Letter from Judy, Kenya

The following is from an e-mail from the friend of a friend, who is in Kenya as post election turmoil rocks that country.

In reading it, it has come to me that this is eerily like a blueprint for what I fear will be Cameroon’s descent into hell when the time comes. The time will come.

It will come because people eventually become restive when power is kept in one sphere for what they consider to be too long, especially if such power is not perceived to be used wisely, and they become very angry when they think that the power has been retained by fraudulent means. This is what, as the posting below shows, has happened in Kenya.

It is a riveting story, told by a trained and balanced observer with a good eye for telling examples.

We thank God for being alive and back in the city. I am actually sending this from a busy city street with others in a Nairobi city centre cyber cafe. This town has been a ghost town, paralyzed by fear, and lots of violence witnessed especially in the slums (where half of Nairobi's population lives, in abject poverty and on less than a dollar a day.)    The city is busy and bustling with activity this Monday afternoon, but there is a lot of tension still evident. ATM queues and packed supermarkets are clear indication that people are not totally convinced that peace has returned to this city of ours.

Yesterday evening, the aggrieved opposition leader, Raila Odinga refused an offer to power share with the President Kibaki and instead informed us of planned countrywide protest marches and rallies countrywide. This time the rallies will be spread across the low income settlements in the city as well in areas such as Kawangware, Dandora and Kamukunji( the Kenyans know these areas). People expect tension and chaos tomorrow. Schools and most offices remain closed till next Monday.

...It is indeed in God's Grace that we are back in the city and alive.  My husband, my daughter and I had visited my parents in shagz (slang for the village or rural area) in Western Kenya on 29th November two days before the election results were announced, of course after voting.

We flew to Kisumu town to surprise my parents and hopefully rest for at least three days. This was my first trip back home after three years, having last been there for my wedding dowry negotiations in May 2004. Kisumu city is next to Lake Victoria and a stronghold of Raila Odinga with his ethnic Luo tribe leaving in the surrounding environs. Kisumu itself is Kenya's third largest city and has lots of businesses, companies and industries owned mostly by Indians, Kikuyus, a few locals and even some multi-nationals. A fairly modern place with a beautiful view of the Lake Victoria

We were shocked at the scenes that met us as we drove from the airport in a cab...There were hordes of people carrying TVs, batteries and other looted provisions from shopping malls and supermarkets in town trying to put them on their bicycles which is the popular mode of transport there. Imagine trying to balance a Plasma flat Screen TV on a bike headed towards a mud hut without electricity…such was the euphoria and hysteria of the looters.

The cab driver also warned us that he would not drive us into town even if we paid him a million Kenya shillings. It wasn't safe!!! He informed us that a supermarket called Ukwala, belonging to an Indian family had been razed to the ground and cars burnt. People were protesting the delay in the elections results announcements.

, my husband is light skinned and can easily be confused for a member of the Kikuyu community(which is the President Kibaki's tribe) so our fear was doubled when we hit the Kisumu-busia road. This road actually leads to Busia town and the border into Uganda. We saw groups of rowdy youth having placed barricades on the road,  having lit bonfires and chanting ODM..ODM....and looking really charged...

Luckily for us, our resourceful cab driver had planted leaves on his car, had a huge poster of Raila Odinga and was Luo so spoke the local language. We passed five barricades where we had to part with a toll tax of several Kenya shillings and hear our poor daughter saying at the back of the car, naogopa (kiswahili..for I am scared.............)

These groups of young rowdy men would just rush from the road to the car windows demanding the tax for the poor. It was scary even for us, and doubly so, for . If we had black shoe polish, we would not have hesitated to put some on him to make him less conspicuous!

Anyway, since they still had hopes that Raila Odinga would emerge victorious, they were still manageable and we made it home, a distance of about 30 kms from Kisumu Airport and paid a modest fare. My dad came in on an evening flight and we connected him to the same cab driver, and he was safely home by 7 pm.

What happened two days after that was a total breakdown of law and order, closing of shops, looting and complete control of the road from Kisumu, Busia and into Uganda being turned into a war zone.

