Kenya Election 2007: Outcomes

[Nabii]

1. Ningekuwa Kibaki - haiwezekani maana kamwe sitaweza kuwa Kama Kibaki kwani najali haki za binadamu na usawa.

2. Ningekuwa Raila - Kuendeleza msimamo kwamba uchaguzi urudiwe na kusimamiwa na tume huru. Hakuna kukubali kushirikiana na Mtu ambaye mwanzoni ameonyesha kushabikia dhuruma. kuendelea kuwashauri washabiki wangu kuwa wasiumize watu wala kuharibu miundo mbinu maana haisaidii.

3. Nikiwa Independent Concerned Person- Nina laani utawala wa mabavu kwa nguvu zote. Ninawahasa wananchi wa kenya wote hata maaskari wakweli na hata watumishi wa umma wakweli ktk kudai haki wajiuzuru na kuunga mkono maandamano ya haki bila fujo zozote hata kwa MWAKA MZIMA MPAKA KIBAKI ATOKE MWENYEWE IKULU.

 

[Kalamu]

Ssebo na Mtanzania, niwajibu kwa pamoja.

Katika hali ambayo kuna moto wa hasira, kero, hisia za kisasi na uchungu, matumizi ya maneno ni muhimu sana. Hakuna kitu kinachochoea zaidi hasira na maumivu ya kihisia kama matumizi mabaya ya maneno.

Wakati Kibaki anapaswa kulaumiwa na kuwajibishwa kwa vitendo na ukimya wake baada ya kuanza kwa vurugu, Raila anapaswa kulaumiwa na kuwajibishwa kutokana na maneno na vitendo vyake.

Pindi vurugu zilipoanza tu Raila alipaswa kusimama na kujiengua moja kwa moja na mambo hayo badala ya kudai "wananchi wanadai haki yao ya Kikatiba" n.k Raila kama kiongozi alishindwa kabisa kutumia ushawishi wake wa kupanga mkakati uliotulia badala ya kuonekana hajali kinachotokea huku akiendelea kumbebesha lawala Kibaki na kufikia kumuita Mwizi (kitu ambacho chaweza kuwa kweli).

Nitarudisha mfano wa mauaji mengine ili nisikike vizuri; Wakati wa mauaji ya Rwanda kilichoumiza zaidi ni ukimya wa baadhi ya watu na upande wa pili maneno ya upande mwingine kwa kisingizio cha kudai haki! Kama kweli Raila alitaka kuongoza mapambano haya na kuwa tayari kumwaga damu yeye ndiye angekuwa wa kwanza kutembea kwenda kule na apigwe Mabomu kama Mrema, na achapwe viboko kama kina Lewis wa Georgia..

Kama lengo lilikuwa ni kujaribu kutatua mambo haya kwa amani na kuonesha brutality ya serikali alikuwa na uamuzi wa kufanya mikakati ya maandamano ya amani (siyo kusema maandamano ya amani) kama walivyofanya Martin Luther na Gandhi! Raila ameshindwa hivyo.

Watu waliompigia kura Raila haiwezekani wote walikuwa watu wa makabila mengine na hakuna Mkikuyu aliyempigia kura. Kuna Wakikuyu wengi (hasa vijana) ambao waliona ndani ya Raila mabadiliko na matumaini ya mwelekeo mpya wa Taifa. Kitendo cha Raila kutojitokeza mara moja, kupinga, na kutojihusisha kwa namna yoyote na mashambulizi dhidi ya Wakikuyu au mali za Wakikuyu ni kitendo cha kushindwa uongozi, yes I said it!

Raila alikuwa na nafasi ya kuonesha umakini, uthubutu, ujasiri na ukomavu wa kisiasa. Badala ya kudai "ni vyombo vya serikali ndiyo vinafanya vurugu" Raila angetumia uwezo wake wote kutuliza moto huo huko akijipanga hatua inayofuata. Wote wawili Raila na Kibaki wanahusika moja kwa moja na mauaji na machafuko ya kisiasa nchini Kenya ni wao na timu zao lazima wakae chini na kutafuta suluhu bila kuweka masharti mapema.

Raila ana ushawishi mkubwa na ameshindwa kutumia ushawishi huo kutuliza Kenya na kwa maneno yake amechochea vurugu zilizotekea nchini Kenya baada ya uchaguzi. Endapo uchaguzi mwingine utaitishwa Kenya, msishangae Wakikuyu wengi waliomuunga mkono Raila wataaamua kubadili msimamo.

Mwanakijiji:
Huu ndio uzuri wa demokrasia. Kwa mara ya kwanza kabisa nadhani wewe na mimi tumepata jambo ambalo hatukubaliani kwa kiasi kikubwa.

Ninakubaliana na wewe katika jambo la viongozi, hasa Raila kutafuta njia ya kupoza moto, watu wasiendelee kuuana; lakini pia ni mhimu tuelewe kuwa yeye hana nyenzo zozote za kufanya hivyo. Vyombo vya habari vilifungiwa kutangaza moja kwa moja.

Tusipokubaliana moja kwa moja, ni hapo unapoonekana kuwa 'apologist' kwa uharifu usiokubalika uliofanywa na Kibaki na majambazi wenzake. Ni kama kwa aina fulani unatafuta njia ya kuhalarisha ujambazi huu. Kwa aina nyingine ni kama kumlaumu mwanamke aliyebakwa, eti kajipitisha pitisha mbele ya wabakaji!

Kibaki kawafanyia uharamia mkubwa sana watu wa Kenya; tena kwa maksudi, kana kwamba akiwa-taunt 'mtanifanya nini nyie?'
Mauaji na vurugu zote zilizotokea Kenya ni lazima abebe lawama zote zinazotokana na vurugu na kupoteza maisha huko, na si vinginevyo. Tusianze sasa kutafuta visababu na visingizio visivyokuwa na maana.

Of course, katika mipangilio yake hiyo ya wizi na ujambazi, si ajabu calculations za apologists kama hizi si ajabu alizitilia maananina hizi nyimbo nyingi wanazozitoa sasa hivi, eti wapinzani waende mahakamani kama wanaona wameonewa, huku wakijua thika kwamba huko mahakamani hakuna haki yoyote, licha ya kununua wakati waharifu waendelee kujiimarisha na uharifu wao.

Hakuna mtu yeyote anayetaka watu wa Kenya wauane hovyo (isipokuwa Kibaki na genge lake); na ndiye aliye na uwezo wote kuondoa tatizo hilo. Tusitafute njia za kuhalarisha ujambazi.

 

[Kiungani]

Kwa mawazo na mtazamo kama wa Mwanakijiji na Kilitime (kuhusiana na sakata la vurugu za uchaguzi wa Kenya), nadhani CCM haitapata shida ya kuendelea kutawala kwa miaka 100 zaidi.

Kama unajua 'jirani' yako 'atakuomba mzungumze' kila ukimpiga kibao cha shavu, kuna haja gani ya kuacha kumpa kibao cha shavu kila akileta 'ujuaji'?

