some of the key issues that have accentuated divisions);
Administrative, legal and constitutional reforms before the next election;
Presidential or National Elections after Interim/ GNU
Global agenda to restore international respectability
1.6 Post-crisis negotiated scenario – a new dawn

If handled with sobriety and enlightened leadership, Kenya can still emerge from the current situation as a strong nation that has its pride of place among nations of the world. We can all return to one common purpose, one that unites us together in the development of our nation:

To earn and uphold our pride of place among nations as a sovereign and remarkable country of outstanding people enjoying a high quality of life

The Kenya that emerges from the present circumstances could be thus described:
To earn and uphold our pride of place among nations: We are competitive; We have a vision of where we want to be; all our efforts are focused on that vision; We are proudly Kenyan. This pride of place is ‘earned’, we have put specific effort to win it.
Kenya as a sovereign country: We are patriotic and proud to be Kenyan. We govern ourselves and safeguard our territorial integrity
Kenya as a remarkable country: we welcome all to celebrate our natural endowment; we are well-governed; we achieve amazing results despite the challenges have faced and continue to encounter; we deliver remarkable investment returns; We will be known for high standards and diligence globally; we will be talked of because of what we have achieved, because of our level of discipline and respect for the rule of law, because everything works!
Outstanding people: our diversity is our strength and wealth; our culture and values stand out; we have well developed human resource, and place a premium on innovativeness; our people are recognized for excellence in whatever we do, wherever we are in the world.
High quality of life: justice and equity, majority live in ‘Maslow’s’ third tier; we welcome all well-meaning citizens of the world to come and enjoy this quality of life.
The major hallmarks on the new Kenya would be:
Democracy thrives
Respect for the rule of law
A robust political institutional framework
Economic growth and improved quality of life
Regional and International respectability.
1.7 Sharing and dissemination

This framework will be reviewed and amended by the group before a final version is agreed and signed off. The signed off version will then be presented to major actors including:

The key protagonists;
Other political actors
Civil Society
Business and professional associations
The Media
International development partners
It is hoped that the framework would be widely discussed and guide the path to reconciliation and healing from the present circumstances. We remain positive and hopeful that Kenya has the wherewithal to competently manage the present crisis and emerge a stronger nation.

What happened in Kenya?!

2008-01-09T01:43:00.000-05:00

I posted this on Jesp's blog, then I realized I had gone on and on so I thought I would post it here (and bore the rest of you as well). Lucky you.

To rehash an overused simile the troubles in Kenya are like an iceberg. What the world saw -- people supposedly rioting because of a flawed election -- is but the tip. As most Tanzanians will tell you (and me and everyone else) we Kenyans been pretty challenged when it comes to trying to forge an national identity over a tribal one. (As with any family the only exception to this is when there is an external threat e.g. Osama's 1998 bombing.)

No matter what politicians say this emphasis on tribe is promoted by them because it suits their interests. Our leaders have traditionally been very corrupt and the most of the patronage/largess has been typically bestowed on their ethnic communities to ensure a solid core of support, so the losing community saw this as a "missed opportunity to eat" at the corruption trough.

To further exacerbate things there is the Gikuyu issue. The Gikuyu (frequently referred to as Kikuyu) don't have much land around their traditional Central Kenya area so they have migrated to other less densely populated areas. Much of this migration has been subsidized by Gikuyu lead governments at the expense of other communities.

In the build up to the elections the opposition -- primarily Raila and Ruto -- stoked these sentiments of Gikuyu domination in their supporters. So after the results were announced the opposition publicly cried foul and claimed that Kibaki had "stolen the election" and that set off an unfortunate series of barbaric ethnic-cleansing type acts. It was a powder keg waiting to explode, and explode it did.

I am confident that Kenya will not descend into a Rwandaesque situation. This is all about poverty, resources and equity. If we build our institutions and address corruption and inequity much of this will go away. We are a resourceful people and we will find a Kenyan solution to this very Kenyan problem. Kenya will emerge stronger for it. But that will be hard work and there are many powerful people who are benefiting from the status quo who will want to keep things the way they are.

