How bizarre

4 January 2008
How bizarre to be waking up in the Netherlands, on what should be my first morning in Kenya. And how bizarre that I will be working for the Coalition for Peace in Africa, but cannot start yet due to security reasons.

But above all, this situation is bizarre for the Kenyans.
How bizarre that their country, up till now a model of stability in Africa, can develop into a violent chaos within one week. How bizarre that terms like ‘genocide’, ‘Rwanda’ and ‘Idi Amin’ are used – Kenya was the last country in Africa to be associated with those terms… that is, up till now.
How bizarre that two men apparently are not ready enough to swallow their pride. What they seem to forget is that this is not only about the two of them, but extends first and foremost to the 36 million Kenyans.

The conflict seems to be a tribal one, at least, that is the picture all the news reports are sketching. But for many Kenyans their first and foremost struggle is to secure their fundamental democratic rights – no matter how much they long for peace and quiet, this is a struggle they are not willing to give up that easily.
And what almost every reporter seems to be forgetting: though Kibaki has won the presidential elections (whether rightfully so, or not), he did lose the parliamentary elections. Which means he is not backed any longer by a majority in parliament. Therefore he needs to form a coalition. If not, it will be close to impossible to govern Kenya for the next five years.