 

[Gagnija]

Suluhisho lingepatikana kama ushauri wa mjumbe wa EU ungezingatiwa. Huyu alishauri kuwa kura zihesabiwe upya kwenye majimbo yote chini ya usimamizi madhubuti, la sivyo zoezi zima la kupiga kura lianze upya. Hili la pili pengine linaweza kuwa gumu kutokana na visingizio vya gharama, lakini hili la kwanza linawezekana kabisa kwani hata hao EU wenyewe wanaweza kurigharimia. Ushauri kuwa Raila akae meza moja na Kibaki na ikiwezekana wapange serikali ya umoja wa kitaifa hauna mshiko kabisa. Raila ni sawa na mtu aliyeingiliwa nyumabani kwake na majambazi na kuporwa mali yake. Mtu wa aina hiyo anapopiga yowe, matarajio yake ni kupata msaada kwa jirani zake ili kwa pamoja waweze kumdhibiti jambazi na kuokoa mali iliyoibiwa na kumwadhibu jambazi huyo.
Kama majirani watasikia yowe na ushauri wao uwe wa kuomba mwizi na mwibiwa kukaa pamoja na kushauriana namna ya kugawana mali iliyoibiwa, basi ushauri huo ni wa kupuuzwa kabisa. Kama, honestly, Kibaki anaamini kuwa alishinda uchaguzi huo anaogopa nini kuruhusu kura kuhesabiwa upya ? Hii inanikumbusha vita ya Kagera. Baada ya Amin kusimika bendera yake KYAKA, walikuja marafiki wengi wa Mwalimu wakimuomba afanye mazungumzo na Amin ili kuepusha mapigano.
Mwalimu pamoja na kuwaheshimu sana aliwajibu kuwa ushauri wowote wa kutaka suluhu ulikuwa haukubaliki. Kama walikuwa marafiki wa kweli, kwanza walitakiwa kulaani kitendo cha Amin kuvamia Tanzania, na mambo ya suluhu yangekuja baadaye akiwa amekwishaondolewa Tanzania.

 

[Kitila Mkumbo]

Binafsi naamini kabisa kuwa Raila ana sehemu kubwa ya kulaumiwa kutoka na machafuko ya kisiasa nchini Kenya kama vile Kibaki anavyolaumiwa. Yawezekana wengi wetu kutokana na kutaka "Raila ashinde" na baada ya kuona upuuzi na uhalifu uliofanyika katika kutangaza kura tumekuwa vipofu wa kufuata haki na hivyo kuchukua upande wa "anti-kibaki" ilimradi na sisi tuoneshe kuwa haki haikutendeka.

Hapa unachanganya mambo. Si wote humu ndani ya JF walitaka Raila ashinde, kulikuwa na washabika wengi sana tu wa Kibaki. Tena kuna wengine waliwashangaa sana waliokuwa wanampinga Kibaki kutokana na aliyoyafanya katika urais wake.

Tunachozomea sisi ni wizi wa urais uliofanywa na Kibaki na kikundi chake na kisha kumlazimisha Kivutio (?) awatangaze kwamba ni mshindi. Reaction ya wakenya na machafuko yaliyofuata yalisababishwa na ushahidi uliotolewa kuhusu wizi huo. Tangu machafuko yaanze Raila amekuwa akiwasihi wafuasi wake wasifanye fujo na kusema wazi kuwa fujo hazitasaidia katika mapambano ya kusaka demkrasia. Ni serikali ya Kenya iliyotoa order ya shoot and kill ambayo nayo imesababisha chuki zaidi miongoni mwa wakenya. Sasa najiuliza tena, Kibaki aibe kura, yeye huyo atoe amri ya watu kuuawa, lakini wagawane lawama na Raila, hii ni sawa?

Najua ujenzi wa hoja zetu katika mambo haya umeathiriwa sana na historia yetu na utamaduni wetu. Historia na utamaduni wetu vimetufundisha mambo mawili mabaya sana: i) kwamba upande wa serikali unakuwa sawa kuliko upande mwingine wowote. Pamoja na uwazi uliopo juu ya aliyoyafanya Kibaki, basi tunashindwa kujizuia kumlaumu Raila, inaeleweka, ndivyo tulivyo. ii) Tumefundishwa pia na historia na utamaduni wetu kuwa inapotokea umeonewa na serikali, wewe kubali tu yaishe. Ndiyo kusema watanzania wengi tunatamani kuona Raila anakubali ili yaishe. Na kwa kweli hili jambo lingekuwa limetokea kwetu, mtu wa aina ya Raila angeshageukwa na kila mtu. Bahati nzuri hili limetokea Kenya, na wenzetu wakenya wakilikamia jambo hulifanya na nawatia moyo kwa kusema, wakenya msikate tamaa, songeni mbele, mtaumia leo lakini Kenya itapona milele. Muonapo sauti za kukatisha tamaa kutoka kwetu watz mtusamehe bure na kutuombea Mungu atutie ujasiri, ndivyo tulivyo, ipo siku nasi tutaamka.

 

[Kitila Mkumbo]

Swali:
Ukishajibu Maraisi wa Maswali haya matatu utajua kwanini nimesema hivyo!!! regardless walichukua je madaraka!!! hata M7 awamu yake ya Kwanza haikuwa kachaguliwa but he was the president of republic of Uganda.

Raisi wa Jamhuri ya Kenya ni nani?______________________

Raisi wa Visiwa vya Zanzibar ni nani?___________________

Raisi wa Jamhuri ya Zimbabwe ni nani?__________________

Hawa wote walikuwa na issues lakini kuna marais wao ambao wako madarakani mpaka sasa pamoja na issues zinazoendelea sasa za miafaka na kadhalika!!!

Ndio tunasema kwamba viongozi wa afrika waliopigania uhuru wanafikiri ni wao pekee wenye haki na uwezo wa kutawala hata pale ambapo wananchi wanawakataa kinagaubaga. Kunyang'anya ushindi ni utamaduni unaoanza kujengeka na tuliulea pale ambapo ulipotokea tukasema kubali yaishe. Sasa tunashukuru Mungu hili limetokea Kenya na inawezekana likatoa fundisho kwa hawa viongozi majambazi wa kura. Kwa kifupi wakenya watatusaidia kuvunja hii vicious cycle ya wizi wa kura. Imefika mahala sasa tusema enough is enough!

 

[Kigarama]

wakati mwingine huwa nafikiri watanzania tumelishwa limbwata na viongozi wetu na wazandiki wenzao hao wanaojiita "viongozi wa dini"

hivi kuombea amani bila kujua chanzo cha amani kunasaidia nini na pia hata hao mbona wanapopambana na "shetani" wanamtaja waziwazi na ukiangalia maombi yenyewe yalitayarishwa ki- CCM CCM. hivi kama Getrude Lwakatare amteuliwa na CCM kuwa mbunge nani tena atawaamini hao viongozi wa dini?

 

[Masanja]

???????

Anger at Cameroon third term hint

President Biya said he was responding to popular calls
Opposition parties and non-governmental groups in Cameroon have criticised President Paul Biya's intention to amend the country's constitution.
In a new year message Mr Biya hinted he would change a clause that limits the head of state to two terms in office.

The amendment would open the way for him to run for president again in 2011, should he choose to.

President Biya said his government would respond to popular demands for a change to the constitution.

"Many calls in favour of a revision are reaching me from all our provinces - I am obviously not indifferent to them," the president said.

Opposition parties described such an initiative as an attempt of manipulating public opinion and a threat to the country's peace.

President Biya, who came to power in 1982, revised the constitution 12 years ago, extending the presidential term of office from five to seven years.

Mr Biya's Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (RDPC) won at least 152 of the 180 National Assembly seats in elections in July, in which opposition parties alleged "massive fraud".


Source BBC

 

[Kenyan-Tanzanian]

Ssebo na Mtanzania, niwajibu kwa pamoja.

Katika hali ambayo kuna moto wa hasira, kero, hisia za kisasi na uchungu, matumizi ya maneno ni muhimu sana. Hakuna kitu kinachochoea zaidi hasira na maumivu ya kihisia kama matumizi mabaya ya maneno.

Wakati Kibaki anapaswa kulaumiwa na kuwajibishwa kwa vitendo na ukimya wake baada ya kuanza kwa vurugu, Raila anapaswa kulaumiwa na kuwajibishwa kutokana na maneno na vitendo vyake.

Pindi vurugu zilipoanza tu Raila alipaswa kusimama na kujiengua moja kwa moja na mambo hayo badala ya kudai "wananchi wanadai haki yao ya Kikatiba" n.k Raila kama kiongozi alishindwa kabisa kutumia ushawishi wake wa kupanga mkakati uliotulia badala ya kuonekana hajali kinachotokea huku akiendelea kumbebesha lawala Kibaki na kufikia kumuita Mwizi (kitu ambacho chaweza kuwa kweli).

