[b]The situation in Kenya

Report from a friend of mine who returned from Kenya last weekend[/b]

Dear Friends of Kenya,

in the meantime, I am sure you have all heard about the nonsense in Kenya. The TV cameras are
obviously always turned on the fighting and fires, but at no time did I feel I was in danger.
In Nairobi, the fighting was always very concentrated so that one could circumvent it. And as most
of my friends are in Karen and Langata, I only went to town once.

All areas east of the Rift Valley are quiet and peaceful. But last weekend, I went to stay with friends
on L.Naivasha - and getting back from there was a different matter. We had to wait for 2 hours for
a lull in the fighting to get through Naivasha town - the rest of the road back to Nairobi was not a problem.

The west of Kenya is a different thing. Kisumu is completely distroyed, and Eldoret is experiencing
sporadic fighting( for those of you who have been there). Until now, we all admired the Kikuyu who have
kept very quiet. There are still displaced Kikuyu who were chased out of Kisumu in 1992. We all agreed that
things would get serious if they ever joined the fray. Well, last Friday they decided enough was enough and called in the Mungiki - a modern form of the Mau Mau. They attacked all the Luo and related tribes in Nakuru, and since Saturday also in Naivasha.

It is all very sad, as the economy is suffering terribly. All the flower and vegetable farms (the largest foreign exchange earners in the country) around L.Naivasha have no pickers left. Coffee and tea is not being
picked west of the Rift Valley. And most of the tourists have cancelled - at the height of the season.
Trucks are not getting through, as there are a lot of road blocks north of Nakuru - which means that
Uganda, Ruanda and eastern Congo are getting no supplies from Mombasa. Not even fuel.

One of the reasons for us selling our house five years ago was that we expected something like this to happen one day. The population is now over 40 Mill., with 20 % between 15 and 25 years of age. All
half educated, no work, and just rearing to go. A very explosive situation.

Anyway, let\\\'s hope they manage to get it under control. It would be the time for a military coup, but they do not seem strong enough.President Kibaki actually re-organised the army just a few months ago, retiring Moi\\\'s Kalenjin and placing all power in Kikuyu and Kamba hands. None of the politicians are ideal for the present situation. USA, Britain and the EU supported Raila Odinga\\\'s election campain with large sums of money. Not only did he promise the Americans the base at the coast which they have been demanding for
so long, but promised a change to all, and that he would get rid of the \\"old crowd\\" and corruption. Like
Moi before him, Kibaki refused the Americans the base and successfully started business contacts with the Far East, Japan and Indonesia. Another fact that has just come to light is that the Luo were arming themselves on the evening of 27th December( the votes had not all been counted at this time) - which means they were going to throw the Kikuyu out anyway.

All I can say, when one is sitting in the garden in Langata, watching the wardhogs, baboons, birds passing
through one cannot imagine what is happening in the rest of the country - until 9 p.m. when the TV news
brings all the horific pictures of murder and distruction. 4 weeks ago it was a prosperous and beautiful
country, experiencing an economic boom.

So long for now, ILKA

Sad update - ! Thanks

thx ilka for getting us into the picture!
but you also underlined that tribal attrocities were always there...............and maybe it just needed the last drop into a fire which has been there for a long time and which was neglected for a long time!
and you are saying that kibaki still hands reorganised the army for the kikuyu's sake. this again is not doing any good to solve the whole mess.
i feel with the people of kenya.......and i think the tourism crises is going to last at least for a year or so........

I spoke to a couple of friends in Kenya today and all looks more calm now but the tourists are gone!

Having just returned from Kenya Friday night I can attest to much of what Ilka stated in her letter to Malaika. Things have temporarily quieted down, but all are waiting until Tueday and holding their breath. If President Kibaki's party doesn't agree to power sharing, "mass action" is being called for. Whether or not this will be peaceful or not entirely depends on Kenyans. Most of them are hoping and praying things will be settled honorably and that no action will happen. They are all sick and tired of living as they have been since December 27th.

It has effected so many things. In one place I stayed there are numerous tribes represented by the employees who were starting to get hot under the collar. The management finally told them they were not to talk politics at all as the company wanted to retain the family feel of all their employees and didn't want them angry/hostile to one another.

Most of the lodges and camps asked people to use up their paid vacation time. Thus many employees one knows are not at work presently. The government is also suggesting (as of last week) that anyone approaching age 45 be "retired".

Also, most of the lodges/camps have instituted generator changes with limited times for charging batteries and having lights on. This is certainly very minor compared to what the Kenyans are going through.

The food shortages will get much worse as the months go on. Many of the maize fields and tea plantations were burned in the western provinces. While I was there the papers stated that there was only about one weeks worth of potatoes left. Thus even those with the means to pay will be having problems getting some of the foods. That being said, the food was as great as always and from a tourists point of view shortages weren't obvious.

In the past there were always tribal resentments, but they were kept peaceful and allowed themselves to get along with one another. The election fiasco changed that abruptly. Then neighbor became enemy of neighbor and inter-tribal marriages made it impossible for people to remain together.

I spoke with many educated Kenyans and the general concensus was that it was best that Kibaki was back in. Violence had been planned even if Odinga had won, and everyone feels that the violence would have been much more widespread with Odinga in charge.

We need to keep praying for our friends in Kenya. What they are going through is being felt by neighboring countries such as Uganda with shortages of products that should have arrived from Mombasa such as fuel and are unable to get through. Until peace is restored, life will continue to be difficult at best.

Thank you for the update Jan.
I just looked at the BBC website and again talks have failed as Kibaki does not want to give up power.
Kofi Annan has had to jump in again and re start negoziations.

Hearts togeter, fingers crossed and prayers across the globe... lets hope for something positive.