HangOntoYourHats

I was going to write something light today. Things seemed to be settling down a bit in Kenya and I was feeling a bit light-hearted. I was hoping it was quarter past silly time again. Nothing in the Nation seemed that bad so I moved over to the Standard for a peek at their news. I think they do a better job on editorials.

Hang onto your hats gang looks like we're in for more trouble. Americans think that the difficulties have been worked out. We're more focused on Obama and Clinton's tribal wars than what's happening on the other side of the world. You know the funny thing is that our Presidential race as well as things happening in England, Sudan, France, China get front page billing in their papers. What do you make of that campers?

So it seems that they may have used Kofi Annan up. He's saying that almost no progress has been made and ODM (the opposition party) is going to have peace rallies (read demonstrations to challenge whether the police are really going to change their tactics and not use real bullets). They're due to begin in 48 hours.

I'm still struggling with how to get the schools to send me accurate records. I realize that they have to learn to be accountable and send exactly what they spent. I need to know how many bushels of maize and for how much. I'm going to call another head teacher and have her check her email. It's hard, but we can't continue to send money without proper accounts. Sometimes I wonder what on earth am I doing trying to get sustainability in a tiny town in Kenya. I'm waiting for God to poke me in the eye.

And now the latest news:

ODM calls for mass action

Published on February 26, 2008, 12:00 am

By Ayub Savula

ODM last night called for mass action on this Thursday following the stalling of the Kofi Annan mediation talks.

Secretary General, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, last night sent a letter dated February 25 to Police Commissioner, Maj Gen Ali Hussein, informing him that the party would hold nationwide peace meetings on February 28.

In the letter to the police commissioner, Nyong’o said all the ODM regional coordinators had delivered letters to respective Officer Commanding Police Stations (OCS) across the country.

At the same time, Nyong’o informed the Nairobi City Council that they had booked the Uhuru Park grounds.

Meanwhile, Annan’s team said in a statement he had concluded the team was not capable of resolving the outstanding issues. He said they had made "almost no progress… on governance".

In the statement sent to newsrooms last night, Annan said: "After four hours of intense negotiations this morning, the negotiating team made almost no progress toward reaching an agreement on governance, despite the fact that they were given entire weekend to consult on their positions.

"I had to conclude that they were not capable of resolving the outstanding issues, I therefore suspended the afternoon session in order to confer directly with the leaders."

Annan first met ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga, at the Serena Hotel and then President Kibaki at State House.

"With these leaders I shared issues in contention and urged them to resolve their differences so that we could complete our work on Agenda Item 3. How to Resolve the Political crisis, confident that they understood the crisis the Nation is in and the impatient desire the people of Kenya to see a final resolution to the conflict.

"I believe that the Panel of Eminent African Personalities working with the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation have done its work. I am now asking the Party leaders, Hon Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki to do theirs."

WhiteCliffsOfDover

I spoke to my friend today. She is pastor of the church I attend in Muguga. She sounded so sad and weary. She was in the process of moving from Kari to her new home in Nairobi. She can no longer live in Kari and feel safe, but she will not abandon her flock. She and her husband found a safe place where the children will not be frightened to go to sleep at night. She told me how difficult it is to get to the western part of the country where her homeland is and where I work. Everyone now goes west with military escort or risks being killed. Neither of us think that is going to change anytime soon.

All I could think of was that song from World War II."The White Cliffs of Dover". For those of you who don't remember it, it is a song of peace. Some of the lyrics are..."They'll be love and laughter, and peace ever after tomorrow just you wait and see...and Jimmy will sleep in his own little bed again..." I think of all the children who cannot sleep in their own homes, who are in refugee camps, or whose parents can pay the rents since they lost their jobs, or who have no parents and are wandering the streets and I pray for "The White Cliffs of Dover".

I will go back in June. I have figured out how to do it. I will fly into Uganda and travel down to Busia. Our project is right on the border and I can travel more safely through Uganda. Wow! I never thought I would say that given the wars up in the North of Uganda. But I cannot wait until September to go back. They need to see me and to know that we still are there, we still care and we won't let the children down. The challenge remains the grownups.

