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Kenya Made Items
2 Tic Toc Drums
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Batik Necklace from Kenya - Hip and Fun /
Kazuri Necklace /
Kazuri Earrings - Cobalt and Periwinkle
Choker Necklace
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Kazuri & Sterling Silver Bracelet /
Kazuri 24" Diani Necklace in Monsoon /
Kazuri Necklace - Jazzy Beehive
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Who Cares If Kenya
Bleeds To Death?
By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
War is young men dying and old men talking—Odysseus,
the King of Ithaca (in a film based on Homer’s epic
poem, Iliad)
Two days ago (Monday, February 4, 2008),
The Standard, a Nairobi-based national newspaper
published on its front page the heart-rending picture of
the Kenyan Minister of Special Programmes, Dr. (Mrs.)
Naomi Shabaan, carrying a two-day old baby, John Nduati,
who was born at one of the very “inhospitable and
squalid camps” where hapless Kenyans, brutally displaced
by the insane political crises that have engulfed their
country for more than a month now, have sought refuge.
This tender child never asked to be born at this time.
He neither knows President Mwai Kibaki nor Mr. Raila
Odinga, whose bitter quarrel over the disputed December
27 polls have continued to exact enormous toll on their
once beautiful and peaceful country. Hopefully, someone
would preserve a copy of last Monday’s
The Standard and show it to this hapless boy when he
grows up. I doubt if he will forgive all those who had
plunged his nation into such horrible crises and caused
him to be born in such an inhuman condition that brings
tears to the eyes of even the most hard-hearted.
At least, more than 800 persons (some reports put the
figure at 1000) have so far lost their lives in the
Kenyan crises, while 350,000 others have become refugees
in their own country. Although living in very poor
sanitary conditions in over-crowded camps, it is
understandable that most of the displaced families have
refused to heed the call of the MPs to return to their
homes. By Sunday morning, two days after the call by the
over-fed and duly protected MPs, many of the people
camping at police stations in Nyeri and the Central
Police Station were yet to move an inch. Indeed, they
have every reason to doubt every assurance that adequate
security arrangements have been put in place to ensure
their safety, or that peace was returning to Kenya.
Indeed, while the MPs were issuing their assurances,
some Kenyans were still being massacred. “At the
Borabu-Sotik-Bureti border, 10 people were reportedly
killed, bringing to 17 the number of those who have lost
their lives in the past three days. Also burnt alongside
several dozen houses were three schools — Koiyet Primary
and St Ann Academy on the Sotik side of the border and
Ribaita Primary School in Borabu,”
The Standard reported on Monday.
It should be clear that President Kibaki is far from
being battle-weary and appears bent on continuing to
stoke the fire presently devastating in his country. In
fact, there are fears now that the Kenyan President may
snub the resolutions of the high-powered Negotiation
Team led by former United Nations Secretary-General, Mr.
Kofi Anan, whose mediation talks have this week entered
key areas that are central to the restoration of peace
in Kenya.
Following Kibaki’s remarks at the recent African Union
(AU) Summit in Addis Ababa that the crises in his
country could only be resolved locally through the
Kenyan courts, the leader of the opposition Orange
Democratic Movement (ODM), Mr. Raila Odinga, has accused
him of planning to sabotage the talks whose outcome the
world eagerly awaits. “He should come forward and
renounce the statement. He should not utter things that
could worsen the current problems,” last Saturday’s
Daily Nation (Nairobi) quotes Odinga as saying.
The Kenyan crises had erupted when Kibaki, on noticing
that his party’s dismal performance in the parliamentary
elections could only lead to his loss of the Presidency
allegedly manipulated the figures, mainly in his Kikuyi
mainland, to ensure that he emerged “winner” of the
presidential contest. Mr. Odinga is insisting that since
his party, the ODM, had won 99 parliamentary and 998
civic seats as opposed to 43 and 322 won by Kibaki’s
Party of National Unity (PNU), there was no doubt that
the ODM won the elections. In fact, twenty-three serving
Cabinet ministers were floored in the legislative
election by candidates of the ODM.
