Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya urgently need targeted, HIV risk-reduction prevention information, according to the first study describing HIV prevalence and risk factors in a large group of East African MSM. The study is published in the November 2007 edition of AIDS.

Kenya's opposition said on Friday it planned to restart protests across the east African nation against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election after the failure of African Union (AU) mediation. Opposition leaders will hold an afternoon news conference "to announce the immediate resumption of nationwide mass action against the irregular presidential results," Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) spokesman Tony Gachoka said.

The Kenya Red Cross Society and local partners have started distributing food assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Kenya to tens of thousands of people in the Nairobi slums hardest-hit after days of post-election violence. It was the first time WFP food was handed out in the slums in a general food distribution. The Government of Kenya provided cereals to the Kenya Red Cross (KRC) while WFP gave the pulses, high energy biscuits, vegetable oil and corn-soya blend needed for a full food basket.

According to the United Nations, 250,000 people have been displaced in Kenya and 600 killed by violence following the country’s disputed elections. With the delivery of aid hampered by roadblocks, healthcare NGO Merlin is warning of a devastating health emergency. Representatives of IDPs in temporary camps in Bungoma, Western Province, reported on 7 January that food rations had run out and disease was setting in, while several children have reportedly died of exposure.

Talks between the Government and ODM to hammer out a solution to the crisis that has crippled the country collapsed, putting in jeopardy a process that had returned calm to the country.

The credibility of the presidential results took a further beating when the chairman of the disgraced Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) disowned a list published in the press on Thursday. And Mr Samuel Kivuitu hinted — for the second time after the announcement of the disputed presidential results — of external pressure being brought to bear on his commission to act in a certain way.

World Bank Country Director, Mr Colin Bruce, was a man on the spot as a confidential memo he authored supporting President Kibaki’s re-election kicked off controversy in Nairobi and Washington. The leaked January 8 briefing note, originating from the World Bank Kenya office, lays out the case for accepting Kibaki’s victory on the basis of "oral briefings and documents from senior UNDP officials" who "monitored the overall electoral process".

The Reach Out concert on January 13 will be a fund raising effort through which, with your help we can achieve several objectives:
1) Help those displaced and affected by the election violence.
2) All gate proceeds from the show will be donated to the International Red Cross and Pamoja Youth Foundation to aid in the support of displaced persons due to election skirmishes in Nairobi .
3) To provide a platform where local artistes and participants can join hands in a single united effort to show the world that Kenya is united and peaceful regardless of ethnicity or political influences.
4) To provide an avenue for Kenyans to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts by:-direct donation to the International Red Cross, who will be on-site-donate blood through the Blood donor Service of Kenya
5) To regain a sense of normalcy where our city will regain it's vibrancy. Please forward this mail to more people so they too can join hands and Reach Out to help our brothers and sisters in need.
KENYA NI YETU!

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on the Kenyan government to end its 10-day ban on live news reports as violence that erupted after President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the election subsided.

The Global Zimbabwe Forum in partnership with its local regional affiliate, the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum would like to confirm that it successfully participated in a public protest outside the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.

Wangui Wa Goro makes the case that hope for democracy in Kenya and Africa is with the civil society and citizens and calls for a national convention to map the way forward.

The Kenyan elections on Thursday December 27th 2007, after polling stations were closed, were supposed to fulfill an African dream, to have a free and fair closely contested democratic election. The outcome has shown the fragility of the postcolonial and post-dictator state of Kenya and much of Africa. After the carnage which has left over 500 people dead, over a quater of a million people displaced and many others fleeing from the region in fear of reprisals and for their lives, the dream had become a horrible nightmare, manifesting itself through murder, spontaneous rioting, organized thuggery, politically motivated and ethicized targeted attacks.