Yeah I did get the reports from the schools. They are totally wrong, but the kids essays are fantastic. I'll copy a couple of them for you to read tomorrow. The schools will get another shot and we will release some of the money in case you were wondering. But I had to wait to get the reports. One of my youngest colleagues, a medical student who worked in Rwanda for 9 months was worried I'd be angry when she encouraged me to wait for the reports before sending the money. But she was spot on and understands we must help them be sustainable not dependent.

And now for the round up of Kenyan News: Here's today's article from the Nation

NEWS

The road less travelled: Why the journey to western Kenya is a nightmare

Story by DOMINIC WABALA
Publication Date: 2/24/2008

One-and-a-half months after the disputed presidential election results were announced and violence set in, travelling to western parts of the country is still a nightmare for both passengers and Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators.

The weekend before my fact-finding trip on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, military personnel on their way to Kakamega for the burial of a colleague are believed to have escaped a possible attack because a gang that stopped their truck on the Kericho/Kisumu highway discovered that its 38 passengers were armed.

About two weeks earlier, six buses belonging to the Easy Coach bus company were set ablaze around Kericho town after being caught up in the violence.

Around the same time, blood-thirsty mobs believed to be Mungiki sect adherents dragged passengers from a matatu at Naivasha and hacked them to death as police watched.

The military had to use a helicopter gunship to repel the murderous Naivasha gangs that had erected illegal roadblocks on the highway, vetting motorists and passengers and demanding money from them.

Extortion fees

Some travellers were robbed or had their vehicles burnt for failing to pay the extortion fees.

Depending on political developments in Nairobi, riotous mobs sporadically block the highway, forcing motorists to seek alternative routes to their destinations or cancel their journey altogether.

It was with this in mind that I embarked on the treacherous journey to Busia town on the border of Kenya and Uganda.

A conspicuous notice at the Akamba Bus Service booking offices on Nairobi’s Latema Street informs travellers that the company’s fleet upcountry would be provided with military escort.

Repeated announcements through a public address system in the waiting room warned drivers not to pick up passengers along the route. But those are not the only changes a regular traveller on Akamba buses will find remarkable.

Departure times are now being strictly adhered to and buses driven in convoys.

Some buses are new, and others better maintained than those that plied the route before the violence began.

Telephone numbers to call in case of emergency are displayed for passengers to see.

The notice reads in part: “In case of emergency or danger situations call or SMS 0722880799 or 0721951258 Akamba security; 020 240000, 999 police emergency or 112 police emergency; say exactly where you are and your problem.”

On Wednesday, reporting time for Bus Number 2 to Busia was 7:00 a.m. With 10 passengers and two drivers aboard, the bus departed from the booking office at 8:10 a.m.

Military escort

We would travel to Nakuru without the military escort promised in the notice after the driver found out that the other buses in our convoy had decided to drive on ahead.

However, we passed eight Easy Coach buses parked on the roadside waiting for military escort at the Kabete police station.

We encountered the first police road block at the Muguga junction, but the officers let us pass without raising a finger.

But the absence of the many buses that are normally driven at breakneck speeds along the route sent my heart racing.

We found the second police roadblock a few metres past the Sigona Golf Club and another near the Horticultural Development Corporation of Kenya depot in Limuru where traffic police officers asked for a lift for their senior to Nakuru. This gave me a sense of security.

We spotted the first military patrol truck at the next police road block at the Kinale Saw Mills.

We drove into Naivasha at about 9.20 a.m., and were greeted by the sight of internally displaced people at a camp.

At the Delamare shop and filling station where normally one would encounter more than 15 public service vehicles stopping over to refuel or to allow passengers take refreshments, there were only five.

At the Nakuru Kenol filling station where we made our first stopover at 10.30 a.m., we ran into Vitalis Oduor, evicted from Free Hold estate. He pleaded desperately with the bus crew to take him to his ancestral home in Kisumu.