Youths and thugs took over and killed anyone perceived to be Kikuyu and stole from anyone else....We were stuck in the village….flights out of Kisumu were canceled. Thank God we had bought some food supplies in a small town called Luanda on our way home to the village..which we used and are still in use at home.

I am a Luhyia but my parent's rural home closely neighbors the Luo community from where Raila Odinga comes from. Most of the people in our community here voted for Raila and it was an ODM stronghold. People were very very angry when the results were announced in Kibaki's favor, four days after voting and despite the Electoral commission chairman's own admission of irregularities and disappearance of some of his officers, thus delaying results. Those who dropped into the village never failed to remind me to keep my poor husband  away from the local shopping centre or roads….they perceived him to look like a kikuyu….and it was not the season to be Kikuyu…

About 200 metres from my parents village home, is a Kikuyu businessman over 50 years of age, named Muya, who has lived and done business in the area for forever and speaks the local Luhyia language..His shop was burnt down and his Kikuyu sons who have married luhyia girls ejected out with their wives. He in turn killed four locals as he had a gun....shame upon our country. He was saved by the few police who dared to work and kept in the nearby police station.

We ourselves remained within the relative safety of our parents homestead and stayed for five days, till two days ago when we came back to the city.

We had to hire an old jalopy matatu ( public vehicle) to take us to the Kisumu airport and pay almost 100 US DOLLARS ( This is five times what we would pay for such transport)  a very short distance, as the guy took a risk. We left the homestead at 5.30 am and managed to board the flight to Nairobi at 9.30 am. Thanks God!

My mom had driven to the village about a month ago with some two kids from her neighbourhood in Nairobi, two little Kikuyu girls who are daughters to our family friends in Nairobi. The poor children have had so much anti-kikuyu sentiment and cannot move out of our village home for now. I can only imagine what this has done to their developing fragile brains.

My mom's car has no fuel and there is no fuel nearby so they are stuck in the village until further notice. They cannot drive on that road till things cool down as they would be killed, especially as the kids are also very light skinned and don't even speak the local languages. We will see what to do to get them out when things cool down. Their mothers are very very worried here in Nairobi.

My take on this election is that it was surely rigged in favor of the seating president Kibaki. He was of course not unpopular having come in 2002 and overseen an economic growth of 6 percent ( very high by regional standards).He also implemented free primary education that has been a blessing to many children from poor families and even adults who never went to school. I personally did not also care if he returned as we were enjoying relative peace and some measure of stability.

The truth is that Raila had the vote of the over 50 percent under 40 years of age youthful population votes (me included,  too!)so no fights in our house.

Raila Odinga represented generational change, hope, vision, and a youthful all inclusive team. He also had his share of the corrupt within his camp, but this man's humility and ability to connect with the masses resonated with many, especially the poor, who also form over half of the Kenyan population.  These guys provide cheap labor for the industries and workplaces in the towns. They are also young, energetic and totally prepared to die for their leaders…so you can guess where all the mayhem has come from. They dwell in the slums, which have been bloodbaths in the past week, and still are.

I attended one of Raila Odinga’s rallies and must admit was very impressed by the way easy way he speaks to his people and the masses who hang on his every word.

More importantly, he also garnered the majority parliamentary seats with his ODM (Orange Democratic Movement) getting 103 seats out of the 210 in parliament and our President managing only 36 with his PNU party (hope you are all asking yourself questions about this win) Raila’s vote support pattern was also overall, more representative as he garnered good votes countrywide, painting a figure of a politician acceptable to almost all regions apart from Kikuyu.

The Electoral Commission Chairman, Mr. Samuel Kivuitu, has himself stated publicly that he doesn't know who won and lost contact with his Returning Officers. He also stated that he was under pressure to announce the election results in favor of President Kibaki....I only wished he had exercised integrity and resigned rather than announce suspect results! It would have saved the country bloodshed, loss of lives and the breakdown of peace we now have.