That was the week that was gripping the democratic world with shock and utter dismay and waking the world to the reality that the haven of peace, the African show case of democracy and the darling of the West was crumbling and revealing an unpleasant underbelly which has been camouflaged for far too long. It revealed the real Kenyan who is the casualty of party political posturing, a weak state, a world which has preferred not to see the decay of many years and the rot which has set in since colonial times to the present. The vulnerable, dispossessed, the economically and socially marginalised; and things may get worse before they get better. Kenya is a test case of what is happening all over Africa and the post-colonial world: The crumbling of a colonial and postcolonial order. It is not just an electoral moment, but the foundation of democracy, not just in Kenya but beyond. The question, after the storm, however is how Kenya and indeed Africa is going to move forward beyond the impasse created by a state and electoral system which has essentially collapsed and dictators who want to hang on to power to their very last at the expense of lives and the people.

We must look to the Kenyan people for an answer, as it is they who have to face the next morning, their children, their families, and not policies hatched out far away by well meaning, interested and benevolent friends, kith and kin, from which ever guise they may come. Here-in lies the answer to the question of the secret or not so secret passage out of the mess, and a huge mess it is.
Although from where we stand it does not look like it, the time for Kenyans and Africans has come. The overreliance on state, on the goodwill of parties or individual politicians, on paternalistic/maternalistic international benevolence has shown up the weaknesses in a nation which does not listen to its own people and which does not function within universally accepted democratic principles (please let me not hear the word relativism again!)

An emerging strong civil society is finally flexing its muscle on behalf of the Kenyan people and reminding the contending and other interested parties that the crisis goes beyond the electoral and constitutional issues to the very core of the identity of Kenya and Kenyans. In addition to adding a very clear political voice into the debate, the civil society and pro-people organisations have also rolled up their sleeves and stepped into action to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of their fellow citizens and have been acting as their own advocate both at home and abroad, thus performing the role of the state and its conscience in many instances.

In many ways, Kenyans have been pushing towards a Kenyan voice to be heard long before and after independence, only to be drowned and ignored by those holding state power and others whose interests seem to supersede those of the majority of Kenyans. This is through failed promises such as those of institutionalizing the constitution and holding of free and fair elections since Kenya became an independent state and worse, when it became a one party state. The history of Kenya is littered with the undermining of the constitution, banning opposition, repressing individuals, fraudulent elections and bypassing of the instruments of democracy by party, class and individual interests which have so far been the order of the day. No longer. As well as a very vocal opposition and in true Kenyan tradition, the Kenyans are not having it. Through the opposition party, civil society and Kenyans of conscience across all class, ethnic and social spectrum all over the world, a powerful message is emerging and the world needs to listen. The civil society and pro-people organisations in particular, speaking on behalf of the Kenyan people have issued a powerful statement which rejects the highjacking of people's democracy by refusing to recognize what they consider a "palace coup" which is what lies at the heart of the current disquiet despite its varied manifestations. However, they are not seeking piecemeal solutions and have quickly grasped the fact that solving the current crisis will require more than a temporary fix; a whole reconstruction. They recognize that Kenya needs to move on beyond the current crisis towards a longer term solution which calls for reconstructing a new democratic foundation. They feel that this is a national crisis and not just a party political issue which in any case, the country cannot leave to the interested parties to resolve on their own.

It is a courageous call on behalf of the Kenyan people that the civil society has called for a rejection of the regime as it is currently constituted and called for a process where electoral and human rights justice are pursued through all the means available. They have gone further and asked the international community not to recognize the regime. They are have also called for an interim government of national unity to oversee a transitional justice process which would go beyond the electoral crisis and one which would begin to look at the underlying issues which led to the current crisis including weaknesses in the system such as the constitutional and electoral arrangements. They are also calling for a national people's convention which would be part of building the road map out of the crisis and also leading to fresh elections. Such a legally constituted and recognized body as an interim government of national unity would be empowered to oversee such a transitional arrangement. Justice seems to lie at the heart of such a demand.