Escaped death

He was let in, but matters turned dramatic after he was asked to pay for the luggage. For one long hour Mr Oduor ranted and raved in the bus, calling the crew names. Our appeals to him to tone it down fell on deaf ears. He went on and on, telling us about how he had escaped death.

“They came to our houses armed with pangas and forcibly evicted us. They gave us an ultimatum to leave or kill and police did not help us. I saw death with my own eyes ... ” Mr Odour said.

He repeated this line until he drifted away into sleep. Later, Mr Oduor, who I would learn had been a mason in Nakuru for more than 10 years, swore to come back when the political tension finally eases.

Like many Kenyans, he said he was hoping for a fast political resolution to the current crisis.

Apparently encouraged by Mr Oduor’s outburst, another passenger with whom we had been travelling from Nairobi began a conversation with me.

Chrispinus Ogalo had only the previous night been evicted from Mathare North for allegedly failing to pay rent.

“More than 500 armed police officers came at bout 3.00 a.m. and broke into our houses on allegations that we had not paid rent. When did police become debt collectors? I decided to leave because living has become dangerous now,” Mr Ogalo said.

As we drove past the fifth police roadblock at Salgaa, I counted more than 50 trucks on the roadside, their drivers waiting to get assurance that it was safe to proceed.

A sixth police roadblock hardly 500 metres away gave me some sense of security again.

But my confidence was to be shaken soon afterwards when we came face to face with the destruction of private property near the Molo GSU camp.

Wanton destruction

A sign post announces Mama Kims Café some 200 metres away, but as we drive what one actually sees is the wanton destruction of property that starkly exemplifies post-election violence.

The destruction of the hundreds of houses from the Molo GSU camp all the way to Mau Summit and Kedowa does little to instil confidence in any passenger who has travelled that route before.

The sight clearly brought home the reality of the danger we too could encounter on our journey.

Gone are the days a passenger would buy a maize cob to nibble on the journey or a bag of potatoes, carrots or cabbage from the ever-present hawkers. Instead of the hawkers are burnt tyres and the shells of vehicles lying by the side of the road. Hundreds of wooden houses and shops now lie in ruins.

Although it is market day at Kedowa Market, there are barely 50 people at the centre, which is home to a Maize Produce Board depot. We ran into the second military truckload of soldiers at Chepseon market at 1:00 pm.

A few kilometres later a the Kaisuru Tea estate with vast tea farm straddling both sides of the road, we found the first highway police patrol car.

The troubles of travelling west are not helped by the fact that the road is in very bad condition.

Minutes after we pass through Kericho and Awasi I received a report that several trucks have been stoned after ODM officials announced that they will resort to demonstrations if President Kibaki does not recall Parliament by Tuesday.

I immediately began regretting that I had taken the trip to Busia. When I contacted the Nyanza Provincial Police Officer Antony Kibuchi, he said that the incident “involved a few looters”.

We drove through Kapsoit market where I saw the shells of two trucks that had been burnt by the riotous mobs several day before. We reached Kisumu at about 3:30 p.m. but only briefly because the usual stopover parking lot at the Kimwa annex was burnt down during the riots.

There is no place for passengers to relieve themselves and freshen up.

Most trucks plying the route display posters of the ODM leader Raila Odinga on their windscreens. When I inquired, I was told it was their insurance of safe passage through the region.

Most of the passengers had alighted on the way after reaching their destinations, and I was the only one left on the bus when we arrived at the border town. I then had to start think of the journey back to Nairobi if and when it takes place.

The next available bus to Nairobi was scheduled to leave on Friday. I missed it and had to wait another 24 hours.

