Wednesday, 23 January 2008

• Kenyan Elections and Protests lead the nation to uncertain crossroads

  Kenya's opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) claims that last month's election was rigged in favour of President Mwi Kibaki.

  Protests have led to some 600 deaths nationwide and 250,000 people have fled their homes.

  That uncertainty is the result of the wave of fury that has swept Kenya since the presidential election on 27 December.

  It's about resources, it's about land, it's about tribe, it's about so many issues that successive governments have not addressed Gladwell Otieno Africa Centre for Open Governance

  Everyone knew that the presidential election would be close, but few predicted that the events that followed would herald what many are calling a "generational revolution" in one of Africa's most stable states.

  The straw that broke the camel's back was the perception by many Kenyans and the international community that the election was rigged.

  Yet could the election fiasco merely have been a trigger to ignite simmering tensions, bubbling under the surface for decades?

  The level of displacement and killings in the past few weeks has been unprecedented. More than 500 people have lost their lives and 250,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

  Kenya is in a mess, yet half the country still backs the 76-year-old President Mwai Kibaki.

  Many privately hope the tensions will simply fizzle out but the country has been plunged into a deep crisis.

  In the morbid marketplace that is Kenyan politics, young men are rumoured to be getting $14 (£7) for each person they kill, and half that amount for every house torched.

  We are having a serious generational revolt Mutahi Ngunyi political scientist

  It is sickening to see the charred remains of the church in Eldoret that was set alight in a cold-blooded attack reduced to a simple transaction. But there is growing anecdotal evidence that in part the violence was pre-meditated.

  Generational frustrations have transcended ethnic affiliations.

  Please pray for this nation at a pivitol turning point. Pray for neighbors who cower in fear as they watch buildings burn. Pray that believers will be given the oppurtunity to share God's love and mercy by assisting their neighbors. Pray for the peace that dwells within God's people to prevail in each community even in the midst of great political turmoil.

  This info taken from a BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7187603.stm

  For a Picture Essay Visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7199920.stm

   

  

   

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