The international community has also moved swiftly by rallying to the Kenyan people's call and particularly the intervention of imminent people such as Desmond Tutu and President John Kuffour of Ghana, also the current head of the African Union. This demonstrates that there is hope in democracy through solidarity. The hope for a Pan-Africa solution seems highly prized and many in the world are watching with bated breath and hope that Kenya, for Pan African's sake can heed the wider call of the continent and its peoples. The world intellectuals, activist, ordinary people from all walks of life and media too, (despite initial negative reporting by the Western media in particular) has played a crucial role in engaging the Kenyan process with keen interest and itself is a promise of global democracy and solidarity out of which much of the democratizing process can be learned for all humanity.

The world wills it, only those without eyes will not see, those without ears will not hear and history will judge them individually and collectively, very harshly, in the public global glare of the media in the here and now and in the future.

* Dr. Wangui wa Goro: Kenyan human rights activist, writer, translator, academic and public intellectual. Currently Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice; London Metropolitan University.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Keith Jennings writes on the blatant disregard for democratic principles in Kenya's contentious elections and the Bush administration's flawed foreign policy

In the immediate aftermath of the recent elections in Kenya, the Bush Administration wasted no time in sending its glowing congratulations to incumbent President Mwai Kibaki and the Kenyan Election Commission. But despite the subsequent attempt to ignore the congratulatory message, and adamant claim of a global commitment to democracy, the Bush Administration’s official stamp of approval for Kibaki and the elections reflected a de facto endorsement of a naked power grab and contempt for the democratic process.

To be sure, the Bush administration’s eagerness to embrace a stage-managed election reveals a sharp inconsistency between pronouncement and practice -- declining to support calls for a re-count and urging “all candidates to accept the Commission’s final result.” Some would argue that the Bush focus on security and economic interest supersede its rhetoric for democracy. Clearly, the Bush statement and its later about-face joint statement with Kenya’s former colonial masters –the British- reflects morally bankrupt policies which only see Kenya as a staunch ally and “frontline state in the global war on terrorism.”

The Kenyan people participated in a democratic process to elect the representatives of their choice. When the election results were leaning toward the challenger and long time pro-democracy activist, Raila Odinga, the democratic process was over taken by manipulation and fraud. How can a U.S. Administration that preaches democracy in almost biblical terms refuse to pressure the Kenyan government for a re-count or an independent audit? Of course, this question may strike some Americans as naïve in the light of the Florida and Ohio fiascos in our own 2000 & 2004 presidential elections.

After the Bush Administration, offered congratulations to Mwai Kibaki on December 30, in the midst of widespread violent clashes between civilians and Kenyan police, I have to agree with those commentators who have been critical of the Bush Administration’s democracy promotion policy in Africa. Moreover, how can the views of hundreds of European international observers, who proclaim a “staggering mismatch” between recorded vote counts at local polling stations and what the Election Commission officials announced, be ignored. One wonders what the Administration would be saying if this were Zimbabwe or Burma.

The fighting in the streets of Nairobi and police abuse started long before the recent election results were announced. In the pre-election period, numerous human rights violations occurred including the killing and beating of dozens of women candidates and widespread intimidation and violence against opposition politicians. Recent poll results indicate fraudulent vote counting in at least 72 constituencies, which equate to an undermining of the electoral process and a democratic set back once again on the African continent. While the democratic process should never be reduced to an election, it is during an election that the strength of a country’s democratic system is put to the test. This is clearly the case in Kenya.

After years of autocratic rule by Daniel Moi (who’s home was burned down last week), citizens from all walks of life and political persuasions closed ranks to elect a new government in 2002, one that promised never to treat the people the way they had been sidelined and marginalized by previous governments. The promises were soon broken as charges of corruption were leveled against high ranking members of the Kibaki Administration. Consequently, the Kenyan people rightfully expected and democratically prepared for change.