DreamDeferred

Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--
And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

I have always loved this poem by Lnagston Hughes and its truth rings louder now than ever in my beloved Kenya. Today I am merely letting you read some email I have received from friends. I continue to cry Ombolezza Kenya. Have mercy on Kenya!
We are all praying.

mothermadrigal> wrote:
Daniel,
I have not seen your byline in a good long time. I pray you are well and safe. I have had to postpone my trip until the unrest settles down. It makes me very sad, but I think God would have me here raising money rather than there right now. Francis sent me a note saying he had talked to you and things were better in Kisumu. I pray that is so. Can you give me an opinion of whether the mails are safe now. I got Mama Florence's address and I want to send her money.
When you get a chance write me a line. I pray for all of you and my beloved second home.
God's Grace and Blessings,
Atieno

Hi, thansk for the mail. I have been acting Editor, that explains the abscence of my articles. Mails are safe now, atleastr for the time being. We have learnt to keep hope alive because we cannot give up.
Otieno


Mothermadrigal wrote:
I know you got my short message and now here is a longer one. Because everything here in the U.S is connected by cybetspace I can read both the Nation and the Standard every day. So I am well aware of what is happening in Kenya. I fear it will be a long time before things settle down in Kenya. 2 days ago the Nation reported on the roving gangs of thugs terrorizing people in Kisumu. My friends fro KARI have fled and are now in Butere with no intentions of returning in the near future. I am incredibly sad about what is happening, but understand that it is the natural evolution that all countries must go through to become free. I shall be back, I hope, in September. I hold you all in my heart and yearn to be back soon.
all good things,
stieno

Jambo Susan,
I hope you are fine.me and my Family are ok,even John and his family are fine.I know you are also worried by what has been happening to our nation although our side was not affected with displacements,we are affected by lack of business but its better to sleep hungry than sleeping out.To tell you the truth am glad you postponed coming here on march coz it was scaring to hear what was happening in Kisumu especialy if you come from central kenya.Let me tell you,Tribal wars are evil and whoever preach it evil.anyway,we are now puting the things together and preaching peace among us coz people now know even if we find a political solution we still need peace.Bye for now and all the best.Francis

Mothermadrigal wrote:
I know you got my short message and now here is a longer one. Because everything here in the U.S is connected by cybetspace I can read both the Nation and the Standard every day. So I am well aware of what is happening in Kenya. I fear it will be a long time before things settle down in Kenya. 2 days ago the Nation reported on the roving gangs of thugs terrorizing people in Kisumu. My friends fro KARI have fled and are now in Butere with no intentions of returning in the near future. I am incredibly sad about what is happening, but understand that it is the natural evolution that all countries must go through to become free. I shall be back, I hope, in September. I hold you all in my heart and yearn to be back soon.
all good things,
atieno

How is you today , we are okey and look forward for Gods grace. I came to kARI yesterday to organise my house but was unable since there is so much fear, Rowen couldnt sleep alone in her bedroom, i never imagined these. We trust God for every thin and that has been my prayer, hope Anan will leave kenya better than it has been.Lets continue in prayer

your sister
Beatrice

mothermadrigal> wrote:
Beloved Sister,
I continue to pray and to ache for all of you. Last night I was with an African sister here and we went to hear African music. All I wanted to do was go home to Kenya. Tomorrow I will be in New York City to try and raise some money for the children in our program.
I cannot imagine Kari without you and Mama Wendy and Mama June. But I am a mother and know how important it is to care for your children. I pray you will be able to find a solution to your living situation. I hope the children are both all right and feeling more assured. I read the papers every day (The Nation and the Standard) and must admit the news is bleak.
Please keep in touch when you can and let me know how you are faring. You are in my heart always.
May God Almighty bring you and Kenya safely through,
Atieno

ToDoMercy

“What doth the Lord Require of thee?
Only to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God”
Micah 6:8

So often my clients are worried about being good enough, or worthy. They worry about being approved of either by others or themselves. I try to guide them back to the teachings of Micah since it’s so simple. Notice there is no implication in this quote of worthiness or acceptance by others or by God. Our job is to do justice, love mercy and the tough one, walk humbly.

Sometimes doing the mercy thing is hard too. Sometimes we think we are being merciful when we are actually placating ourselves. Sometimes it is easier to give someone something they want because it makes us feel good, when their having to fight for it for themselves is what they really need.