Nitarudisha mfano wa mauaji mengine ili nisikike vizuri; Wakati wa mauaji ya Rwanda kilichoumiza zaidi ni ukimya wa baadhi ya watu na upande wa pili maneno ya upande mwingine kwa kisingizio cha kudai haki! Kama kweli Raila alitaka kuongoza mapambano haya na kuwa tayari kumwaga damu yeye ndiye angekuwa wa kwanza kutembea kwenda kule na apigwe Mabomu kama Mrema, na achapwe viboko kama kina Lewis wa Georgia..

Kama lengo lilikuwa ni kujaribu kutatua mambo haya kwa amani na kuonesha brutality ya serikali alikuwa na uamuzi wa kufanya mikakati ya maandamano ya amani (siyo kusema maandamano ya amani) kama walivyofanya Martin Luther na Gandhi! Raila ameshindwa hivyo.

Watu waliompigia kura Raila haiwezekani wote walikuwa watu wa makabila mengine na hakuna Mkikuyu aliyempigia kura. Kuna Wakikuyu wengi (hasa vijana) ambao waliona ndani ya Raila mabadiliko na matumaini ya mwelekeo mpya wa Taifa. Kitendo cha Raila kutojitokeza mara moja, kupinga, na kutojihusisha kwa namna yoyote na mashambulizi dhidi ya Wakikuyu au mali za Wakikuyu ni kitendo cha kushindwa uongozi, yes I said it!

Raila alikuwa na nafasi ya kuonesha umakini, uthubutu, ujasiri na ukomavu wa kisiasa. Badala ya kudai "ni vyombo vya serikali ndiyo vinafanya vurugu" Raila angetumia uwezo wake wote kutuliza moto huo huko akijipanga hatua inayofuata. Wote wawili Raila na Kibaki wanahusika moja kwa moja na mauaji na machafuko ya kisiasa nchini Kenya ni wao na timu zao lazima wakae chini na kutafuta suluhu bila kuweka masharti mapema.

Raila ana ushawishi mkubwa na ameshindwa kutumia ushawishi huo kutuliza Kenya na kwa maneno yake amechochea vurugu zilizotekea nchini Kenya baada ya uchaguzi. Endapo uchaguzi mwingine utaitishwa Kenya, msishangae Wakikuyu wengi waliomuunga mkono Raila wataaamua kubadili msimamo.

Mkuu Mwanakijiji,

Nimekuwa mojawapo wa wanaJF ambao wanafuatilia sana thread na maoni zako kwa muda sasa. Kama unavyobaini ukisoma hili sijawahi kuingilia sana kwenye haya yako jili huwa muda wote nakubaliana sana na yote ambayo unasema na unashughulikia, lakini kwa hili naona lazima nikusahihishe kwa five serious allegations ambazo umedai dhidi ya Raila na nimezipiga mistari hapo juu. Jameni tusipoteze mjadala kwa kutamka mambo ambayo hayana uhakika na yanayoweza kutupotesha JF kwenye harakati zetu za kutafuta kimawazo mbinu mwafaka za kuelewa, kokosoa na kurekebisha yale yanayojiri huku Kenya hivi leo.

1. Ni kweli kwamba Raila Odinga ana ushawishi mkubwa sana miongoni mwa waKenya. Ushawishi huu ni mkubwa sana kuliko ule wa Kiongozi mwengine yeyote yule Afrika Mashariki. Ndio. Ndio mwanasiasa wa pekee ambaye anakubalika na makabila yote yanayoishi nchini Kenya, kwa asilimia kubwa kwenye makabila 43 na kwa asilimia fulani iliyo mijini ya kabila la Wakikuyu na waKamba. Hili ndilo la msingi lililofanya coalition ya chungwa imkubali yeye kama compromise candidate wa makabila yote yaliyokuwa ndani ya ODM baada ya viongozi wa makabila haya kuambiwa na watu wao kwamba wako tiyari kumpigia Raila kura kama kiongozi wa kabila lao hatagombea uRais na siye yeyote yule. Luo, Luhya, Kisii, Masai, Kalenjin, Somali, Swahili, Mijikenda na Samburu are nine of the ten largest ethnic groups in Kenya 9ya kwanza ikiwa GEMA- Gikuyu, Embu, Meru association).

Hizi zote tisa zina watu waliotaka kuwa Rais kwenye kinyanganyiro hiki lakini mambo yalivyokuwa magumu kwa kupata mgombeaji ndani ya ODM. Most communal leaders wa makabila haya walisema yule ambaye anakubalika toka East to West, North to South of Kenya, na makabila yote ni Raila. It is these leaders who have power over their own tribes not Raila. Raila is the presidential candidate (and not leader)of nine+ more of Kenyas largest ethnic groupings which have their own leaders (Ruto, Mudavadi etc) that had coalesced under muungano wa chungwa au Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Naomba hili liwe clear. Raila sio kiongozi wa waKalenjini wa Rift Valley. No. Ingawaje waKalenjin wapo ndani ya ODM. Kwa hivyo ni lazima tutenganishe the thenic identity and ethnised actions eg uchomaji wa mali ya wakikuyu na the presidential candidacy of Raila Odinga.

Ni kweli kwamba at the national level, Raila is the most popular and loved politician in Kenya. Kupendwa kwake kuliimarika pale alipoisaidia upinzani ( na wakenya) kuisambaratisha KANU from within na kumpigia debe Kibaki hadi NARC ikanyakua mamlaka. Hivi leo, umaarufu wake umezidi kukita mizizi hasa hapa Nairobi. Hapo nyuma ilisemekana kuwa ukitaka kuwa mbunge wa Nairobi ni lazima uwe na sapot ya wakikuyu lakini siku hizi kama uchaguzi huu ulivyonyesha, ukitaka kuwa mbunge wa nairobi ni lazima uwe unafuata siasa za ukombozi kama zile za Raila. Kufikia sasa seven of the Nairobi parliamentary seats zote zilikwenda kwa ODM. Na hata wagombeaji wakikuyu waliosimama kwa chama isiyo ODM walibwagwa chini isipokua aliyekuawa Meya, Dick Wathika (makadara).

Asilimia kubwa Nairobi ni wakikuyu kwajili mkoa wao unapakana na Nairobi. Hii ina maana asilimia kubwa ya wakikuyu hawa walimpigia raila kura na kusapot chama chake kwakuwachagua wabunge wa ODM kama vile John Kiarie alamaarufu Redykyulass (Dagoretti) na Bishop Wanjiru (Starehe) na hata wagombeaji. raila hana chuki dhidi ya waKikuyu. Mwanawe Raila wa kwanza Fidel Castro alifunga ndoa na msichana Mkikuyu last year na wakikuyu wengi wanafahamu hilo. What Raila cannot stand is all forms of autocracy. Iwe Moi ambaye alikuwa Mkalenjin au iwe Mkikuyu na ndio maana amekuwa mwanachama wa SPLM tokea zamani na hata masomo yake kasomeshwa na Mwalimu Nyerere kwa wakati fulani. Sio siri kwamba Raila alisaidiwa na Mwalimu kwenda Ujerumani Mashariki miaka ya sabini kusoma kwajili babake Raila ambaye ndio role model mkubwa wa kigogo huyo alikuwa na mtazamo mmoja wa siasa inclusive kama Mwalimu na ndio ilikuwa chanzo ya babake Raila kukosana na Kenyatta aliyependelea siasa za ten millionaires na ten million poor people.

Raila's universal appeal both in terms of ethnicity and regionality comes out of the deep and tested belief among the majority of Kenyans that he is a national icon of that ideal of selflessness that many Kenyans associate with political freedom and nationalism. He is acceptable to many because in him many can bank their hopes and rest assured that they will not be short-changed. To find a man who keeps his words in kenyan politics like Raila is like finding a pork-seller in Saudi Arabia.