It is important to note that Kibaki’s party won only 35 of 210 parliamentary seats losing more than 20 of his cabinet ministers, including his vice president. These facts alone reveal the deep seated and widespread public resentment against the legendary corruption of the Kibaki Administration.
With an official result producing a less than 233,000 vote difference (4,584,721 for Kibaki to 4,352,993 for Odinga), what is in order is a recount and an independent audit of the tallying process and final results, not a hasty swearing-in of the controversial President for another five years with Bush’s blessings. That swearing-in was immediately followed by a media ban on live coverage of events, a ban on all public rallies and threats from the declared winner to “deal decisively with those who breach the peace.” We have heard those words before. The Kenyan peoples’ right of peaceful assembly and expression should be respected by the current government. The attempt to suppress any opposition to the fraudulent election results is bound to fail and only lead to more violence and conflict.

As it has been reported in the Kenyan and international media, even the Kenyan Election Commission chair, Samuel Kivuilu, admits that the Commission was under pressure by government, which raises questions of its independence. Commissioner Kivuilu also states that he is not sure ‘if Kibaki won the elections.’ At least five other Commissioners have said they are certain that the vote count was manipulated.

The Kibaki power grab may well cause Kenya, a model of stability in the East Africa region, to become another in the growing list of African countries that risk slipping down the path of ethnic conflict amidst a rekindling of old prejudices that has led to genocide in neighboring countries.

We have seen the U.S. government prioritizing its security concerns over democracy promotion in Africa before. Who can ever forget the shameful April 2007 elections in Nigeria, which provides the US with 12% of its oil needs? Nigerians refer to that election as the most fraudulent elections ever held in the country. Despite calls for electoral reform, official U.S. congratulations to Yar’Adua were followed by a recent White House visit, which ended with Yar’Adua promoting the establishment of the U.S. African Military Command that could potentially place U.S. soldiers throughout the continent despite opposition in Nigeria. No wonder many believe there is scant U.S. commitment to global democracy when its economic and military interests are relevant. The Bush Administration’s policies appear to respond to narrow, ill-perceived security and economic imperatives that will ultimately lead to long-term instability in Kenya and other parts of Africa.

It is more than noteworthy that as the 2005 Ethiopian elections were being won by the opposition at such an unprecedented rate that the Melis government intervened and halted the announcement of results. After a series of recounts and adjudication trails, which the opposition was not prepared for, it was once again business as usual, a witch’s brew of repression and torture. The arrest and detention on treason charges of all major opposition leaders followed. The Bush administration, which also sees Ethiopia as a staunch ally in the war on terror who is more than willing to do its bidding in Somalia, offered congratulations to Melis on his victory and urged “dialogue” and “reconciliation.”

As the optimism of the 1990s has given way to the more vexing problem of making democracy deliver on its promises, the past few years have been filled with setbacks for the democratic process in Africa, with the possible exceptions of the 2005 elections in Liberia and the 2007 elections in Sierra Leone. And the U.S. has been largely silent in its actions to reverse those setbacks.
The peace in Kenya was breached long before the day when the elections were stolen. Sanctimonious calls for peace, compromise and reconciliation will do no good when the people’s confidence in the democratic process is what is at stake and the legitimacy of those making the calls for “law and order” or respect for the rule of law is questioned.

The issue here is about power and the future of democracy in Africa not ethnic rivalries. Unfortunately some of the big men in Africa, as in other parts of the world, have not realized how to share power or to let it go when the will of the people is against their continued stay in office. There are those who talk about freedom and democracy but practice autocratic policies, they never really believed in the will of the people to begin with. What will be the world’s response to the farce currently underway in Kenya? Democracy in Africa or business as usual?

* Dr. Keith Jennings is President of the African American Human Rights Foundation and former Director of Citizen Participation for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He can be reached at [email][email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

We speak in the name of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last week. We strongly condemn the violence that has erupted across the country following the questionable outcomes of the counting and tallying done under the electoral process. We express our deepest sympathy to all those who have been injured, raped or killed and their families, those who have lost property, those who have been internally displaced as well as those who continue to live in fear.

I received your newsletter (Kenya Crisis: Action alerts at Pambazuka News/ Appeal on RapeCrisis Centres) and just wanted to say thanks for all the useful articles therein.