I am now in a great moral dilemma. The schools signed contracts with me to send their records each 3 months. Once I receive the records I release more funding for the children. Their last set of reports were due before the elections, but they didn’t send them. And of course they still have not sent them. To do what the Lord require?? Have mercy and send the money? Have mercy and not send the money to help they learn accountability? You see the conundrum is that we do not want to be just another charity giving out money, we want active participants. I have been working with these schools for 2 years and they still don’t get it. They still don’t get the need for the accounts. If they don’t learn these simple accounts, if I don’t prepare them for the businesses they plan to run, if I just give them the money how am I being merciful? Donors get tired…ED’s get tired, so I’ll pray on it.
I’m going to put it up for a vote. I’d love to know what you think. Next week I’ll tell you what I decided.

OmbolezzaKenya

Cry Hope Beloved Country
Each time I call Kenya it hurts so much I have to be still for an hour. I have to remember there are souls here who need me as well, and though their problems can seem minor, as my grandmother would say "I am just as big for me as you are big for you".

I spoke to my African sister and pastor this morning. She has been crying for a week she tells me. They returned to Kari, to the devastation. Her children are being kept in safe houses in Nairobi, but she and her husband had to return to Kari, the one home they have lived in for 23 years. They must leave Kari now. They must find safety in a part of Nairobi safe for Luhyas.

She described the horror of what happened at the research institute. It was not from within but from without. She explains the terror of seeing the guards overpowered and gangs 200 strong with machetes (she couldn't even bring herself to say that word) coming at people...her parishioners, her friends.Some killed, some fled. I was part of getting a few out before the bloodshed. Now most are gone. Many vow they will never return. How does she reconcile this and her duty to her church to offer people hope and trust in God, with her need to keep her children safe away from the home they have always known?

Cry The Beloved Country, that is all I can think about. When Alan Paton wrote that book so long ago I suspect he never thought it would be the banner for most of Africa.
Next week I will go to NYC and try and explain this phenomenon and the desperate situation of the children I serve in Western Kenya. Globonders have also been floating into my life and helping. There is a man in Dubai who reached out and could wire transfer some money to feed the kids. I'm going to learn a lot from him. And the event, which I had to go out and get that little black dress for (Mother has not needed the little black dress in a while) is hosted by Globonders. In all of this there are these rays of hope, a lady I talked to today named Leslie, Kirstin, Brett whose shimmer flutters in the night and says hold on. So I guess through all of this it may mean I must change the title now to Cry Hope Beloved Country.


E----, My Sister,
I thought I had finished crying for all the sadness in Kenya. I thought I had become accustomed to bad news. I thought that by my staying here and doubling my efforts to raise money for the children it would help me feel like I was actually doing something helpful. I had a long talk with Charles today before I spoke to you. He is such a kind, gentle wise soul and I felt better.

Then my dear, I spoke to you. I could scarcely breathe as I listened to you. I cannot imagine what you must be going through. I have loved Kari over these past 6 years, for me it has been my home, St. John's my church.No loss I could feel, though could compare to the devastation and loss you must be experiencing. I wish there were words that I could say that would help the pain, I wish I could help in some way. I cannot know what it must be like to be torn by 2 appointments God has given you that tear you in two directions. Mother and Pastor, who could imagine that they would not always be in the same path?

I hope you will find the strength and courage to chronicle this incredibly painful journey. You have always been my Kenyan Pastor, you have quietly guided me, you have sharply spoken the truth to me, you have shown me courage and grace. You and S---- and the children are in my heart and my prayers.

If there is anything more I can do, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will be setting up a secure place on the internet to store documents for you and anyone at Kari as well as in Nambale to store identification, diplomas, deeds, photos of the children or whatever documents you may need to get at should you and your family be torn asunder. This will be a private place where you can access materials, but no one can get your materials but you. It's especially important that we have documents for the children, lest they end up in camps and we need to find them. I pledge to you, my sister,that I will not let anyone get lost under my watch.
I will call you in a couple of weeks to see how you all are faring.

If you talk to B-----, let her know I tried to call her. Please give her and all the people left at Kari my love and my commitment to keep trying.