It is reassuring that Mr. Odinga is asking his
supporters to refrain from acts of violence and pledging
not to withdraw from the Anan-led talks. He is also
ready for fresh elections, an option Kibaki is not very
comfortable with. Pressure must, therefore, be mounted
on Kibaki by the African Union (AU), the United Nations
(UN) and his Western friends, to respect the wishes of
the people and allow peace to reign and the carnage
presently ruining his country to stop. The seeming
helplessness of the AU in the face of Kibaki’s crude
determination to destroy Kenya with himself only
reconfirms the hollowness of the so-called
Peer Review Mechanism, once parroted by such
unrepentant renegades like Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo
and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni. Indeed, Museveni is today
a key factor in the continued degeneration of the Kenyan
crises.
Just last Friday, two Ugandan newspapers,
Daily Monitor and
Weekly Observer, published an open letter to
President Museveni by Ugandan opposition leaders signed
by Mr. Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, a respected opposition
leader in Uganda. The letter drew Museveni’s attention
to overwhelming media reports about Uganda’s overt
involvement in the Kenyan crises to which “no
categorical response” has come from Museveni.
"It is absolutely important and imperative that your
Excellency distance yourself and the people of Uganda
from the unfortunate events taking place in Kenya.
Otherwise the people of Kenya and indeed of Uganda will
hold you personally accountable for the disintegration
of our sister neighbour and the destruction of lives and
property, which [have] so far claimed more than 800
innocent Kenyans,” the letter said.
Earlier at the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Museveni had
told the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, that what
was required in Kenya was a Commission of Enquiry (to be
set up by Kibaki?) to probe the elections and proffer
solutions. That was his way of rejecting the Anan-led
talks currently holding in Nairobi, and assisting Kibaki
to consolidate his illegitimate regime. Also, Museveni
is yet to deny media reports that Kibaki is now being
guarded by his country’s elite force, the Ugandan
Presidential Guard of Brigade, as the embattled Kenyan
President, apparently becoming distrustful of his own
security outfit is reducing its presence around him.
Given these flagrant signs of Uganda’s meddling in the
Kenyan crises, the Ugandan opposition is asking Museveni
to retrace his evil steps and support efforts by decent
and progressive minds to find lasting peace in Kenya.
“Let us align ourselves with Kenyans and not with either
of the protagonists. Let us join them in finding a
solution, which . . . should be advocating for fresh
elections supervised by AU and UN. Let us prevail on Mr Kibaki to resign and leave room for a government of
national unity which neither he nor Mr Raila Odinga
should head, and whose main task shall be to prepare for
fresh elections within a period not exceeding one year,”
they told him in their open letter.
With Museveni solidly behind him, Kibaki is also
reaching out to the West. On Sunday night, Vice
President Kalonzo Musyoka, left Nairobi on a four-day
tour of the United Kingdom and United States. In London,
he would brief the House of Commons and “friends of
Kenya” on the “true position” of things at home. He is
also scheduled to meet with the UN Secretary-General,
Ban Ki-Moon and US Congressmen and Senators.
Against the backdrop of threats by both the US and UK to
review developmental support to Kenya if nothing
concrete was done to urgently halt the crises, the
vice-president would deploy all his persuasive powers to
dissuade them from withdrawing their assistance despite
Kibaki’s intransigence and determination to supervise
the ruination of Kenya. It is unfortunate that instead
committing himself to the on-going peace talks at home,
Kibaki would rather waste scarce resources on shuttle
diplomacy, to win support for his illegitimate regime,
with the blood of nearly 1000 Kenyans dripping from his
cruel palms.
He needs to urgently recall the wise counsel offered him
by the London
Times in its
editorial of January 3, 2008, and face the raw truth
that there is just no way the manipulated elections in
Kenya can “give him mandate to continue as President.”
He can only hang on there at the expense of more lives
and further destruction of Kenya.