2. The chaos that has been witnessed all across kenya should not be simplified into a simple case of Kikuyus vs Luos. What we witness today is the result of Kenya's complex economic, social and political history. In a country in which colonialists used divide and rule politics to survive, pitting one tribe against the other and over-investing in certain tribes, unequal economic development and suspicious ethnic rivalries are a normal outcome of that past. Luos are not tribal because they live next to the Kikuyus and vice versa. This is not so. Eg, History tells us that due to the proximity between the Chagga and the Arusha a certain measure of ethnic enemity between these communities existed for many years even before the creation of Tanzania. But by using political methods, Nyerere and CCM somehow mellowed these tensions and made the two communities to exist today as if they have never ever fought any war. But the distance between Luoland and Kikuyuland is like the distance between the Nyakyusas of Mbeya and the Hayas of Bukoba. They simply dont have historical ethnic enemity.

The so called Kikuyu/Luo tribal enemity is a colonial creation which saw many Luos being recruited to supply labour in the civil and domestic services after the Gikuyus first refused and later were banned from supplying these forms of labor to colonial homes and offices in the 1940s-1950s/Mau Mau period. The relationship between the Kikuyus and Luos in the anticolonial struggle was later friendly and this led to the creation of KANU which was seen as a Kikuyu/Luo party. Other minorities today in ODM were mainly in KADU. It is the Luo leaders, Jaramogi Oginga and Tom Mboya who pushed for Kenyatta's realese from Kapenguria in the early 1960s by adopting the argument that there was no need for Uhuru without Kenyatta. If they were selfish they would have urged the British to even kill Kenyatta and then ascend to power. After his release Kenyatta thanked the Luos by appointing a Luo, Jaramogi as the VP.


The hostilities between the two communities grew in earnest after the cold war politics of capitalism and socialism were localised into Kenyan politics. Oginga wanted Kenya to adopt Mwalimu's version of socio-economic development while Kenyatta differed. Later due to the solid ethnic identities these two drew their powers from their own differences trickled to their communities. Each community started created myths about the other which saw the two leaders falling out and their communities following the same path. Today, there are still remnants of the Kenyatta days who are still at the core of PNU and have carried over the ghosts of yesteryears into the present. They have tried to argue on the basis that a Luo cannot lead. Other Kenyan communities that were once just spectators in the Luo/Kikuyu struggles have now come in and are simply saying that not only can a Luo like Raila lead but also he can be accepted by the majority of the communities and this is itself a voice of the people whether the radical Kikuyu or GEMA class likes it or not. Briefly: Kenya is not Kikuyuland. Kenya is not the kingdom of the radical, wealthy and aged Kikuyu ruling class that today sits around/with Kibaki in State House. No. Kenya is a home for the "unwanted" like the Luos and all other sons of Kenya are willing to support one brother over the other because they feel that one of the two brothers is not being fair....he cannot be the only heir to the throne or dominate all the inheritance.

Niwie radhi kwa kutumia history na hadithi kukuonyesha kwanini kabila za Kenya zina behave the way zina behave leo. It is true Kenyan politics is very very ethnicised. It is also true that Kikuyus have suffered since Kibaki was reelected but this is not Raila's making. No. The Kalenjins who are killing poor Kikuyu peasants in Rift Valley have their own reasons, ethnic reasons, why they are doing so. The only way their crime can be connected to Raila is that the Kalenjins are in ODM and Raila is the ODM candidate. So, one cannot say that the Kalenjins are killing Kikuyus because Raila is not telling them to stop. The truth is hata akiwaambia they will not listen to him. They can listen to Ruto or Moi but not Raila. Thats why when raila was campaining there, alikuwa "anauzwa" au marketed na leaders wa waKalenjin sio yeye mwenyewe. Coast alikwa marketed na akina Balala na Western alikuwa marketed na akina Mudavadi. It is his Lieutenants ambao wanatakiwa kuchukua the blame if one must argue wrongly that ODM is the cause of the crisis in its strongholds. Raila is not even the chairman of ODM. That is Dr. Henry Kosgey, a Kalenjin from Eldoret. He is only the presidential candidate.

So far, ODM has visited the affected areas in Eldoret and Kisumu on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. Aliwapigia pole hawa wakimbizi wengi ambao ni wakikuyu na walionekana kufurahia kuona mwanasiasa wa kwanza kukuja kujaribu kuwafariji na kuona na macho yake walivyoteseka. ODM has gone public by addressing the nation through KTN and Nation and urging their supporters to restrain their anger. Ruto has gone to the Kalenjin broadcasting radio KASS FM and addressed his people wawache fujo and that explains why there is relative calm inayorejea huko. Jana baada ya rally yao kupigwa marufuku, ODM hawakuenda nyumbani kulala. No. Waliandamana na Raila hadi kwenye mortuary za Nairobi na kuonyesha media wa huku na kimataifa miili ya waliopigwa risasi na serikali na waliokatwa kwa mapanga. Walienda hadi Mahospitalini na kuwafariji waliolazwa huko na maumivu tele. In Kibera,home to one million slum dwellers, polisi wamevingira eneo lote na hawa walalahoi hawajapata chakula for four days. Leo ODM wameenda kule kuwa organize hawa wakazi kwa vikundi ili wafanye mbinu ya kuwaletea chakula au watakufa njaa. Raila amejiongezea kura nyingi kwa kuzidi kuonyesha ubinadamu wake wakati wengine wanafurahia ushindi wao haram huko waliko.


Swali ni: What has the "legitimate" government done? despite kuwa na uwezo wakuwainvite hata Red Cross waje walete maji na chakula kwa wanaKibera? What have they done?Wakati malori na escort ya majeshi yanatumwa huko Eldoret kusaidia jamii fulani itorokee mauaji ni nani anashughulikia hao watu milioni moja wa kabila nyingine ambao wameviringwa na polisi kwenye slum ya Kibera bila maji, chakula au matibabu? As one neither a Kikuyu nor a Luo, nawaomba mnisaidie kutafuta jibu la hili.

Raila is not a human being. Raila is a spirit. He is the spirit of inter-ethnic respect and urban tolarence in a country where the radical wing of the leadership of the largest and most dominant community in terms of politics and economics wants to sacrifice its own in order to legitimize the highest crime in any land, a coup. Whether it was a civilian or military, a coup is what it is, just a coup.

Please heshima mbele and lets not distort both history na reality as we support our opinions. Mimi nakuomba usimsulubishe Raila kwa makosa ambaye sio ya kwake. Itakuwa sawa na kusema unamnyonga Mandela kwa mauaji yaliyotekelezwa dhidi ya wananchi wa South Africa na wafuasi fulani wa ANC.

 

[Masanja]

wakati mwingine huwa nafikiri watanzania tumelishwa limbwata na viongozi wetu na wazandiki wenzao hao wanaojiita "viongozi wa dini"

hivi kuombea amani bila kujua chanzo cha amani kunasaidia nini na pia hata hao mbona wanapopambana na "shetani" wanamtaja waziwazi na ukiangalia maombi yenyewe yalitayarishwa ki- CCM CCM. hivi kama Getrude Lwakatare amteuliwa na CCM kuwa mbunge nani tena atawaamini hao viongozi wa dini?

Yaaani huyu MUNGU tunamtia majaribuni tuu basi! Kweli maandiko yaliyoandika kwamba huyu MKUU ana huruma zisizo na mipaka ni kweli hayakudanganya.