May Our Almighty God save you and Kenya. Until I see you again, I pray for your safety and peace.
Mama Mnboga

Then There Is Love

Despite the continued horrible news, despite the deaths, the devastation, here and across the seas there is love that remains a beacon. I have been phenomenally tormented by my inability to get anything done of substance for the children. Food supplies are non-existent, I haven’t raised any new money to meet the increasing costs, and in fact we are broke at One Village. And in all of this I have felt the heaviness. Was it only last weekend that I was scurrying around trying to get my friends to safety? And I have not spoken to them this week. Are they safe?
The news in the Kenyan papers informs me that while they are making some progress, the looting, the ethnic killings, the 300,000 refugees, most of them children are still part of daily life in Kenya. I had a Kikuyu friend write me and tell me Hakuna Matada (everything’s fine) in Kenya. Rubbish, but I know he needs the money I bring since he is my driver and he wants it to be better.
Today as I sank into my seat in church (a couple minutes early a miracle in itself) I turned to see a former congregant who was back visiting. She is African and she hugged me warmly and asked me how I was doing. Others came and offered their care and concern. They offered help, they encouraged me to call the church and not go through what I did last week. I knew they meant it, I knew I was home; I knew they cared for the children and the work I do.

This afternoon I had meetings scheduled here at the house. The first was the group I know and call the Peacekeepers. I have written about them before, but a new young soul came this afternoon. What a spark of light she was.Whenever a new one comes in, young or old, there is always room. He/she is always welcome by all of them and they take their rightful place as if we have always been waiting for them. It was wonderful to sit back and watch them share ideas and skills on how to set up a fundraiser for One Village. These miraculous souls who are younger than my own children, so fired up, so capable, so willing and then I remember... There is always love. The very best part of it all is that they feel it too. They leave the meeting energized and excited by what they are doing and by the connections they feel. I feel privileged to be part of this and I know when all else fails, there is always love.

Be Good To Each Other Y'all. MM

The Challenge Of Democracy

For many Africa remains a grumbling puzzle. So often people in more developed countries shake their heads and want to forget the Continent exists. Or they figure that Africans get what they deserve. I heard the other day, a fellow worker in Africa, tell me that in some ways she missed Colonialism. "At least," she said, "the farms were well kept, and people were fed". While in fact that is true, the real point for me is that we were once a nation struggling to figure out democracy. (Indeed we still are) but back then we didn't have instant communication. We didn't have countries threatening to settle our squabbles, so we had to figure it out for ourselves. The same is true for the Continent of Africa. As free peoples they are still in their infancy and their growing pains are difficult to watch. I believe, though, that only by their wanting something different and fighting for it themselves will they truly achieve the freedom they so richly deserve.
I loved this Editorial in Today's Nation Newspaper and thought I would share it with you. Clearly it elucidates the challenges far better than I.
The Nation 9 February 2008

NEWS EXTRA

Kenya's crisis and challenges of democracy in Africa

Story by NYAGA MUNYI
Publication Date: 2/9/2008

Africa’s democratic honeymoon is fast coming to an end, and Kenya’s sudden drift into chaos is a wake-up call across the continent for a more concerted investment in governance programmes. After a decade of democratic gains, Africa now finds itself in a marshland, and Nigeria, Kenya and even South Africa are in a defining moment. The next five years will mark a watershed in the continent’s democratic consolidation.

The violence in Kenya due to political discontent brings into sharp focus the challenges of democracy in Africa and the need for heterodoxity in political governance among African governments and institutions working “to promote democracy” in Africa.

The situation in Kenya exposes the fragile nature of the country’s democracy and points to the role the international community should play in developing African politics which, like its music, moves in sweeping waves.

The 1960s brought independence, and the ‘90s democratic transition and the vanquishing of strongmen. In the 2000s, Africa is going through another defining period – a moment of democratic disillusionment. Between 2004 and 2009 many African states should be commemorating a period of democratisation. Following the defeat, death or overthrow of many “strongmen” in the 1990s, African countries have had a decade of fairly good participatory democracies — South Africa since 1994, Kenya since 1992, Cote d’Ivoire (1993), Zambia (1991), Malawi (1994) and Nigeria (1999).