I think I have talked for too long.

-Silaha

Kenya Troubles -- A View From Kibera

2008-01-09T00:41:00.000-05:00

Africa Expat Wife is a "35 year old housewife who does no housework" based in Nairobi, she has written the story of her former askari

Thursday, January 03, 2008 Our ex night watchman in Kibera slum

We spoke to our ex night watchman on the phone today. He lives in Kibera slum and we have been informally sponsoring him for a couple of years. Having lost all his belongings in the crisis (see previous post), he has been stuck inside his home for some days. A neighbor has lent him a mattress and they have enough flour for only one more meal tonight.

He fears going out of his home, as all Kibera residents are being challenged over which tribe they belong to by the agitated mob. He does not want to get involved in any violence, so has been too afraid to venture out for the last four days.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008 Our ex-askari paid us a visit from Kibera today

Our ex–night watchman who lives in Kibera slum, managed to get out for long enough to come and see us at home today. He described the situation there in plain terms and it still seems to be a hell of a mess (unsurprisingly).

His house was looted when he went out looking for food and his children were alone in the house. They stood aside whilst looters took everything they could carry: clothes, shoes, mattresses, sheets, food, cups, plates, saucepans, flasks and a paraffin stove.

He said that the victims of violent attacks in Kibera since the election were made up of four tribes; Nubian, Meru, Kikuyu and Kamba. Their businesses and houses have been burned, many have been raped (two of his Kikuyu neighbors were raped and are now in a Women’s hospital, but men have been raped too). There are now no kiosks left to sell food in Kibera and each time our friend ventured out of the slum for supplies, he was turned back by police who blocked anyone from leaving Kibera on the assumption that they were on their way to one or other of the ODM rallies supposed to take place in the town center.

Many areas where there were once kiosks have been decimated; ‘now there are parts of Kibera that just look like a field, there's nothing.’ The second hand market called ‘Toi Market’ on the outskirts of Kibera (where I have shopped for mitumba clothes many times), has also been burned to the ground.

I asked about the Red Cross food donations and he said that he has seen a Red Cross truck delivering supplies twice, once today and once yesterday. ‘The problem is that people crush around the vehicle, even before it has stopped, preventing anything from being distributed fairly. The Luos get first pick.’

I asked how old the violent protesters in the slum were and he replied; ‘They are very young boys, all boys, most of them between 15 and 23 years old. I can’t understand them; it is as if they have gone mad and they don’t understand that the people they are fighting for are comfortable and not at risk. I don’t know why they are doing this; they have spoiled Kibera for everyone.’

We gave him a mattress, plates, cups, mugs, thermos flasks and money but he explained: ‘I cannot bring too much into Kibera at once. If I carry two mattresses and lots of bags then people will believe I have been given them by the Government, and I will be attacked.’

He squirreled the cups etc. into a small backpack and made an arrangement to pick up a second mattress and some clothes from my husband’s office tomorrow. He said he thanks God that his family are all safe and as i gave him a lift back to near the slum he added; ‘Many people won’t help us at home, or even give us a shilling because they know we are HIV positive and they think we will just die soon. They don’t understand that we have already been living with this illness for 15 years and then you think of all those who died in the violence last week, who had probably had no HIV and were not expecting to die? You never know what is going to happen but we pray for ourselves and our future.’

Gazing Into A Crystal Ball...Or The Next 5 Years

2008-01-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

Kibaki has named "half" his cabinet. Mmm... I guess that now that the killing has stopped we’re into a political chess game. And it appears that Kibaki's shrewd moves are giving him the upper hand. I must say that when I first heard the announcement this morning my reaction was sheer disbelief then I read his "half a cabinet" speech and I realized that instead of slamming the door shut, Kibaki has Raila exactly where he wants him.