 

[DAR si LAMU]

FIVE HINTS
1.In any revolution loss of life is inevitable because the aggressor is ready to kill to mantain the status quo and the oppressed want liberation

2.The person dying today for libaration,the next generation will honour his/her blood

3.If you flip your tail before the oppresor,you are failing your own generation and future generation

4.You have got to choose,betray yoursef,your generation and be a loser or confront the reality,be honoured as a matyr and be a winner

5.Lets be realistic,peace and justice can never be separated.If you keep one you keep both,if you lose one you lose both.The example is there,dont ask me anything.If you still dont understand,Join us in Kenya.
ALL THOSE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIFE TO DEFEND THEIR DEMOCRACY WILL NEVER BE ASHAMED

..wananchi wa kawaida au wenye hali ya maisha ya chini kenya,nao wanataka kuonja huo utamu wa economic growth ya 6 point something per cent. maisha yao yamekuwa magumu. wanataka mabadiliko. ndio maana wakamchagua wanayeamini atawaokoa na kuwapeleka kwenye nchi yenye neema!

..waogope sana watu wenye hope ya kupata kitu fulani toka kwa fulani,hawa ni sawa na wanaojitoa muanga kwa kujilipua!they've got nothing to lose but their dream![and you well know what is it!]

..the only thing you can do is let them be!

..kama mnakumbuka afrika kusini,walivyokula risasi kizazi hata kizazi,and still it made them even more determined!

..it's a class war!

 

[Masanja]

K-T thanks comrade for that piece!

Kuna mengi hatujui!

 

[Shakazulu]

Hii article nimeitoa kwenye website ya "The Economist"

Kenya

Twilight robbery

Jan 2nd 2008 | NAIROBI

From Economist.com

Ethnic violence comes to Kenya

THE decision to return Kenya's 76-year-old incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, to office was not made by the Kenyan people but by a group of hardline Kikuyu leaders. They made up their minds before the result was announced, perhaps even before the opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, had opened up a lead in early returns from the December 27th election. It was a civil coup.
The planning was meticulous. All that was needed were the extra votes to squeak past Mr Odinga in what had been a closely and decently contested election. That was why returns from Central Province, Mr Kibaki's fiercely loyal Kikuyu heartland, were inexplicably held back. And why, in some constituencies, a large number of voters mysteriously decided just to vote in the presidential race, ignoring the parliamentary ballot. Real damage was done in Nairobi, the capital, by inflating the number of votes for Mr Kibaki, even after results were publicly announced. Election monitors were turned away in Nairobi while the tallying went on. But European Union (EU) monitors verified tens of thousands of votes pinched in this way. Mr Odinga's supporters were not innocent either. There were serious irregularities in his home province of Nyanza and probably ballot stuffing on his behalf elsewhere.
The EU's preliminary report on the presidential vote was scathing. After the result was announced security forces sealed off the centre of Nairboi against the angry poor, most of whom had voted for Mr Odinga. A few minutes later in State House, in the twilight, Mr Kibaki was sworn in as president, with almost nobody else there.

The reaction to the swearing-in was immediate. Nairobi's slums exploded in rage. The poor killed each other. The rest of the city was eerily empty, but for burning tyres. Across the country there was a swelling up of tribal violence, sometimes Kikuyu against Mr Odinga's Luo tribe, more often Luo and other tribes against Kikuyu. Hundreds have been killed so far and 80,000 displaced. Gang rapes and mutilations are widespread. Police have orders to shoot to kill. There has been rampant looting in Kisumu, riots in Mombasa and pitched battles in Eldoret. Thousands of Kikuyu have taken refuge in Eldoret's Catholic cathedral from roving gangs. Kikuyu hiding in another church outside Eldoret were burned alive by a mob. There will be reprisals. Some non-Kikuyus are already slipping away from Central Province.

Taken together, it amounts to a pulling apart of Kenya's rich national fabric. Some 98% of Kikuyu voted for Mr Kibaki. Everywhere else he was trounced. “We feel downgraded to second class status, harassed, profiled”, says Najib Balala, a senior Orange. The Kikuyu highlands encircling the diminishing glaciers of Mount Kenya feel like a state within a state.
The instincts of the hardliners will be to use the security services to reverse the freedoms of Mr Kibaki's first term; anything to avoid power slipping into Mr Odinga's hands. It is not clear that Kenya will stand for it. The government pressured mobile phone operators to suspend text messages for “security reasons”, without success. Kenya's media is still keen to report rather than incite. The army's strong apolitical tradition, with staff officers drawn from several tribes, looks to be holding.
Mr Odinga has called on Mr Kibaki to resign. His Oranges want a campaign of civil action, peaceable, but determined. Mr Odinga says that Kenyans today will not tolerate betrayal. They are better educated, more independent, than in the past. They may also be more frustrated, more violent, and harder to control.
A week after voting, the immediate concern is to haul the country back from ethnic cleansing. A chastened Samuel Kivuitu, head of the electoral commission, now says he is not sure that Mr Kibaki won the election. The Americans and the British have been twisting arms. The head of the African Union, John Kufuor, is also trying to mediate. More importantly, well-connected Kikuyu business leaders have been trying to persuade Mr Kibaki to cave in and form a government of national unity. “If they don't,” says a diplomat, “the country is heading for civil war.”

 

[Kenyan-Tanzanian]

Raila alikuwa na nafasi ya kuonesha umakini, uthubutu, ujasiri na ukomavu wa kisiasa. Badala ya kudai "ni vyombo vya serikali ndiyo vinafanya vurugu" Raila angetumia uwezo wake wote kutuliza moto huo huko akijipanga hatua inayofuata.

Mh. Mwanakijiji,

Mwanzo: Haina haja ya Raila ku proove ile ambayo kila mKenya awe mdogo au mtu mzima, kijijini au mjini, adui au sahibu anafahamu. Wengi tu wakiwemo wapinzania wa ODM ndani ya KANU, PNU, ODM-Kenya na hata Viongozi wa Dini wanalitambua hizo qualities za Raila na ndiyo maana hawampuuzi ila wanamuomba aongee na Rais hata kama yeye ndiye aliyeibiwa uchaguzi. George Bush kupitia kwa Condoleeza Rice, Gordon Brown, Kufuor na hata Tutu wanafahamu status ya Raila in Kenyan Politics. Haihitaji paongezwe data kwenye CV yake huyu, na nilivyosema kwenye post nyingi za awali hata mimi ni mmoja waliompinga Raila awali ila tokana na selflessness yake kwenye kuipigania ukombozi wa demokrasia na nchi yake ameniconvince he deserves the topmost seat on the land. Isingalikuwa yeye, leo hii KANU ingekuwa mamlakani. Isingalikuwa yeye, leo hii sijui Kenya tungekuwa wapi kisiasa na isingalikuwa yeye, hapangekuwa mwenye uwezo waku challange the total disrespect of the Kenyan constitution ambayo a Kibaki win has come to mean. Ni sababu ya matamshi yake na actions zake hivi sasa ndio unaona akina White House, Number 10 Downing Street, AU na Kufuor wakikimbia huku. Otherwise angenyamaza kama bubu eti kwajili BAADHI ya wafuasi wa viongozi wanaomuunga yeye mkono wataleta mchafuko angekuwa kama yule punda wa Shamba la Wanyama ya George Orwell. The absence of violence does not mean the presence of peace. Natuombee MaRaila waliowengi wazidi kuzaliwa sio tu Kenya, ila Afrika na indeed Duniani nzima.