You may wish to alert your readers to the news service I work with in Nairobi. IRIN is part of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs but wholly independent editorially. As you will see from the website, we have been providing extensive coverage of the humanitarian aspects of the current crisis and will continue to do so as it unfolds (and, hopefully, subsides).

One issue in particular we are focusing on right now is the increase gender-based violence. If you had further contacts other than the ones noted in your mail, I’d be most grateful.

I would like to point out one factual inaccuracy in your mail: as of Monday, 7th January, there are between 4,000 and 5,000 IDPs in Jamhuri park, not 75,000.

Best regards

Anthony Morland
Senior Editor, East & Central Africa
IRIN - Humanitarian News & Analysis
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Tel: +254 20 762 2964
Mob: +254 738 220 009

The wave of violence that engulfed Kenya after the presidential election has been widely described as tribal or ethnic in nature. But analysts in the east African country point to basic economics as the true cause of the unrest. Widespread violence and a humanitarian crisis were triggered by the 30 December announcement that incumbent Mwai Kibaki had won a hotly contested presidential poll amid opposition claims of rigging and international observers' reports of serious irregularities in the vote-tallying process.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_01_whiteafrican.gif comments that sometimes the only thing you can do in a crisis is report what you see. Using technology from google maps he takes Kenyan Pundit’s (see below) suggestion and creates a mashup of incidents reported by citizens.

“Basically, let’s create a mashup that people can report into on incidences of violence that they see.........Basically, you have an incident - that hopefully someone gets a picture or video of. A report on what happened and who was involved, and a location. That information is submitted and then populated into a map-based view that is easy to search by location and/or category. “

The idea for the site was first suggested on Saturday and by Wednesday due to sheer hard work and collaboration the site Ushahidi (meaning Witness) was up and running http://www.ushahidi.com/. The next step is to integrate an SMS messaging function which would enable anyone with access to a mobile phone to send in reports. A brilliant idea and example of how technology can be implemented in a short time when there is a crisis.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_03_kenyanpundit.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_04_geraldbaraza.gifGerald Baraza is critical of the newly announced “illegitimate cabinet” announced by Mwai Kibaki which he describes as “Total Greed and Madness” and shows Kibaki has no regard for Kenyans, the democratic process or Kenya’s future. Baraza lists some of the possible outcomes of Kibaki’s announcement and makes some suggestions to the international community on how they can “save Kenya”...

“1. Tribal tensions will escalate to levels never witnessed before.
2. Feelings by majority of the Kenyan ethnic groups, especially the Luo, that Kibaki's dominant Kikuyu tribe has always given them a raw deal when it comes to the management, distribution, and utilization of resources and opportunities, will reach unparalled levels.

3.Violence is going to tripple in the country!
4. Guerilla warfare will become an option for many who feel cheated, frustrated and oppressed by an illegitimate regime.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_05_mentalacrobatics…Mental Acrobatics shares a report on two grassroots taking initiatives taking place which provide encouragement.

Nafsi Afrika is a team of acrobats formed in 2000. Its acrobats come mainly from the Kawangware and Kibera slums in Nairobi. These two areas have been rocked by the violence of the past few days. Later on today this team of acrobats will build a human pyramid of acrobats from different tribes in a show of unity................AND
REPACTED is a community based youth-to-youth organization. They are based in Nakuru. In the Free Area part of Nakuru most of the landlords are Kikuyu and most of the tenants are Luo they managed to get both groups together in a forum.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_08_shailja.gifShajila Patel writes an open letter to Samuel Kivuitu (Chair of the Electorial Commission of Kenya) accusing him of betraying the people of Kenya and pointing our the consequences of his failure to act honourably and truthfully in the election process.