The European Union Observer Mission, Head has in his report declared that the elections were not free and fair. He cites an example of a polling station in Molo (Rift Valley province) where the polling station announced the result for Kibaki being 52,000 votes only for the Electoral Commission Chairman to announce in Nairobi that Kibaki had won by 75,000 votes.
The Central province results came in last despite being closest to Nairobi, with good infrastructure. It is home to the populous Ethnic Kikuyu tribe, where Kibaki comes from and enjoys massive support. This area reported fake turnouts of 116 percent, more than even the registered voters on voter registers, According to the Electoral Commission Chairman...He himself was puzzled.

In other areas in the same Central province, EU observers were bluntly told by Electoral commission officers that they were too tired to count the presidential votes yet Kenya had waited for four whole days for results from such areas!! The poor observers were of course forced to leave allowing grand manipulation and exaggeration of figures to take place.

You all know what happens when observers are thrown out at 1 am...rigging and cooking to exaggerate figures...In Meru , there were blackouts and all...in all these areas, the Chairman could not reach his officials by mobile..their phones were switched off, till they had sufficiently cooked figures to try and shorten Raila's million vote lead before the Central Province votes came in!!!

Lastly a Kikuyu Aspirant in an area called Juja actually reported that the current MP won by 42, 000 votes while in the same area the President as declared by the |Electoral Commission had won by a whooping 120,000 votes. Would a total of almost 80,000 voters in an electorate abstain from voting for their parliamentary candidate of choice, only vote for the president and take off?

I have given you facts and know you can safely draw your own conclusions. Raila Odinga is not just a mad man on the loose who is so bent on becoming president and instigating violence. If anything, he is the only one visiting hospitals, slum areas and even urging Kenyans to uphold peace. Our current President is characteristically aloof and is content on sending his officials mostly Kikuyus to speak for him. Whenever they speak, the arrogance with which they seem to speak is so painful.

Raila Odinga and his supporters are rightfully angry and could not have taken this obvious theft of their apparent victory without expressing their anger.

All of you know that when democracy fails and elections are rigged within everyone's sight, anarchy and violence take over.

The man, Raila, actually won this election and got popular support from all regions including Nairobi where 5 MPs are ODM. He enjoys support from all tribes and even has Kikuyus in his pentagon team. ( i.e. his chief campaign team)

Historically also, the Kikuyu are the wealthy, entrepreneurs who happened to be exposed to the money economy first because of their proximity to the regions where the British colonialists settled. Our first president was a Kikuyu and this made it possible for them to amass a lot of wealth, prime land and opportunity for themselves. This lasted from 1963-1978...Kibaki was in that independence government and still wants to rule. The land question remains volatile as many tribes were thrown out of prime land prior to independence only for these lands to be handed over to prominent Kikuyu and their cronies, courtesy of our founding President Jomo Kenyatta being a Kikuyu. The land issue in Kenya has been volatile for a long time ( but that is a story for another day)

Other tribes have been nursing feelings of animosity and marginalization for a long time. These have resurfaced so boldly now for the first time and I fear this will only get worse. The roads to central province are smooth and passable while the roads to my rural area are impassable and the levels of poverty are just too sad.

If a leader allows such injustices to thrive and he is perceived to favor only his tribesmen and worse still a dominant tribe that seems to have it all, this is a good recipe for a conflict. Worse, if he happens to add fuel to the fire by rigging elections so openly and carelessly. I am not at all surprised by what has happened. Kibaki should have allowed the results to turn out whichever way without trying to manipulate them so stupidly.

Kibaki, for the sake of his people, their lives and property should have conceded defeat. He has his corrupt and rigged machinery to admit responsibility for the bloodshed and chaos that we now find ourselves in. In the rural towns where Kikuyus were killed, the Kikuyus, through current elected MPs have sent a notorious vigilante gang, called Mungiki to revenge for the deaths of Kikuyus.

Our country is now so polarized by tribe. Why did we bother to vote if we were to have our votes stolen? Is that democracy?

I have studied Law, human rights, journalism and peace building yet feel so hopeless, angry and aggrieved. As I watch the arrogant Kibaki mechanically address the nation from state house, refusing to acknowledge the problem, my heart bleeds for our country, for us and for peace and for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have no homes, no food, no power, no hope...

ODM team and Raila their head, have proposed a transitional government for 3 months during which time, we hold a re-election. Desmond Tutu is trying to mediate but it is my feeling we will take the popular African president rules unfairly route, as Kibaki is surrounded by arrogant, power hungry oooold tribal chieftains, who still want five more years to loot the country's resources.

