Kenyan current affairs

Kenya, one of the most peaceful democracies in Africa, has been rocked by violence and unrest in the immediate aftermath of the results of the presidential elections of 2007. The whole elections have been held against the backdrop of ethnic alignment for the two leading contenders. The incumbent president Mwai Kibaki held a significantly upper hand in provinces with a high Kikuyu presence and the challenger Raila Odinga held a significantly upper hand in provinces with a high Luo presence. In terms of the geographical regions, Kibaki was stronger in the central province while Odinga definitely held the aces in Western Kenya, Rift Valley and the Coast. The elections were a virtual two-horse race.

After the nation went to polls on December 27th 2007, the results started to trickle and initial counts showed Odinga gain a commanding lead of over a million votes over his rival. The lead was consistently maintained and by end of the 29th December the lead was still hovering around the 750000 mark. On 30th December morning the lead was around 40000 and then things started to take a turn for the worse. The Election Commission of Kenya suspended announcing the results and this only served to fuel the sparks of doubt in everyone's mind. By 4 PM on 30th December the ECK declared Kibaki to have won the elections with a lead of 230000 votes approximately. In a swift swearing-in ceremony Kibaki was appointed as president for a second term in office. This incensed the supporters of Raila Odinga and all hell broke loose.

The supportetrs of Odinga alleged that there were gross discrepancies in the counting of votes and claimed that the elections were rigged massively by the ruling party. To add more spice one of the electoral commissioners blew the whistle that he was forced to manipulate the results in some constituencies. In a statement issued by the European Union the presidential poll has been deemed as flawed and short of international standards. The Chief EU monitor Alexander lambsdorff stated that the tallying process lacked credibility. Four Kenyan election commissioners also have expressed unease at the results.

Diplomatic pressure is mounting on Kenyan leaders to obtain an immediate solution to the whole situation.

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: The PM has urged both parties to work towards a solution after describing the situation tense and terming the killings in the aftermath of the elections as 'horrific'.

The US government has withheld the recognition of Kibaki as the president. The US ambassador Michael Ranneberger said he was 'concerned by serious problems experienced during the vote-counting process.'

"We're appalled by and condemn the incidents of violence taking place in Kenya, including horrific killings in several Kenyan cities and towns," said UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"What's clear is that there are some real problems here and that those need to be resolved in accordance with their constitution and in accordance with their legal system," said Tom Casey, a US State Department spokesman. "I am not offering congratulations to anybody because we have serious concerns about the vote count," he added.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged security forces "to show utmost restraint" and appealed to Kenyans "for calm, patience and respect for law."

Mr. Odinga has called for a million strong rally on 3rd January to dispute the results. Mr Odinga called on his supporters not to "ethnicise" the disputed poll. He compared Mr Kibaki to a military dictator who "seized power through the barrel of the gun." Stating that he has nothing but only contempt for Kibaki, he called Kibaki as behaving in exactly the same way as Idi Amin of Uganda.

Mr. Kibaki has called for peace and has warned that those who oppose peace and calm would be dealth with decisively.

Following the declaration of the results and the swearing-in of Kibaki as the president, the nation has been witnessing horrific scenes of chaos bordering on the anarchy. The protests and violence has been grave in towns of Western Kenya like Kisumu and Kisii and in Nairobi, the capital city. In the largest slum in Nairobi people have been lynching one another on ethnic lines and police have been shooting to kill the mobsters. Large-scale looting has been going on in the capital city and other cities. A ban on all live transmissions has been imposed on the media channels.

International news agencies have accounted for at least 150 deaths either due to clashes between rival supporters or clashes between protestors and security forces. Hospitals in Western Kenya and Nairobi are being filled up with unclaimed bodies, mainly with gunshot wounds. Armed forces and para-military have been deployed across major towns and cities. In spite of security measures, Kibera - Nairobi's sprawling slum, has been smouldering with burnt shops, burnt cars and ransacked houses.

The worst affected is the common man who is facing serious shortages of essential commodities like food and fuel. Prices have sky-rocketed where commodities are available and shops have downed their shutters for four days in a row.

The violence and bloodshed is a stunning turn of events in one of Africa's most-developed economies with a booming tourism industry and a positive economic growth. However for the common people, many of whom live on less than a dollar a day, there is no escape. As one injured man said the violence affects only the poor and the people in power get away at the slightest hint of trouble in their chartered flights!

The widespread violence, the cool international response to being elected as president, growing international pressures, the threat of a full-scale tribal war and Odinga's resolve could hasten Kibaki into searching for a compromise.

The country thrives on a booming tourism and in the aftermath of the election-induced bloodbath the United States, the United Kingdom and several European nations have imposed travel alerts on their citizens and warned them of undertaking any non-essential travel. How this will affect the economy of the country is to be seen.

Solution to the problem can be attained only if the warring factions can come together under international mediation and come to a conclusion on whether to have an open recount of the votes or to have a re-election. In either case time is crucial and if no solution is forthcoming one of the more prosperous and stable nations of Africa will continue to burn and more deaths will be the result. The international community, the UN in particular, should step forward and stop the escalation of the violence into a full-fledged ethnic violence. The international community did nothing but watch the Rwanda Genocide and Africa with its sensitive ethnic and tribal orientations cannot afford another such a predicament yet again.