“You betrayed us. Perhaps we'll never know when, or why, you made that decision. One rumor claims you were threatened with the execution of your entire family if you did not name Kibaki as presidential victor. When I heard it, I hoped it was true. Because at least then I could understand why you chose instead to plunge our country into civil war.................... Do you think of the 300,000 Kenyans displaced from their homes, their lives? Of the thousands still trapped in police stations, churches, any refuge they can find, across the country? Without food, water, toilets, blankets? Of fields ready for harvest, razed to the ground? Of granaries filled with rotting grain, because no one can get to them? Of the Nairobi slum residents of Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Dandora, ringed by GSU and police, denied exit, or access to medical treatment and emergency relief, for the crime of being poor in Kenya?”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_09_gukira.gifGukira confesses that despite watching the events unfold, reading and listening, writing has not been easy as he imagines that at least
“Somewhere, in this mess, someone I know, someone I love, someone I respect, has raised a hand in anger and frustration.”

Nonetheless he see the events of the past two weeks as either extraordinary or unexpected.

“It would be a mistake to view the events of the past week as entirely singular, extraordinary, or unexpected. Instead, they dramatize that for too long many Kenyans have been closing their eyes and blocking their ears to the ordinary suffering and frustration of fellow citizens. If what we have seen was an eruption, it was fed, in part, by our easy smiles and tolerance of inequality. Perhaps the sad truth is that we have all been living in a horror movie and we just awoke to that fact..................Unlike most horror movies, which end in total destruction or in some kind of redemption, the way ahead for us is not as scripted. It’s clear that we cannot simply assume we share the same values. Instead, we must cultivate shared values. We cannot rely on our leaders to heal our wounds. Instead, we must take responsibility for wounding each other. We can no longer live within purely ethnic enclaves. Instead, we must begin to bridge cultural and geographic differences.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_10_hokmah.gifAfrican Rhetoric is critical of the claim by many Kenyans and observers that both Mawi Kibaki and Raila Odinga are equally responsible for the post election violence.

“The problem, though, is that such a claim is not accurate. It is not true that Kibaki and Raila are to blame in equal measure for Kenya’s current predicament. It shouldn’t need saying that Kibaki stole the election; that the violence that erupted is a reaction to a coup. Attempts to bracket Kibaki’s wrongdoing in the name of focusing on ending the violence simply echoes Kibaki’s own vacuous talking point that he will only engage in dialogue once there is peace. It just so happens, though, that the violence stems from a dispute which must be resolved in order to bring about peace. Moreover, Kibaki and Raila do not occupy symmetrical positions of power. Kibaki, having seized the presidency, has the entire military-police apparatus at his command. He has far more resources, albeit illegitimately expropriated, and far more direct command over his forces than Raila does over the crazed mobs carrying out the ethnic cleansing of Kikuyus. A case in point: Kibaki’s internal security minister, John “Rasputin” Michuki, has converted Kisumu into a human abbatoir.”
Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/335/blogs_11_madkenyanwoman.gifDiary of a Mad Kenyan Woman posts a daming essay on the election fraud, violence and those wishing to maintain the “feudal principlality of Kikuyustan”.

“How have we produced this population of Kenyans so estranged, so alienated from a sense of collective hope and a progressive trajectory that they are willing to burn to the ground this national edifice we call our home? I begin to suspect that it might have something to do with the ways in which we treat our people as if they are disposable nappies....first we crap all over them and then we throw them away. Or, first we work them up with visions and dreams of a utopia denied them only by the holding of office by the ‘the other side’ then we slyly make insinuations of how much easier life would be without ‘them’ and then we give them a little nudge and say “oh look, there goes one of them now. And who left this panga lying about in the open like that, all nice and shiny and sharp?”

And then we exclaim in shocked horror: oh goodness, me! However could this have happened? Oh please, please, well, gracious me, whatever shall we do?

On the other hand, whatever can Kikuyus think we are about, saying complacently that “we” won the election when even Europeans who can count are quite able to figure out the implications of votes which add up to fifty thousand and are transmuted into seventy thousand by some mysterious Kikuyu alchemy? It boggles the mind, the sheer bare-faced effrontery of fraud meant to thwart the popular will and carried out in naked defiance of international observers and Kenyan media. We may not have universal education yet, but a good number of Kenyans can count for themselves with a fair degree of confidence in their own tallies. What on earth do the people of Central Province mean, dancing about in the streets like that with joy, when it is evident to anyone who believes in this country that uchawi numbers are self-evidently not a cause for celebration? There’s hubris, and then there’s Central Province. I am fairly sure that it didn’t help matters. No one has won here, folks. We are all our own victims and our own oppressors—and some of us are guiltier than others.”