Interesting thing, Raila is a nationalist whose own first born son is married to a Kikuyu. It is really Kibaki who is a tribalist and whose 77 year old mindset cannot allow for generational change and a handover to Kenyan youth to lead the country.

Our lawyers have also spoken on the issue and say the election was not free and fair, also saying that it is too late for a recount as the ballot boxes will have been stuffed and the form 16As which are signed to clarify the results, by all party agents and Electoral Commission officials after witnessing the counting, tampered with. I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THEM.  The Law Society of Kenya is suing on behalf of the Kenyans to address the grievance of rigged elections.

One only wonders whether the Chief Justice, a kikuyu and a presidential appointee will let justice prevail or be impartial. ODM is calling for Commonwealth judges from abroad to adjudge the issue. This is the stand also supported by the British Government as well. America has also called for international mediation, for obvious reasons.

Kibaki and his team maintain that there is no crisis in the country and we do not need international mediation. A stalemate! The other aspirant who lost, woke up yesterday and went on air, claiming that his agents tell him his votes were stolen in Kisumu by Raila’s ODM. In Kenya we have a disease called corruption and my guess is that Kalonzo Musyoka, the third presidential contender, ( a handsome, smooth talking and polished lawyer could have been promised the Vice presidency and other goodies to come up with such accusations, after having declared that the elections were free and fair, a week ago.)

In the meantime, ordinary Kenyans like us live in fear of what each day will bring, how we will work, what to do with children, the increase in prices of basic commodities and just the atmosphere of fear and hate that is emerging!

I personally have a lot of Kikuyu friends and my first friend at age 5 was a kikuyu girl with whom we remain very very close. There are several others whom I deeply like and mingle with….I am not blind however to what tribal domination if not addressed can do..Think Rwanda 1994.

The best thing that can happen now is God speaking to the hearts of these men in power to save our country. Kenya is now a group of villages and tribes, our national and social fabric has been torn apart and replaced by hate and suspicion. The killings are still going on in the slums and areas outside Nairobi. The press is only choosing not to report it so that the violence is quelled.

My house help has been camping at my house as she cannot go back to her house in the slums for fear of being killed in the ongoing violence.

I did not ever believe that my country would stoop so low and so obviously subvert democratic elections by outright stealing of votes and manipulation of voter registers so that even the dead and ghosts vote!

Thanks again for all your prayers, emails, texts, phone conversations and just thoughts of support and concern. They mean a lot to me and I truly appreciate all of you as family and friends as well. God bless you mightily and pray for us.

Thanks for allowing me to write this loooong email and vent my anger, frustration and helplessness I feel in this situation we find ourselves in.

For the peace builders, please send us practical ideas on how we can ease the ethnic tensions and heal the land at the community level. Things are not so good.

LOVE AND HUGS,
Judy

NB: We are taking things a day at a time and truly praying for our nation to solve this conflict.
Kindly let the world know the truth.....the truth sets us free….

Comments

[Monde]

Thanks to this snapshot I am clearer about this situation and clearer about the fact that we have to apply this example to each of our countries in examining what needs to be done to avoid the injustices that lead to the crises in the first place.

[olelei (back home with family in Maringo)]

judy??? your views are obviously biased and only aim to brainwash and influence the easily swayed people who dont follow politricks all year round or know law as much as you. You are the power hungry kind of minority rich who pretend to care about the majority poor who care less about who is at the top. They are all the same these politicians: they promise lots before elections and then forget you once they are in!!! Mark my words, "Odinga will be president But he wont be feeding the poor in kibera, mathare, soweto, kayole, kariobangi, dandora,etc. BUT HE WILL BE FILTHY RICH. So you can continue to die for him or other politician while he stands behind Cameras to motivate you to give up your lives... I KNOW HE WILL NOT GIVE ME SOME SUGAR FOR MY TEA NEXT TIME IT RUNS OUT, BUT MY NEIGHBOUR WILL.... (hoping we let the politicians fight for themselves because they certainly wont be fighting for us)