In the 2000s, however, Africans are questioning the functional utility of democracy beyond participation. There is simmering frustration over the value of democracy, particularly in spurring economic growth and mending the continent’s ethnic rifts.

Several issues plague democracy in Africa. For instance, African political parties lack a distinct policy orientation. In the 1990s a lot of development cooperation funds from international organisations, foundations and development agencies went into funding opposition parties with the myopic intention of deposing African dictators.

The emerging leaders were intoxicated by the virtues of multiparty democracy. Yet upon the exit of the “strongmen” the parties have not evolved mature, clear and distinct cleavages in matters of policy and ideology. As a result ethnocentricism has become the clearest cleavage. Beyond the acquisition of government the parties lack any binding and unifying vision.

African leaders have been slow in recognising the changing relationship between democratic expansion and economic growth. In the 1990s liberal democracy and neoclassical economics were cited as the ultimate and inseparable solution to socio-economic development.

While African economies are growing, largely propelled by rising commodity prices, its politics is shaky, stymied by low socio-economic development and rampant unemployment. It is worth noting that three of Africa’s small and economically progressive countries — Uganda, Gabon and Rwanda — are ruled by soft authoritarian regimes.

Africa’s democratic march has been unresponsive to the exigencies of economic growth and those countries whose leaders have appreciated the trade-offs between economic growth and democratic consolidation are doing better.

Africa faces a huge challenge in the reconciliation of national identities and ethnic identities; national interests and ethnic interests. Unlike such homogenous countries as South Korea or Japan, African states are multi-ethnic with weak and fluid national identities. Genuine ethnic interests are difficult to tell and irrational ethnic loyalties difficult to break. Presidential elections tend to raffle these ethnic grievances.

Thus, the democratic disillusionment has produced two major trends in African politics, which will complicate the continent’s democratic development in the next decade — the ethnic and the socialist appeals.

These trends reflect responses to a sense of economic exclusion where ordinary people feel that the political institutions are not aptly responsive to their problems.

The trends are best demonstrated by events in the three African “pillar” countries — South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. The recent elections in Kenya and Nigeria highlight an ethnic appeal.

Mr Munyi is a development researcher for the Seoul-based Consulting and Research Institute.

And So It Goes

Ok, so I'm not going. There are many who are breathing a great sigh of relief. I'm not, but with yesterday's news and today's editorial I don't need to walk into the lion's den and wonder what those chewing sounds are. The real truth is coming out. What is interesting to me is that this white girl saw it months before the elections, so why are the experts only talking about it now??

When the mungiki ran amuck last June there were the echoes of the Mau Mau. The papers even said so. There was the continued violence in Mt. Elgon which Mother got to see up close and personal. These incidents were not political they were tribal. The carnage of colonial Africa screams at us through the years.When the Brits pulled out they left a scarred land, they had taken the best for themselves and displaced the tribes. Then they pulled out leaving chaos in their wake. It is land and wealth of resources people are fighting about. The politicians just stir the pot.

Young men have taken to the streets as thugs. They identify with their tribe, but they are hungry, out of work kids with nothing to do. They have no jobs, they have no future, many are infected with HIV, so why not rob and loot? Is it any different than the street gangs here? Without hope, without food why is there shock that violence occurs? We just contain the violence better here, and we placate better.

For me, I know the Kenya I have experienced over the past 6 years is gone. What will replace it I don't know. How I will get money to the children I don't know. What the future of One Village at a Time is in Kenya I don't know.

It's interesting to live with not knowing. We're doing it here, in our own politics. I suspect people will start to get angry here too. We don't like not knowing. I hear that Barack and Hillary really can't stand each other but are trying to behave so that
they don't totally divide the Dems. Mcain has his plate full too (not that Mother M cares one whit)All these divisions...and we've been at the business of democracy for 250 years. I'm only seeing that we are wealthier than Kenya, but if you think we don't have tribes look at our own elections. We have African Americans, Bible Belt, Conservatives, Liberals, Hispanics, Women, White Men, Gen Xers, Gen Y's,and really they are all tribes in some way. They are all being played just as Kibaki and Odinga playsed the Kikuyu and the Luo.