Pili. Sio hakika umelosema kwamba Raila ameonekana kuwa anayepigania tu urais ili anufaike yeye. Hizi elections, hazikuwa tu siasa za kutoa Kibaki na kuleta Raila. No. It must be seen in the context of our political (hi)story as Kenya. Kwanini waKenya walijitokeza in unprecedented numbers kupiga hii kura na hawakufanya hivyo even when they were voting out KANU/Moi?Ukweli ni kwamba ungechukua muda na uwasikize wengi walioathiriwa hawailaumu ODM au hata wanaowaua na wachomea mali yao. La. Wanailaumu serikali kwa kugeuza uchaguzi uliokuwa peaceful na ambayo wengi walijitokeza ilmradi wabadili serikali hii, wakikuyu na wasiyowakikuyu, na kuifanya kuwa kiini cha michafuko ambayo ilikuwa imesahaulika tangu Moi ang'oke mamlakani. Wanajiuliza kwenye interviews nyingi tuu na maredio na tv za huku, ni kwanini baada ya wakenya kukampeini na kupiga kura kwa amani, waliowekwa kuhesabu walianza ulaghai na kuleta matokeo yanayowaumiza now? Ni kwanini serikali hio hio badala ya kuwapelekea sekuriti inawapelekea malori yawahamishe kutoka huko na inawabwaga kwenye stadium ya Nakuru? Kwanini serikali hili imekosa kukubali uamuzi ambao serikali hii hii inajua uamuzi huo utaregesha hali iwe shwali mara moja/ yaani why is it that this government inaonekana kuweka its own existence mbele ya existence of those it claims to govern and those it claims voted for them in large numbers? Kwanini?

Jamani tusifanye mzaha na maswali haya machungu kwa kuya simplify into a blame game yaan eti nani alaumiwe sasa Kibaki au Raila. Its neither of them ukiniuliza. Shida ipo na that historical injustice perpetuated by a system that is itself liable to manipulation by a clique of rich, powerful and tribalist people who unfortunately come from the most dominant and therefore easy-to-scapegoat- community in Kenya: the Gikuyu/GEMA.

Wengi(ne) watasema, Mh. Kenyan-Tanzanian yupo na mapendeleo kwa akina Raila. No. Ndio maana naaomba usome hizi articles mbili zilizoandikwa na wasiowaKenya lakini ambao in their pursuit of objectivity na kutoonelea any side wameweza kutoa analysis ya kiprofesa as to what went wrong in the Kenyan elections, 2007 and why?
_________________________________________________________________

I: BY THE TIMES TEAM, UK.

The Times, London, December 31, 2007

Cheated of Change

The verdict of the voters is clear and the demand of Kenyans for clean government must now be honoured
The verdict of Kenya's voters is unmistakably clear. They have turned out in force to vote for deep reform of a political system that, although democratic by comparison with much of Africa, is deeply scarred by corruption and dominated by a pampered, self-perpetuating political elite dominated since independence by the Kikuyu tribe. In the parliamentary element of the double election that took place last Thursday, about two-thirds of sitting MPs lost their seats, as did the Vice-President, the Foreign Minister, more than a dozen of their Cabinet colleagues and, significantly, the three sons of Daniel arap Moi, the corrupt former President whose abuses President Mwai Kibaki had promised to stamp out when he was first elected in 2002.

Seldom has an African election so clearly reflected public determination to "sling the bastards out". President Kibaki's Government and his opportunistically revamped alliance of the political old guard have been dismissed by the electorate. So, to judge from almost all pre-election opinion polls and early results from the simultaneous presidential election, had the President himself. But the outcome then became clouded by uncertainties that, to the fury of opposition supporters, showed signs of having been artificially introduced. As delays in the count dragged on, riots engulfed Nairobi's seething slums and opposition strongholds in western Kenya. They rapidly turned inter-ethnic, and there is no certainty that they will soon abate.

Raila Odinga, Mr Kibaki's flamboyant challenger, appeared at first to be cruising to victory but by Saturday night, his lead had been whittled to a sliver, and ultimately was declared officially to have been overturned, as tardy and, in many instances, suspect results trickled in from central Kenya. In a contest where voters have tended to vote along tribal lines, these mostly Kikuyu heartlands were expected to stay loyal to Mr Kibaki. But there is evidence of conspiracy to rig the results in his favour. Kenya's electoral commission (ECK) admitted that in one precinct with 70,000 registered voters, Mr Kibaki received 125,000 votes; in another, the tally changed at the last moment to add 60,000 to his score.

Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement demanded a nationwide recount under international supervision, alleging that the "multiple levels of fraud" were beyond the ECK's capacity to investigate. Yesterday Samuel Kivuito, the commission's head, had to be rescued by police from the fury of opposition leaders who stormed its headquarters, just before he declared that, against all odds, Mr Kibaki had won by a margin of nearly 232,000 votes out of 9.82 million declared officially to have been cast.

The ECK was between a rock and a hard place. It was under pressure, not least from the police, to end the uncertainty before riots, looting and killings intensified. But by declaring the final result without examining dozens of disputed voting tallies, above all when the parliamentary vote pointed strongly in the opposite direction, it has handed Mr Kibaki a tainted and disputed second mandate. His problem is not incompetence; Kenya's economy has boomed on his watch. It is credibility. In 2002 he won a landslide by promising Kenyans clean government and better public services, promises he broke but must redeem now at all costs. He must draw heavily on the new intake of MPs. Kenya's stability depends on the speed of political reform.


MAONI YA WAKENYA (SIO WALUO BY THE WAY ISPOKUA WA MWISHO)
_____________________________________________
Have your say

I had to travel for 8 hours to vote and waited in the long line for two hours to cast my vote and make my voice heard. And what do i get for it?
A cabal of Electoral commission officers sitting in some office tinkering with the results and added a whooping 800,000 votes to the so called "winner".
I (and the other 4.2 million Kenyans) feel wasted.
God Bless my Kenya!!!!

Koech, Nairobi,

The Electoral commission has proved to the world that its operation are not independent. The kibaki government is illegitimate and does not have the peoples mandate. It has already muzzled the media which is supposed to be serving all the citizenry.

Joseph Bonyo, Nairobi, Kenya

It is a disaster. Kenya could have been an example for democracy; instead, it will be one african country among others plagued with etnicism, corruption and despaired poor people.

François, Paris, France

Its alwys hard for any looser to accept change.
even in a mormal match where everyone can tell the winner there is always an excuse to despute.
Kibaki may not have been so clean BUT neither was Raila.
Ours now is to accept the final word from ECK, a bitter "TRUTH" and try our best to heal our wouds and broken hearts.
Shalom!!!!
Zippy,
Nairobi.

Zipporah, Nairobi, Kenya

It's a replay of the 1969 Bahati elections in which the paramilitary- General Service Unit (GSU) helped Mwai Kibaki rig out Ms Jael Mbogo.
Mr Kibaki is such a good christian and God fearing: he stole the 2007 general election on a Sunday!

Onyango James

Onyango James, Johannesburg, South Africa

Its a sad time in Kenya's history. The will of the people has been denied by Kibaki's determination to hold on to his presidency. Furthermore the media blackout underlines the fact that democracy is dead and Kenya is a police state, again.
It is upto the international community to put pressure on and isolate Kibaki and his cronies into accepting a reccount of the votes so one of Africas most vibrant and promising countries may return to normality
____________________________
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.

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SOURCE:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article3111454.ece
________________________________________________________________



II. BY A UGANDAN.


The Weekly Observer (Kampala)

OPINION
3 January 2008
Posted to the web 3 January 2008

Anne Mugisha


The saddest lesson from the Kenyan election is that an 'independent' Electoral Commission does not guarantee a free and fair election. Everyone I spoke to swore that Kenya's Electoral Commission was independent.

Sammy Kirui, a Kenyan electoral official, spoke to the contrary. At an ODM press conference immediately after Mwai Kibaki was declared President, Kirui said there was shameless alteration of documents to secure a Kibaki victory.


Independence of an Electoral Commission, therefore, does not render it a fountain of honour and integrity nor does it guarantee a smooth transfer of power even where it appeared so imminent.

I followed the slow and predictable stealing of votes in the Kenyan presidential election without the emotional sting that I suffer while watching election robbery in Uganda and it was quite an edifying experience.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of Kenya is struggling with the same question that Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) struggled with less than two years ago in Uganda: How to convert an electoral victory into power.