If I were to look in my ‘crystal ball’ I would say that this fiasco will be resolved by the implementing of the 2002 MOU where Kibaki will continue as President and Raila will join the Cabinet as Prime Minister. I would not have wished for these troubles in a 1,000 years but I think we can all learn from them. I know that our astute politicians will have realized now what Mboya, Kenyatta and Odinga knew in the early 60s--that the Luo and Gikuyu together are a formidable force — and we’ve all learned this week (as we did in 1969) that when the two communities are on opposing sides we have bloodletting and chaos. I see Raila and Uhuru forming a partnership that will propel Raila to presidency in 2012. (The scions of our first Pres/VP in reversed roles.)

Kibaki is playing all of us like fools because we underestimate him, because we're driven by the heart when he is shrewd and calculating. In a game theoretic sense Kibaki is giving us all a lesson in strategy.

Every so often I like to just write in a stream-of-consciousness fashion. I call this my crystal ball. Here are my crystal ball's predictions for the next 5 years.

Kibaki will remain President, but true to his nature, he will assume a more non-executive role, akin to a Chairman of the Board (maybe he'll take up golf again).
Kalonzo will remain VP but increasingly there will be succession tension between Kalonzo, Raila and Uhuru. Saitoti will fall by the wayside.
Raila will join the Cabinet as Prime Minister (or if that is constitutionally impossible as de facto PM). He will be the most powerful minister in Kenya's history, in effect our CEO, and will do a good job.
The losers in the Pentagon will be Ruto and Nyagah. Nyagah is expendable in a GNU, I mean it's not like we really need more GEMA folks in Cabinet. Ruto is unpalatable after the mess in Eldoret.
The other Pentagon members Ngilu, Balala and Mudavadi will have senior roles. Ngilu will probably return as Health minister.
A Kalenjin woman, probably Sally Kosgei, will have a very senior ministerial role, and will be a consigliere (in the best sense of the word) to Raila and Kibaki but will likely not get along with Kalonzo
For the next 3-3.5 years we will have cohesive development focused government that will emphasize healing and the bringing together of communities.
After 3.5-4 years the posturing for the next election will begin and the alliances will break down which will likely result in the calling of early elections.
Our next president (after Kibaki) will not be Gikuyu but will be "made" the by the GEMA community. i.e. s/he who courts this block most successfully will win. Consequently Uhuru will be courted aggressively and will likely be the VP after 2012, and will increasingly be seen as the next "king maker". I see Raila, because of the lessons he learned from this debacle, likely to eclipse Kalonzo as the front runner.
While the establishment politicians are doing their thing a stealth star will emerge who does not come from the existing power structures. I have no idea who this will be but his/her popularity with the wananchi will not sit well with the establishment, and they will (attempt to) get rid of him/her. Hopefully it won't be an assassination but I would not put anything past these folks.
Kenya will struggle for the next year and a half but will be roaring again come 2012. The most acute problems in the near term will come as a result of reduced output in North Rift caused by the recent problems. Growth in the 2009-10 period will be driven by a housing and consumption boom in Central Province. The 250K people sent home from RVP to Central will cause this shift.
There will be a surge in violent crime in Central & Nairobi in the short term.
The GEMA community significantly reduce their investment outside of Nairobi, Mombasa and Central Kenya (Central Province, Nakuru, Laikipia, & Southern Eastern Province -- Meru/Embu/Ukambani).
In the short run there will be a regrettable backlash against employing Kalenjins and possibly Luos in GEMA owned businesses, which will further exacerbate the tensions.
At least one big kahuna from each of the Moi and the Kibaki 1 administrations will be convicted of grand corruption.
With the exception of a few 'tokens' e.g. Sally Kosgei (see above) the Kalenjin community will be the big losers in this power game (and also the GEMA folks currently in ODM).

I think that's a little more than two-cents worth this time.

-Silah

In Praise of Mutahi Ngunyi

2008-01-08T19:01:00.000-05:00

I must say, sheepishly, that I had not really read or listened to Mutahi Ngunyi's words until this week. I came across him on the IMSKenya video recorded a day after Kivuitu announced the election results. I was impressed by his insight so I decided to google him and see what else he has said.

