Kenya

I am sure that many of you have been seeing Kenya on the news lately. On December 26th Kenya held elections that resulted in all out chaos. Many have been killed and the death toll is still rising.
The chaos is a result of Kenyans who feel they were cheated and lied to. During the voting on the 26th it appeared as if the opposition leader was leading the election. After a long four days of counting votes and in the middle of the night Kibaki was sworn in. It appears that in some areas of Kenya there were more ballots than people and to everyone’s discontent they were all in favor of Kibaki Everyone wonders where these voters came from!

As no one can be really sure, but from what I have read and heard is that the newly sworn in President of Kenya is actually here in Uganda, staying at one of the most expensive hotels with his family. I imagine it is in fear of his life…but what about the lives of his citizens…his people…for the 300 that have been killed already and for the numbers that will be killed in the upcoming days or months…or however long this saga drags on. A president should be someone who is willing to stand on the front line, fight, protect, and make positive decisions for all his countrymen and women. Not escape and watch from afar.

Because Kenya is the closest port for shipping many of the goods that Uganda receives come via Kenya. (To take a bus from Kampala to the capital city of Nairobi it only takes 8 hours). One of the most important and much needed commodities is petrol. In Uganda, like Canada, petrol is purchased by the liter. In Uganda one liter of petrol sells for around $1.40 USD but now, after only four days of problems, one liter costs an average of $5.00.
One of the positive outcomes is that there are not as many cars on the roads, but it makes transport very difficult. (Especially now for us Muzungu who are getting even more exploited, first we are white and then there is a fuel shortage!)
The airport has to redirect all the flights from the Entebbe airport to Nairobi to refuel and then carry onto their original destinations.

There is much talk about this conflict in Kenya now and its very difficult to know the truth in the details. It is being said that the votes will have to be recounted, that the president should step down, that the elections should be redone. As for now only time will tell, but it find it horribly sad that once again people are dying for standing up in what they believe in and what is rightfully there’s…in Kenya’s case…a president chosen by the people!