black clouds

political and ethnic loyalties have long intertwined in kenya, and the violence that erupted after president mwai kibaki claimed re-election shows how volatile the mix can be. as in previous ballots, candidates campaigned using a mix of direct and indirect ethnic appeals. phrases like "it is our time to eat" were understood by voters who know that whoever controls the presidency has power to allocate money, jobs, and other benefits to his own group.

barely one week ago, i pass through nairobi on my way to bruxelles. fantasies of frolicking zebras, statuesque giraffes, and nightlife of mombassa dance like sugar-plum fairies in my head. yes, an impending election, scheduled for two days after my brief interlude, roots my fantasies, but that is just a passing thought.

here we are, one week on, and kenya has erupted in complete and utter violent chaos! oh me, oh my. feeling a bit like the kiss of death! hope my presence on this east african nation's soil didn't spark this civil unrest! i keep thinking that i was attempting to maneuver a day or two in the capital on my way back, at the serena with a visit to the national park - that would not have worked out so well, given the current circumstances!

tragic, really, that a country as prosperous and stable as kenya has descended into what will hopefully be a short-lived spree of killing and looting. having met many kenyans recently, i can attest that they are warm, cultured, and extremely civil - so the images flashing across the tv screen seem incongruous with my own developed experiences.

it is jarring and frightening, nonetheless, to see people wielding bloody machetes in the slummed streets of nairobi, and in other parts of the land. the root of most of this, beyond the alleged fraudulent election results, seems to be ethnic tension which manifests itself along political lines (what else is new?!). having spent a good deal of time in rwanda this year, which suffered horribly as a result of the genocide, and whose own violence was in good measure carried out with said machetes, i am personally horrified at any repetition of this brutality in africa (whatever the circumstances).

as a new year begins, my thoughts are with those who are, sadly, ringing in a new era under the pessimistic shadow of internal strife and violence.

h