(These three samples are the first three that I came across, wow, simply wow.)

His prescience is eerily scary. I cannot really add much to his words but I want you all to read his words and think about it in the context of the events of the last few weeks. The only thing I will say is that he has a stellar political mind, clearly a mind that I would want on my side if I was a politician.

April 30th, 2006, referring to the Referendum

If ODM wanted to ‘win’, they should have planned to ‘lose’. And if they had ‘lost’, this country would be in a different place today. The uprising against Kibaki and the only province that voted ‘Yes’ would have been overwhelming.

...

Is ODM unity against Kibaki necessary? The answer to this question is a resounding no! … This unity is ‘anti-hegemonic’ and not ‘counter-hegemonic’. Its underlying ideology is anti-Kikuyuism, and not counter-Kikuyuism. This has driven even the most progressive Kikuyus into regimenting around Kibaki. And why this is dangerous is because of what we call the tyranny of numbers.

If you drive the Kikuyus against you in an election, their numbers will frustrate you. With the magic of incumbency, all Kibaki needs is an alliance with a small tribe and he has the election bagged. This is why an alliance between him and Kalonzo Musyoka would be sexy.

Now to my second point and why a ‘divided’ ODM is good strategy. In the theory of war, there are two ways of fighting an enemy. You can either confront him head on or surround him. The first method is conventional, while the second is what we call the war of detachment.

While conventional war has provision for coffee and lunch breaks, the war of detachment has no rules, no protocol, just surprises. And this is how ODM should deal with Kibaki in the coming election.

More specifically, they should force a run-off by sponsoring a presidential candidate in every province. The intention here is to surround Kibaki by denying him the mandatory 25 per cent in five provinces. This process should also be used to select the real ODM candidate to take on Kibaki in a run-off.

In other words, and this is my submission here, the only chance a united ODM has of beating Kibaki is in a run-off. Unity in any other context is part of the old revolution and wont wash.

Back to Kibaki. After much reflection, I have had to eat humble pie and admit that he is of a superior mind. I say so because there is method to the ‘madness’ of his regime. From the referendum to Anglo Leasing, there is a pattern to every goof. I am even beginning to entertain the thought that Kibaki was never quite sick. And if he was sick at all, it became part of his strategy to seduce the nation with this weakness.

...

Where am I going with this? I have two points. One, like it or not, Kibaki has us where he wants us. Two, he does not mind being underestimated. We underestimated Moi for years before we finally accepted that he was a ‘professor of politics’. When you underestimate your enemy, they can only surprise you.

And that is why we need to figure Kibaki out and do it fast. As we do so, we must then ask the following questions: If this man was recruited into politics by the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, is it possible that he learnt nothing from this guru? Could he have learnt nothing from such sophisticated peers as the late TJ Mboya with whom they ‘invented’ the Kenyan version of African socialism? Were the 15 years he spent under the stewardship of the late Jomo Kenyatta wasted? How about the 10 years of bullying as Moi’s Vice-President and the 11 years in the cold benches of opposition politics? Was the man asleep in class? I doubt it. Or what do you think Mr Raila Odinga?

August 29th, 2007

[Moi’s endorsement of Kibaki] could work against Kibaki’s re-election. Moi has endorsed Kibaki for his own political insurance and not because he likes Kibaki as a president. ODM will get support in the Rift Valley.

November 18th, 2007

This is a letter to Mr Raila Odinga:

...

You, my brother, are like the Energiser Battery. No fear, no limits, just energy. Keep going bro!

However, I must warn you that this unlimited energy is also your main handicap.

Two, I write to you to convey a message from a young fan of yours in Tanzania. I met this fishmonger in Nancio, the capital city of a small island called Ukerewe on Tanzania side of Lake Victoria. The young fellow was worried that you might botch it between now and December 27. He sent me with this warning to you sir, "… fish begins to rot from the head". His point? If ODM does not win, it will be because of Raila Amolo Odinga.

