Kenya Fighting for Democracy

My heart is heavy as I write this. Kenya finds itself in the middle of clashes as it tries to deal with the aftermath of what is being called a flawed electoral process. What happened to the democratic process that we were promised? I have watched the country descending into ethnic fighting with disbelief and dismay. I think Kenya will take a while to recover from this. Our current President, Kibaki should step up and do something presidential. I don't care what, just provides some kind of presence. At this point it looks like nobody is really in control and the fighting and raping and sodomy and murder are mounting.

Some people have tried to paint this as a clash between Luos (the opposition leader, Raila Odinga's tribe) and Kikuyus (president Mwai Kibaki's tribe) but I should remind you that people from both tribes voted for either one or the other in these elections. They were thinking as Kenyans and voting as Kenyans. For people to try and make this a tribal issue is both irresponsible and short-sighted. Both Odinga and Kibaki need to grow up, put personal ambitions aside, and work together for the good of the country, if they really care about it. Kenyans are tired of being dragged through deep potholes, unfinished roads, blatant corruption with no consequences, and stupid personal vendettas between politicians that are aired on the news and have nothing to do with the development of the country. Grow up! You are in a country that is filled with an industrious group of people and has displaced some of its youngest and brightest minds. What good is it to be rich in a country that is falling apart. Shame on the Kenyans who are spreading the vitriol of tribalism on different blogs. Indulge in serious, objective discourse or keep quiet! Nobody is interested in going back to tribal conflict. Enough is enough. The idiocy is inflamed by statements like this by Kivuitu who claims he was pressured to announce the results (http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143979833&cid=4). You should have stood your ground and given Kenya a fair process. I don't care who won, as long as the process was transparent. That is what all Kenyans wanted. Now we have the Ghanaian president and African Union chairman John Kufuor planning a mediation mission to Kenya to help end the killing that has been triggered by a disputed election, accusations being thrown back and forth, and denouncements from several western countries that makes Kenya look foolish. There some updates here.

I have been heartened to see that there are numerous bloggers of different tribal backgrounds that have managed to remain objective and share what is really going on without making it a tribal issue. They have kept the Kenyans in the diaspora informed during a media blackout and have managed to provide hourly updates without trying to focus on possible reprisals. Some have gotten hurt in the fray but shared information anyway. You are the true heroes of the day and we are thankful. As we watch what is going on, on the ground, we can only hope that the leaders on all sides figure out a way to bring the fighting to an end, before there is no Kenya to rule anymore.

My prayers are with the families that have had to deal with the fighting and have lost their families and friends. It is always the people on the ground who suffer the most, and many times they are not involved. I hope my next post will be more positive.