There must have been excruciating moments last week when ODM supporters thought their eyes and ears were tricking them. The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) could not possibly be reading tallies from the results that their agents had signed hours ago.

Of course they were correct; the results that reach the Electoral Commission are not necessarily the same results that left the polling station. It is quite an out-of-body experience for those who invest their time and passion in electoral politics to see victory snatched at such close range.

The sense of powerlessness is quite overwhelming. To have proof before your very eyes, that someone has robbed you and for that proof to be completely ignored by the arbiter whom you entrusted with declaring the results is nerve racking. Where does one turn for truth and justice when those in authority refuse to enforce it and prefer to stand with those who flout the very rules and values which we entrust them to defend?

And so Reuters reported that "As smoke billowed from protests in Nairobi slums, Kibaki was sworn in on the lawn of State House just an hour after the final vote tally was announced, his hand on a Bible."

The 76-year-old urged Kenyans to put aside election 'passions' and promised a corruption-free government to forge unity in the ethnically polarised nation of 36 million, the region's biggest economy. "I thank all of you for the trust you have bestowed upon me," he said.

Meantime, The New York Times reported that, "The European Union said its observers in one constituency last week witnessed election officials announce that President Kibaki had won 50,145 votes, but on Sunday the election commission boosted those same results to 75,261 votes."

Furthermore, ECK admitted that in a constituency with 70,000 registered voters, Mr. Kibaki received 125,000 votes; in another, the tally changed at the last moment to add 60,000 to his score.

So one is left wondering where Mwai Kibaki gets the audacity to place his hand on the Holy Bible and swear-in as President of Kenya.

In an article aptly titled 'Cheated of Change,' The Times of London states, "The verdict of Kenya's voters is unmistakably clear. They have turned out in force to vote for deep reform of a political system that, although democratic by comparison with much of Africa, is deeply scarred by corruption and dominated by a pampered, self-perpetuating political elite...Seldom has an African election so clearly reflected public determination to 'sling the bastards out'. President Kibaki's government and his opportunistically revamped alliance of the political old guard have been dismissed by the electorate."

Perhaps when their pain recedes, ODM will find time to celebrate their unprecedented victory at parliamentary level and the resounding defeat of the corrupt old guard.

Perhaps ODM will head to court shortly in search of justice and we pray that the Kenyan judiciary has a stronger back bone than Uganda's, which says the right thing but rules in contradiction of its own findings, in favour of the incumbent.

There are many lessons from last week's election in Kenya but for all the emotion and intrigue of elections, particularly presidential elections, we should never lose sight of the fact that vote counting and tallying is not calculus or even algebra. It is simple basic arithmetic of adding one vote to the next and then ensuring that all votes from all polling stations are correctly tallied.

If we can isolate the instances and areas where votes and tallies are corrupted then we can protect the vote. That is the easy part.

The difficult part remains the will to safeguard the integrity of our vote against all odds.

________________________________________

Copyright © 2008 The Weekly Observer. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

SOURCE:http://allafrica.com/stories/200801030754.html
_________________________________________________________________

 

[Shakazulu]

A very African coup

Jan 3rd 2008

From The Economist print edition

Kenya's president steals an election, showing utter contempt for democracy and his people

THE mayhem that killed hundreds of people following Kenya's election on December 27th completes a depressing cycle of democratic abuses in Africa's biggest countries. Nigeria held its own mockery of an election last April. Scores were killed and observers pronounced it the most fraudulent poll they had ever witnessed. Congo held a more or less peaceful election in October 2006, since when the main opposition leader has been hounded into exile. And the year before that, flawed elections in Ethiopia resulted in the deaths of 199 protesters. Needless to say, the incumbents all won.

So it is easy to be angry, as well as gloomy, about African leaders' continual betrayal of the democratic values they say they hold so dear. And all the more so in the case of Kenya, which has a strong tradition of holding elections, a vibrant political culture, a relatively free press and a sophisticated economy. Given all these advantages, as we wrote before the election, Kenya had an opportunity to “set an example” to Africa and hold free and fair elections. But the country blew it.


Or, more precisely, the political elite blew it. A small cabal of politicians almost certainly stole the result by fraud (see article). In the parliamentary vote, President Mwai Kibaki's ruling party was routed. Yet in the presidential vote Mr Kibaki emerged victorious at the last moment and had himself sworn in only a few minutes later, forestalling pleas from all sides—even from the head of the election commission he himself had appointed—for a pause to investigate mounting claims of malpractice. The report of the European observers was unusually strong in its condemnation of the count.

As in Nigeria, Kenyans queued quietly to exercise their right to vote, reflecting the enormous appetite for democracy that exists on a continent that was until recently dominated by dictators and “big men”. But for democracy to survive, it is not enough to hold elections. Politicians must accept that they may have to give up office, and thus all the opportunities for self-enrichment that come their way. It is no coincidence that the most corrupt politicians are also those who cling most desperately to power—as in Kenya and Nigeria.

In stealing the election, Mr Kibaki has also invited a dangerous backlash against his Kikuyu tribe, the country's largest. Tense tribal divisions have long threatened to widen as the minority groups, including opposition leader Raila Odinga's Luo, have come to feel marginalised by the concentration of power in Kikuyu hands. If the current violence does evolve into something worse, perhaps even civil war, Mr Kibaki and his henchmen will bear much of the blame.

No time to be nice

Initially, America, which sees Kenya as a front-line ally in a war against Islamist militias in neighbouring Somalia, made the mistake of endorsing the president's re-election. Now Britain, America and the African Union are urging Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki to talk in an effort to stop the bloodletting. That lets Mr Kibaki off the hook far too easily. All the violence should certainly be condemned, but most of the diplomatic pressure should be exerted on Mr Kibaki's supposed new government to annul the results and organise a recount—or a new vote.

If Mr Kibaki will not do this, the rest of the world should suspend direct aid to his regime and impose a travel ban on his officials. That is the least the wretched people of Kenya have a right to expect from their friends abroad.

 

[DAR si LAMU]

Hii article nimeitoa kwenye website ya "The Economist"

Kenya

Twilight robbery

Jan 2nd 2008 | NAIROBI

From Economist.com

Ethnic violence comes to Kenya

THE decision to return Kenya's 76-year-old incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, to office was not made by the Kenyan people but by a group of hardline Kikuyu leaders. They made up their minds before the result was announced, perhaps even before the opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, had opened up a lead in early returns from the December 27th election. It was a civil coup.
The planning was meticulous. All that was needed were the extra votes to squeak past Mr Odinga in what had been a closely and decently contested election. That was why returns from Central Province, Mr Kibaki's fiercely loyal Kikuyu heartland, were inexplicably held back. And why, in some constituencies, a large number of voters mysteriously decided just to vote in the presidential race, ignoring the parliamentary ballot. Real damage was done in Nairobi, the capital, by inflating the number of votes for Mr Kibaki, even after results were publicly announced. Election monitors were turned away in Nairobi while the tallying went on. But European Union (EU) monitors verified tens of thousands of votes pinched in this way. Mr Odinga's supporters were not innocent either. There were serious irregularities in his home province of Nyanza and probably ballot stuffing on his behalf elsewhere.
The EU's preliminary report on the presidential vote was scathing. After the result was announced security forces sealed off the centre of Nairboi against the angry poor, most of whom had voted for Mr Odinga. A few minutes later in State House, in the twilight, Mr Kibaki was sworn in as president, with almost nobody else there.

The reaction to the swearing-in was immediate. Nairobi's slums exploded in rage. The poor killed each other. The rest of the city was eerily empty, but for burning tyres. Across the country there was a swelling up of tribal violence, sometimes Kikuyu against Mr Odinga's Luo tribe, more often Luo and other tribes against Kikuyu. Hundreds have been killed so far and 80,000 displaced. Gang rapes and mutilations are widespread. Police have orders to shoot to kill. There has been rampant looting in Kisumu, riots in Mombasa and pitched battles in Eldoret. Thousands of Kikuyu have taken refuge in Eldoret's Catholic cathedral from roving gangs. Kikuyu hiding in another church outside Eldoret were burned alive by a mob. There will be reprisals. Some non-Kikuyus are already slipping away from Central Province.