My third reason is based on nothing. It is just a hunch. Sir, Kibaki will not win this election. You will lose. My hunch is that your lack of inhibitions will result in a fatal error. This will not be a common error. It will be a dosage of fate, administered by the gods. This, sir, is your destiny. But you can change it. Before I make my case on how to avoid it, I have to give you the story of a chap called Sisyphea recorded in Greek mythology. My intention is to illustrate the gravity of your impending fate. My hope is that you will avoid it.

This guy offended the gods and he had to be punished. He was condemned to rolling a huge log up a steep hill. But before he could tip it over to the other side of the hill, something would happen. A few metres to the tip, Sisyphea would run into a ‘fatal error’. Instead of tipping the log over to the other side, it would roll back to the bottom, where he would start pushing it up the hill again.

You, sir, are where Sisyphea was. You have already rolled the log up the hill. All you need now is to tip it over on December 27 and become King. But the question is this: will you do something foolish between now and then? Will you commit the Sisyphus error, and let the log roll back to the bottom of the hill? My hunch is that this is where you are headed. But you can avoid it.

Sir, your ‘fatal error’ will come from one of two blind spots. The first one is your political mouth. You talk too much. My counsel to you is, whenever you get an opportunity to shut up, grab it with dear life. I’m compelled to say so by only one reason –– whenever you open your political mouth, you show a double personality. Of the two Railas, ‘Raila One’ is vengeful, ruffian and bad. ‘Raila Two’ is winsome, forgiving and charming. Between now and December 27, you must, therefore, hide your ‘tail’ and show us your good side only. Can you do that?

Your second fatal error will come from the Rift Valley. If you become King, it will be because the Kalenjins said so. Of the ODM vote, 50 per cent is Kalenjin. In other words, they have 50 per cent share in ODM. They are not voting for Raila: they are voting against President Kibaki. It is a protest vote.

Similarly, they have gleefully settled on the idea of William Ruto becoming president in 2027, after you and Musalia Mudavadi. Sir, this kind of high sacrifice does not make sense in politics. My conclusion? The Kalenjins are deeply wounded by Kibaki.

My counsel to you is this: Keep them hostage to the anger against Kibaki. Their wounds must not heal, and they must not break away from the anger spell. This is important because, apart from the anger, they have nothing else against Kibaki.

Majimboism & Tribal Clashes

2008-01-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

Hot Issues of the 2007 Elections in Kenya: Majimboism is a Time Bomb!:

Though they will not publicly accept it, almost all the political parties in Kenya are made up of powerful tribal leaders who command immense despotic powers in the areas of their origin. Indeed the genesis of ODM was an open tribal meeting between Luo, Luhya and Kalenjin elders representing Raila Odinga , Musalia Mudavadi and William Ruto who agreed to cooperate in order to snatch political power from the people from Mount Kenya region. The idea of Majimboism is popularized by the notion that it will encourage the distribution of the national cake more equitably throughout the country, as opposed to the perception that the present day government financially benefits a small Mount Kenya group of tycoons close to Mwai Kibaki, more than it benefits the people outside the Central Province.

When thinking of economic benefits that can come out of Majimboism, as it is preached by the ODM, many Kenyans support the policy; but when they think of tribal clashes that could possibly originate from the same policy, they don’t want to touch it with a barge pole. The success or failure of Majimboism as a policy in Kenya will depend entirely on the manner in which its two conflicting interpretations are delivered to the people. So far all sorts of propaganda are spread by both camps and the powerful Catholic Church has openly decided to condemn it.

Those words were written last October by Joe Kadhi a veteran Kenyan journalist and Professor at USIU in Nairobi. Yesterday he added these words

The country is torn between ODM and PNU followers ready to die for their political parties without caring much about the fact that none of the two are more than personal properties of Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki.

