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.