aftermath, part two.

these should give you an idea of what's happening on the ground in nairobi:

this video is decent, although my sources tell me the death toll she reported is much higher - 149 dead, more than 60 in what was formerly a tranquil lakeside town overnight.


amazing to watch this country crumble into chaos. my friends and colleagues tell me it's totally mindboggling to experience such a dramatic turn of events in a mere 24 hours - thursday night's bouyant optimism over a peaceful vote well-exercised, saturday morning's chaos over vote reporting delays and allegations of rigging. and while that has certainly frustrated them and damaged their pride, it was good to hear them in fine spirits, holed up at the office past midnight, making prank phone calls and draining a crate of tusker beer (where they dredged that up is unclear as pretty much everything is closed...) - taking pride instead in a job well done and a story well reported.

at this point, however, everyone seems to be in agreement that the elections were rigged - there was even live footage broadcast of vote stuffing in one of the constituencies and several whistleblowers have come forward.

a media ban on live footage has been lifted somewhat - media must submit their materials to the government to censor them before airing. this is being done, from what i gather and hear, mostly to prevent the radio stations out in the provinces from incitement. these radios typically broadcast in tribal languages and their statements have been highly polemic in the aftermath. the government, apparently, is trying to prevent another rwanda...

overall, it's completely incredible to watch this country deteriorate. what hope there had been for these riots to last for a few days and peter out is fading quickly now that the opposition leader, raila odinga, has scheduled a rally for thursday - so these could last for at least a week, perhaps beyond. the president hasn't come out and said anything, inflammatory in itself, and raila has said that "democracy is expensive and we are prepared to pay the price."

even worse, the us response to this. the state department issued hurried congratulations to kibaki after the rushed and secretive declaration of his victory, while the ambassador on the ground had been hesitant and concerned about rigging allegations. the embassy, however, soon fell in line with the state department and are now saying that the opposition can take its case to court if it is unsatisfied with the results. it takes at least three years to get a petty looting case heard in kenya, that's why the prisons are packed to the gills, and with the entire judicial system packed with kibaki's cronies, i can assure you this matter wouldn't proceed much quicker. even their former colonial masters have been less hedgy about admitting there is a problem.

a number of people are even saying that times were better during moi - he wouldn't have stolen an election this blatantly and certainly tribalism wasn't nearly as heightened as this. can you imagine, pining for a dictatorship? scary stuff.