It is interesting to investigate the link, if any, between the Majimboism (Federalism) debate, with the associated rhetoric of resources being taken from non-GEMA communities to the center, and the clashes that erupted after the voting. Many people, and entire communities, feel that the getting into Statehouse gives communities exclusive, or at least, priority access to the feeding trough -- where they literally take food from the mouths of poor Kenyans -- including from their own communities. This opinion has been reinforced in the blogosphere this week when many Kenyans from various communities have asked "when will it be our time to eat."

Now I am a firm believer in devolution, in fact, I am a believer in Federalism. I think that government services should be performed by government that is close to the people and the central government should only take those responsibilities that are best handled at a macro level, for instance, defense and foreign affairs. I will even go so far as to say that I am somewhat enamored by the American concept of enumerated powers where functions that are not expressly ceded to the Federal Government should be performed by state governments.

That said no government should ever infringe on fundamental rights of citizens (and non-citizens too). We all have a right to live, work and own property anywhere in the Republic. In the event that a local or regional government (or thugs wielding bows and arrows made in South Korea) ever attempts to deny these civil rights to any citizen or group of citizens then I believe that everybody else (Center and other states) should do everything within their legal power to put an immediate end to that action. This to me is more fundamental, more important than any devolution or Majimboism.

So when I hear myself think and say that I will never live or own property outside of Nairobi or my own ethnic homeland, I feel sorry for our country and think of what we have lost.

NY Times: Kenya’s Privileged Tribe is on the Run

2008-01-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

Kenya Kikuyus, Long Dominant, Are Now Routed - New York Times

There is a story on the cover of today's New York Times about the mass exodus of the Agikuyu from the Rift Valley. It is a pretty good article that talks about how land is at the root of the fracas and how the Gikuyu were favored when the Kenyatta administration used British funds to reacquire land from white settlers.

I must underscore the importance of this article. African countries rarely make it to the front page of the NYT. For a story about an ethnic group in Kenya to make it is not trivial.

Here are is the article...

January 7, 2008
Kenya Kikuyus, Long Dominant, Are Now Routed
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

NAKURU, Kenya — Kenya’s privileged tribe is on the run.

Over the past few days, tens of thousands of Kikuyus, the tribe of Kenya’s president, have packed into heavily guarded buses to flee the western part of the country because of ethnic violence. On Sunday, endless convoys of buses — some with their windshields smashed by rocks — crawled across a landscape of scorched homes and empty farms.

It is nothing short of a mass exodus. The tribe that has dominated business and politics in Kenya since independence in 1963 is now being chased off its land by machete-wielding mobs made up of members of other tribes furious about the Dec. 27 election, which Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, won under dubious circumstances. In some places, Kikuyus have been hunted down with bows and arrows.

The hospital in Nakuru, a town in the Rift Valley, is full of Kikuyu men with deep ax wounds, fingers cut off and slash marks across their faces.

“It was the Kalenjin,” said Samuel Mburu, a Kikuyu farmer with rows of stitches in his head, when asked who had nearly killed him. The Kalenjin are one of the bigger tribes in the Rift Valley, and they have fought fiercely with the Kikuyus before, mostly over land.

Many Kalenjin are unapologetic. Robert Tutuny, a Kalenjin farmer, stood on a hillside on Sunday with an iron bar in his hands and looked down at the charred remains of a Kikuyu village that was razed a week ago.

“We hate these people,” Mr. Tutuny said.

The election — and the unresolved battle about who won — has ignited old tensions in Kenya, which in a week and a half has gone from being one of Africa’s most promising countries to another equatorial trouble zone.

The political impasse continued Sunday, with Jendayi E. Frazer, the American assistant secretary of state for African affairs, meeting again with opposition leaders and government officials, but no resolution was in sight.

The heavy fighting that claimed more than 300 lives last week has subsided and many people have gone back to work in the capital, Nairobi. There, people from different tribes live side by side and often work in the same office. They are aware of ethnic differences and sometimes joke about them, but it usually does not go further than that.

But out here — where little towns rise from the veld like mirages and where there is so much wide-open space it seems incongruous to fight over land — these differences matter. A tribal war is shaping up between the Kalenjin, who mostly support Kenya’s opposition leaders, and the Kikuyus, who voted heavily — up to 98 percent in some areas — for the president.