On Facebook

* Sokari Ekine is author of Black Looks blog [www.blacklooks.org">

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

In view of the growing crisis in Kenya as a result of the stolen elections, we at Pambazuka News have decided to devote a blog site to provide space for up-to-date information about what is happening.

Dearest friends and family,

We greet you with hopes for peace in the New Year. As you have probably heard,
there is much unrest in Kenya following the national elections on Dec. 27. We
are fine and are staying in Lamu, a small island off the northern coast of
Kenya, just south of Somalia. This is a very peaceful place and a small town
where everyone knows each other

We are not sure what news you are getting about Kenya right now, but we know
that many of you have been afraid for us. We thank you for your concern and
your prayers of peace and protection.

On Dec. 27, Kenyans went to the polls. The election itself was mostly peaceful
although some people complained that they could not vote and were told they were
not registered. There was some violence at some polling stations, and there were
some election workers who protested that they were not paid enough. Raila
himself went to vote in his district of Langata/Kibera, and found that his name
was not even printed on the ballot! Election observers from the European Union,
the U.S., and other countries were deployed throughout the country, and they
have reported widespread problems with the way the election was conducted and
how the votes were counted.

It appears that the presidential election may have been rigged, since it took almost four days for the election results to be counted and declared. The elections had been decentralized with individual polling stations in charge of counting the votes from their constituencies. Although the votes were counted locally, they were then sent to the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, where the Electoral Commission of Kenya was meeting.

As a result, there has been violence, looting, and killing in some parts of Kenya – especially in the Western Province near Kisumu and around Nairobi and Mombasa. These are large cities and the violence has mostly been centered around the cities. We have been communicating with the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi and with friends in the cities who have reported widespread fighting, killing, rapes, looting and burning of stores and houses. The worst situation was a church that was burned with dozens of women and children trapped inside who were seeking refuge. There have been over 300 reported deaths so far, and over 150,000 internally displaced refugees.

On Jan. 2, we heard that Nairobi and Mombasa had cooled down, and that the General Service Unit (GSU military police) and other police were heavily deployed throughout the cities. Shops had opened again in the cities and it seemed that things were returning to normal. However, Raila called for one million people to come to an ODM rally to be held at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, the large central park next to downtown, on Jan. 3 (today). Kibaki banned the rally and called for heavy police deployment throughout the city. This morning we have heard that the rally is taking place and a large crowd is moving from Uhuru Park to Kibera and Langata, Raila’s home constituency. Police have been deployed heavily throughout the city. Kibera is the largest slum outside of Nairobi and has been the center of much of the violence so far. We are praying that the rally will be peaceful and that Raila will ask his supporters to protest without violence. However, the situation is very tense and it might escalate again after today’s rally.

Do not worry about us – we are safe here in Lamu and we will be careful about waiting until it is safe elsewhere before traveling from here. The only concern here is that we are very remote, and that the supplies to the island come from the other cities on buses and boats. Since there is an oil shortage and a ban on traveling in the cities, there are few supplies coming to the island now.

* Cat Cutcher is a PHD student at Ohio University currently in Kenya on a Fulbright scholarship. This is an edited version of the full letter.

I read your comments on the Kenyan elections with great interest. While acknowledging that the Kenyan electorate has indeed lost the elections (see I would like to point out that we should have seen the post-election violence coming. After all, ODM never lost an opportunity to state that the elections would be rigged - it was a psychological game that heightened people's fears and anxieties so much so that even if Kibaki had won with a landslide, they would still have cried foul. I do not agree with your sentiments that since majority of the PNU ministers were floored, it is an indication that Kibaki was unpopular. I think for the first time, voters opted to stay away from the 3-piece style; the message some of us were sending was: You may be in PNU but you have not delivered as an MP but we believe Kibaki could do better with a new crop of MPs.

