Sunday, 6 January 2008

Nairobi situation

Thanks to all who have contacted me to see how things are.
I'm due back in Nairobi on Tuesday 8th , having delayed 3 days in North Africa to allow things to settle. I understand all should be well now, indeed some parts of Nairobi were untouched all along. One person told me if it were not for the news they wouldn't have known anything were happening but another said it was very bad.
The trouble was in predictable spots where there is a history. (Slum areas with a lot of support for opposition leader Raila Odinga, city centre, the far west of the country where fighting has continued for years over land, ethnicity, etc.) Having said that, one of the protest marches got intercepted near my flat and there was trouble at that point; a petrol station got burned and that made me take the chance to delay my return.
There has been a shortage of cash (banks closed), fuel and food but that is now resolving.
The politics need sorting but I can't see there being a lot more violence immediately.
The election certainly seems odd. I could understand it being close, although Raila's campaign was a lot better than Kibaki's, but it seems odd that Mwai Kibaki got a majority personal vote when at the same time his alliance got far fewer MPs than the opposition ODM (about 55:95 depending who is allied to whom with about 30 seats yet to declare). Most people will have voted consistently for MP and President. The EU observers said that in at least two places the local count reported 50-odd thousand for Kibaki but the Electoral Commisiion announced 70-odd thousand in the final result. MPs made themselves very unpopular with massive pay awards and pensions and most were voted out, regardless of party. Twenty ministers lost their seats, including the VP.

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