So that's my world today folks. Things to think of. People to pray for. Sadness to be born, hope to be encouraged. Stay tuned.
And to keep you informed. Here is the editorial from The Nation, Kenya's newspaper.




EDITORIALS

Idle youths behind new wave of crime


Publication Date: 2/7/2008

We are beginning to see an element of lawlessness permeating through our society. Reports from various parts indicate how gangs of criminals have taken advantage of the erstwhile volatile situation to terrorise, harm, rob and even kill people.

For example, police in Kisumu have reported about gangs roaming the town, attacking residents, breaking into houses and robbing people. In Limuru, a Mungiki gang has decreed that women should not put on trousers and to make good its threat, stripped some women naked.

Humanitarian agencies assisting the displaced have also reported facing such gangs, which are increasingly taking charge of communities or regions and causing mayhem.

A number of these gangs like Mungiki are known illegal entities, which should have been demobilised years ago. Some, however, have been operating as youth wingers of politicians and soon after elections joined in the protests against the disputed presidential election results. Others are pure criminals exploiting the void created by the crisis.

Whatever the case, the point is that the country is quickly sliding to anarchy, where gangs of criminals roam around and strike terror on people indiscriminately. They have nothing to do with the election; they are criminals who should be dealt with as that. This is why we ask the police and the provincial administration to quickly round up such gangs and take them to the force of law.

A fundamental issue, however, is why we have a big army of youngsters roaming about. The answer is simple: unemployment, hopelessness and disillusionment. These are the underlying factors to the problem and must be addressed in the long term. The leaders must find ways of expanding opportunities to create jobs or income-generating activities to the thousands of youth in the streets and villages.

For now, we urge the police and the provincial administration to move with speed to rein in the criminal gangs so that Kenyans can live in peace. The violence visited on this land in the past one month was horrifying and as we recover from the trauma, the least we want to hear are gangs terrorising citizens.

Can You Imagine

'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'" Robert Kennedy

So often when I am in my neighborhood I hear my Latino neighbors exclaim “Mira!” which means so many things in Spanish. When I am in Africa “Can you imagine!” takes on the same sort of meaning. Mostly it means I can’t imagine that. That’s how I have felt this past week. Unfortunately with the daily updates and the gut wrenching emails I have received from friends, I can imagine.

My pastor over there wrote that they were not safe at her church or on the compound of the Research Center. Her husband had lost his job and could not return to their home. She was despairing of what they would do. I have received advice from another Kenyan to tell my friends to get their papers in order and get them out of the country so that in case they end up in refugee camps I can help them. There is the concern that they not get separated from their children lest the children get separated and lost in camps for years. How do you write that to friends? Maybe because they are friends, you have to. I have written these painful words to friends this week and also helped some get out.

One of my friends and her 2 young children were slaughtered on Saturday. While peace talks go on, the politicians remain locked in a dance they do not seem able to stop.It is quite dispiriting. I do not know how to talk about this with friends. Most people can’t comprehend this pain and probably many are puzzled by why I care so much. Further I suspect, they are puzzled with my plans to return in March. Damn, as my daughter would say, I drank the Kool Aid. I still think I can do something for the children and friends I have come to love in a land so very far away.

The one real light today, after a difficult one with personal stuff and the mundane insanity of daily living, was a friend. He asked me who did I talk to about all this. I told him, God. The nice thing was that he confronted me on that and made me think that there might be some people who would listen even if they didn’t understand. I felt incredibly grateful and humbled by this kindness given out of pure humanity. That simple unconscious act of reaching out and validating another whether we understand or not, is all any human being wants. In each of us is that power and in the shimmer of a second we can reach out or turn away.We can bless someone with our humanity or move along without noticing. Today someone didn’t turn away. Thank you Chris. Can you Imagine!