Taken together, it amounts to a pulling apart of Kenya's rich national fabric. Some 98% of Kikuyu voted for Mr Kibaki. Everywhere else he was trounced. “We feel downgraded to second class status, harassed, profiled”, says Najib Balala, a senior Orange. The Kikuyu highlands encircling the diminishing glaciers of Mount Kenya feel like a state within a state.
The instincts of the hardliners will be to use the security services to reverse the freedoms of Mr Kibaki's first term; anything to avoid power slipping into Mr Odinga's hands. It is not clear that Kenya will stand for it. The government pressured mobile phone operators to suspend text messages for “security reasons”, without success. Kenya's media is still keen to report rather than incite. The army's strong apolitical tradition, with staff officers drawn from several tribes, looks to be holding.
Mr Odinga has called on Mr Kibaki to resign. His Oranges want a campaign of civil action, peaceable, but determined. Mr Odinga says that Kenyans today will not tolerate betrayal. They are better educated, more independent, than in the past. They may also be more frustrated, more violent, and harder to control.
A week after voting, the immediate concern is to haul the country back from ethnic cleansing. A chastened Samuel Kivuitu, head of the electoral commission, now says he is not sure that Mr Kibaki won the election. The Americans and the British have been twisting arms. The head of the African Union, John Kufuor, is also trying to mediate. More importantly, well-connected Kikuyu business leaders have been trying to persuade Mr Kibaki to cave in and form a government of national unity. “If they don't,” says a diplomat, “the country is heading for civil war.”

...kilitime,here it is.

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

I'll come back with a response my mtandao was down for a little while..

 

[KakindoMaster]

Kilitime, nakubaliana na wewe na reaction yangu ya kwanza kuhusu maandamano hayo ni kuwa "unnecessary". Hasa kutokana na subject yenyewe na jinsi ilivyodokezwa kwangu.

Endapo maandamano haya yatachukua sura ya kumuunga mkono Raila na kumlaani Kibaki siyo tu yatakuwa ni ya uchochezi bali hayatasaidia kutafuta usuluhishi kule Kenya. Endapo mzigo wa uvunjaji wa haki za binadamu na mauaji yaliyofanyika utabebeshwa kwenye mabega ya Kibaki tu sidhani kama hilo litasaidia katika kuleta uponyaji wa Kenya.

Binafsi naamini kabisa kuwa Raila ana sehemu kubwa ya kulaumiwa kutoka na machafuko ya kisiasa nchini Kenya kama vile Kibaki anavyolaumiwa. Yawezekana wengi wetu kutokana na kutaka "Raila ashinde" na baada ya kuona upuuzi na uhalifu uliofanyika katika kutangaza kura tumekuwa vipofu wa kufuata haki na hivyo kuchukua upande wa "anti-kibaki" ilimradi na sisi tuoneshe kuwa haki haikutendeka.

Hilo laweza kuwa sawa. Hata hivyo kwenye moto na cheche za Ukabila na mauaji yanayoshabihiana na yale ya kimbari rafiki kuchagua upande au kuonekana wamechagua upande haisaidii kitu zaidi ya kupulizia moto!

Kenya wako katika moto, na sisi Watanzania na hasa wapinzani wasitumike kama wapuliziaji moto kwa kisingizio "cha mshikamano" na "wale wote wenye kutetea utawala wa demokrasia".

Tufanye vitu vya kwanza kwanza; Raila na timu yake na Kibaki na timu yake wasiweke preconditions zozote na wakae meza ya mazungumzo and nothing should be taken off the table and everything should be open for discussion!

Mkuu Mwanakijiji hujapata vizuri suala la Kenya, naomba upitie mazungumzo yote upige simu sana Kenya na upate tatizo lake hasa nini kabla ya kulaumu Raila.

Raila yuko sawa asilimia mia. Hana haja ya kufuata mawazo ya tapeli Kibaki.

 

[Koba]

Kibaki kaiba kura,na hakuna kuhesabu kura upya tunataka uchaguzi mpya within 3 month chini ya tume huru yenye wasimamizi wa nje na ndani...bora gharama ya uchaguzi mpya kuliko kuongozwa na hawa wezi,la sivyo kama hakuna uchaguzi mpya hakitaeleweka!

 

[Kenyan-Tanzanian]

Ssebo na Mtanzania, niwajibu kwa pamoja.

1. Kama kweli Raila alitaka kuongoza mapambano haya na kuwa tayari kumwaga damu yeye ndiye angekuwa wa kwanza kutembea kwenda kule na apigwe Mabomu kama Mrema, na achapwe viboko kama kina Lewis wa Georgia.. [/U]

2. Kama lengo lilikuwa ni kujaribu kutatua mambo haya kwa amani na kuonesha brutality ya serikali alikuwa na uamuzi wa kufanya mikakati ya maandamano ya amani (siyo kusema maandamano ya amani) kama walivyofanya Martin Luther na Gandhi! Raila ameshindwa hivyo.

3. Kitendo cha Raila kutojitokeza mara moja, kupinga, na kutojihusisha kwa namna yoyote na mashambulizi dhidi ya Wakikuyu au mali za Wakikuyu ni kitendo cha kushindwa uongozi, yes I said it!

4. Raila alikuwa na nafasi ya kuonesha umakini, uthubutu, ujasiri na ukomavu wa kisiasa. Badala ya kudai "ni vyombo vya serikali ndiyo vinafanya vurugu" Raila angetumia uwezo wake wote kutuliza moto huo huko akijipanga hatua inayofuata.

Pole kwa mtandao Mh. Mwanakijiji na shukurani kwa mjadala. By the way, haya yote unayoyasema yanajijibu hapa. Hii hapa picha ya kukudhibitishia kwamba kwa maandamano yote wanayoitisha kama hili la Alhamis (3/1/2008) Viongozi wa ODM huwa wapo mstari mbele na wafuasi wao nyuma au pembeni. Its not true kwamba wanawaachia wananchi wapigwe mabomu na wao wanakaa hoteli za faraja wakitwanga domo tu akutoa mastetimenti kibao kwa media. La hasha, hawa ni waja wanaopendwa sana na wananchi wengi tuu kwajili ni watu wakuongoza na action sio domo kama PNU. Wasingalifanya hivyo sio wengi wakijitokeza kuwapa sapot kwenye maandamano zao. Ni Viongozi hawa si mchezo.

Hii picha ya chini yaonyesha Alhamis hio hio Raila akiwatembelea na kuwafariji walioumia au kupigwa risasi tangu ghasia zizuke mapema mwezi huu. Kama huyu kaka ni Mkikuyu kweli atakosaje kupigia Raila kura baadaye ilhali wale pengine alowapigia hawashughuliki na afya yake ila wako ikulu wakipanga vile watatetea "ushindi" wao?

Na kama haingekuwa Raila kupiga kelele na kukashifu serikali vikali kwa kutumia media ya kimataifa na za huku nchini tungejuaje kwamba waliouwa sio tu wale eti wamekufa kwa kuchinjwa na makabila mengine ila kuna waliopigwa risasi na wenye risasi tunawafahamu....sio raia. Yakuleta simanzi na biwi la machozi sio tu kwamba hili lilikuwa lifichwe lisijulikane ila ni kwamba Raila angekubaliwa ushindi wake maskini wakiwemo hawa watoto wachanga wangekuwa leo hai wanatazamia kula krismasi ya 2008 nasi.

Naomba tujaribu sana kuwaheshimu waliotuwacha kwa kudirekt kukashifu kwetu kule kunakostahili na tuwape sapot Viongozi wa Haki na sio wa Hamaki.