Indeed, Kenya is bleeding profusely today, but who
cares? Certainly, not Kibaki who is currently blinded by
his naked lust for power to read the handwriting on the
wall. Instead of coming to terms with the harsh reality
staring him on the face, he thinks the press are the
cause of his problem. The obnoxious order by Government
Spokesperson, Dr Alfred N. Mutau, stopping all live
broadcasts in Kenya is being challenged in court by the
KTN, one of the leading networks in Kenya. But,
unfortunately, the case has been effectively paralysed
with a very ridiculous adjournment, obviously inspired
by Kibaki. Dr. Mutua’s explanation that “by requesting
media houses not to air live press conferences and
call-ins into radio shows” Government is intending to
“empower editors to be in control of the information
relayed by their media houses,” has failed to impress
anyone. No doubt, Kibaki is simply rattled by the force
of public opinion, which he is not prepared to
respect.
One African leader deeply pained and embarrassed by all
this mess is Mr. Paul Kageme, the Rwandan President.
During the 14th Heroes Day Celebrations in his country's
Southern Province on February 1, he could not hide his
disgust and disappointment.
“People do not want to relinquish power peacefully
until they are forced out after a spell of destructions
and this has affected the development of the
continent. . . . They have also ended up in flames. Today one
country is in total chaos, then tomorrow another follows
suit and the next day violence is reported in another
African country . . . and all these conflicts are fuelled
by bad leadership,"
last Sunday’s Monitor (Kampala) quotes Kageme as
saying.
On Monday, in Kigali, during his monthly press
conference, Kageme called for a re-run of the disputed
elections in Kenya. “I want to make my position clear
on this matter. There are three scenarios of ending this
situation and one of them is a re-run … the violence in
Kenya is worsening and human rights violations are
increasing. This must stop. Both PNU and the Orange
Democratic Movement (ODM) should go back to elections
all together,”
Tuesday’s Daily Monitor quotes him as saying.
Well, Kagame has spoken, but who will listen to him? How
other bold and sincere enough to speak forthright and
sincerely in the Kenyan crises? Is Kibaki not still
hanging there because he is yet to feel any pinch of
condemnation and isolation from other African leaders?
Who really cares if Kenya is bleeding to death?
Well, it is reassuring that Mr. Ki-Moon who was in
Nairobi the other day has thrown his weight behind the
Anan-led Mediating Team. The UN must insist that Kibaki
abide by the outcome of the talks.
Also, troublemakers like Museveni and others giving more
covert support to creatures like Kibaki must not be
allowed to escape justice once they leave office. They
must be made to tread the inglorious path the likes of
Charles Taylor have since trod, to face a duly empowered
UN Human Rights Court for their clear and unambiguous
crimes against humanity.
On no account should Kibaki be allowed to drag Kenya
down with him. Right now, he must have moved his
children and
quarrelsome wife, Lucy, to safety, while the
children others, goaded by the grand illusion that they
are Kibaki’s “supporters,” are mowed down in the prime
of their lives.
In short, this
whole madness must stop.
scruples2006@yahoo.com
/
www.ugochukwu.blog.com
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Inequality, Not
Identity, Fuels Violence in Kenya—Since Kenya won
independence from Britain in 1963, a small Kikuyu elite
has
dominated government and business opportunities.
Meanwhile, most Kenyans have been dangerously
impoverished by the debt crisis that began in the late
1970s. Like many countries throughout the Global South,
Kenya was forced to sell off state-owned assets like
major transport and telecommunications systems and to
cut government spending to repay loans to big banks and
rich governments (mostly in the US and Europe). As a
result, millions of Kenyans have been denied basic
resources and services, like health care, clean water,
education, and decent housing. When Mwai Kibaki was
elected in 2002, he promised to share power and
resources more equitably. Instead, he allowed Kikuyu
elites
to keep control of the country’s wealth and governing
institutions. That betrayal galvanized support for
Raila Odinga’s opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM),
especially among the poor. In December 2007, Kibaki’s
party rigged national elections to prevent the ODM from
unseating him and disseminating political power and
access to basic economic resources more broadly.—Common
Dreams
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posted 9 February 2008 |