As I look at the line-up of MPs Kenyans have voted into parliament my heart weeps for the citizens. What nation turns a blind eye and votes in remnants of a dictatorial corrupt regime? I cannot believe that the ODM euphoria has brought in men and women who have corruption scandals firmly tied around their necks? So will we ever get justice for the crimes committed against us? And to see some of them give rhetoric speeches on justice is a mockery of our intelligence!

On the other hand, I think it is time we put lots of pressure on Kibaki to deliver on issues that are crucial for the Kenyan citizen. I think it's high time civil society (I wonder if we are still relevant at this rate considering that most of us have been compromised) began to speak with a loud voice on socio-political and economic issues affecting the Kenyan populace. As a young girl growing up, I knew that there were courageous men and women who never lost an opportunity to stand for the rights of the people. Slowly, the voice of justice has died over the years, and what we have as civil society in Kenya are men and women eyeing the political seats too and waiting to oil their pockets with hefty salary perks. The role of religious instituions cannot be under-estimated in the cause for justice. Religious institutions in my opinion, should be impartial, keeping a keen eye on the going-ons in society and providing a critical analysis of the happenings. They should be able to challenge injustice at all levels and ensure that the citizens' rights are prioritized at all costs. I have been disheartened to see religious leaders routing for particular candidates or political parties - how then can one provide impartial criticism when the individual or party disregards the rule of law or disrespects the rights of the common man? The media in Kenya has in some ways been irresponsible, airing politicians' irresponsible utterances and I don't think they were aware of the potential harm of their "freedom" to give every politician the space to abuse and call one another names. The chickens have indeed come home to roost. I honestly believe the media in this country needs to re-define themselves into a professional unit and for once, let news be devoid of name-calling and tribal alignments and assessments.

We need a paradigm shift in this country. As Kenyans descend on one another and kill one another, the politicians to whom they owe allegiance retreat in the safety of their homes and the comfort of their families. Is there any politician who really cares? In my opinion, none. Let us not lay blame totally on the state forces; it is clear in some regions that people had been incited to ensure that those belonging to a particular ethnic tribe should be annihilated or vacated. Could somebody please explain why Kikuyu businesses in Western Kenya were targetted? The youth in Kenya should also be motivated to think independently and it is high time each young man/woman realized that no politician will put a plate of food or salary on their tables. A successful society is made up of people who are able to exploit the existing socio-political and economic space in order to better not only their lives, but also the lives of the communities around them.

As we all wait for peace to be restored in this nation, it is my sincere prayer that we will learn from our errors. Aside from politicians, the civil society, religious insititutions and the media have a crucial role to play in ensuring that the unity we have enjoyed as a nation is restored and sustained.

Thank you for your concern and for your asurance that you are with us in this very difficult moment in the history of our nation. I am fine, we are fine though affected in one way or the other.

A country we once loved with a passion is now going up in flames in the post election violence. Hundreds ofd innocent lives have been lost, thousand injured and many more thousand have been internally displaced. Not to mention that porperties worth billions have have been vandalized and normal business operations interfered with. No one is spared in what has turned out to be teh nucleus of genocide. The most affected parts are the urban slums like korogocho (where I live) and the rural areas.

Our country is on fire and it is bleeding profusely because of the accusations that the incumbent president rigged the elections at the tallying centre. We are now paying heavily because some of our leaders disrespected justice and democracy. we have never been so divided as a country.

The uncertetinity grip our country is unbelievable. We live a day at time and every second counts. Gun shots, tear gas, razing of houses, massacres and all sorts of violences are slowly but steadily becoming teh norm. A country once regarded as an island of peace has become a turmoil of chaos.

Though the situation is quite appaling i still remain optimistic though cautiously. keep in touch and forever let us respect justice that is if we want peace. That is the greatest lesson we have learnt from the debacle...

We are at pains and we ask who will save our country?