Tens of thousands of Kikuyus are camped out at police stations and churches for protection, waiting for buses guarded by military escorts to evacuate them to the central highlands, the traditional Kikuyu homeland. There, amid the lush tea fields and rolling green hills, they are safe because almost everyone who lives in the highlands is Kikuyu.

Ethnic conflict is now threatening the decades of stability that has set Kenya apart from so many of its neighbors, like Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan. But Kenya has struggled with ethnic violence before. Its rare bursts usually come around election time.

“You have to understand that these issues are much deeper than ethnic,” said Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

“They are political,” he said, and “they go back to land.”

The last time the Rift Valley was this violent was in 1992, another election year in Kenya and a time of turbulent transition between dictatorship and democracy. Kalenjin militias, stirred up by politicians who told them that the valley was Kalenjin ancestral land, massacred hundreds of Kikuyus in a bid to steal their farms.

Since then, Mr. Kiai said, “Emotions have been festering, resentments have been building and we sat around pretending ethnicity didn’t exist.”

Kenya has more than 40 tribes, but the Kikuyus have almost always been on top. They run shops, restaurants, banks and factories across the country. One reason Mr. Kibaki has engendered so much resentment from other tribes is because many of the top officials in his government — including the ministers of defense, justice, finance and internal security — are Kikuyus.

The Kikuyus are the biggest tribe in Kenya but far from a majority, at 22 percent of the population. The Kalenjins make up about 12 percent.

In the Rift Valley, the anti-Kikuyu grudge goes back to independence, when the British government bought out Britons who owned huge, picturesque farms. But instead of redistributing that land to the impoverished people who had lived here for centuries, like the Kalenjin and Masai, the newly formed Kenyan government, led by Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, gave much of it to Kikuyus from other areas.

Most of the Kikuyus here are hardly rich. The men lying on bloody sheets at the Nakuru hospital are emaciated farmers with threadbare clothes. The same goes for the Kikuyus who have been slaughtered by gangs of opposing tribes in Nairobi’s slums, causing an exodus from there, too. They lived in iron shanties just as their non-Kikuyu neighbors do.

But in many cases, the Kikuyus own kiosks or small patches of land or they are related to someone who does, and that makes them a little better off by local standards.

“Land is very important to us,” said Anthony Kirunga, a Kikuyu, who sells spare car parts in Nakuru. “It’s not our fault that other people are jealous.”

This election stirred up anti-Kikuyu jealousies like never before. Raila Odinga, the top opposition candidate and a member of the Luo tribe, built his campaign on a promise to end Kikuyu favoritism and share the fruits of Kenya’s growing economy with all tribes.

Early election results had him way ahead and his party winning the most seats in Parliament. But at the 11th hour of the vote-tallying process last Sunday, Mr. Kibaki surged. Election observers have said the president’s party rigged the results to stay in power.

Millions of opposition supporters across Kenya were outraged. Not only did their candidate lose, but it also seemed to them that their system, which until the election had been celebrated as one of the most vibrant democracies in Africa, had cheated them.

In western Kenya, where Kikuyus are vastly outnumbered, they became easy targets. In Kisumu, the third-largest city in the country, Luos went on a rampage, burning down Kikuyu shops and ransacking the downtown.

In the Rift Valley, Kalenjin gangs stormed Kikuyu farms. Police officers seemed reluctant to intervene. Dozens of Kikuyus were massacred, including up to 50 women and children hiding in a church who were burned alive. What has kept the death toll from rising even higher is the fact that few people here have guns; most of the clashes have been fought with clubs, knives and stones.

Jeremiah Mukuna, 75, a Kikuyu farmer, was attacked by a Kalenjin mob last Monday while he was sitting on the porch of his shack, his family said. His head was split open with an ax. On Sunday, he lay in a coma in the Nakuru hospital, taking short, shallow breaths.

His wife, Grace, said she was leaving the Rift Valley.

“I will never come back,” she said.