Kenya News: March 3, 2008

*Odinga predicts that Kenya can lure back the tourists and investors that were driven away by the violence of the last couple of months, depending on how fast the new coalition government “gets to work” with Odinga filling the soon-to-be created prime minister slot. Good luck with that.

*Meanwhile, the idea that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign planted the photos of rival Barack Obama as the latter was being costumed by a Kenyan Somali elder in native garb has reached the other side of the world; an idea of which I'm still skeptical. But, like the erroneous idea that the country of Somalia has something to do with this, the idea that Clinton has denigrated the Somali tribe of Kenya has circumvented the globe countless times while the truth probably will be ignored. What do I think is the truth? Those whose fear of Obama makes them nuts are probably the culprits. BTW, the latter are the flip side of the (other) whackos who have enshrined Obama as some sort of redemption figure.

*Kofi Annan has surprised me again. Upon his exit from Kenya following his diplomatic success, he urges Kenyan citizens to keep the figurative fire under their leaders—instead of the literal version under each other.

In your communities, in your villages and in your cities, maintain the pressure, maintain your interest and you will be surprised that if you do that how politicians miraculously find the courage to do the right thing…" Sound familiar: of, by, for.

*The constitutional amendment process necessary to recreate the position of prime minister will start in Kenya’s parliament on March 6.

*Kenya: histories of hidden war--This is a long, fascinating, even witty piece on Kenya’s dual image in the western psyche—and on reality. The reality is that it’s all about land and tribes. Read these instead of the work conjured by the fantasists who run off half-cocked about religious wars.

*Celebration and gratitude toward Annan, but the other Ochieng is skeptical of long-term success, to put it mildly; he’s seen this before. (BTW, I still don’t know exactly where he is.

What insures the ruling clique is that the masses - because of their anger - do not know the real structure of these sources of their miseries. Why? Because of yet another sin of commission perpetrated by the ruling clique.

It deliberately sings tribal songs to play our ethnic communities against one another in order to seal their minds against all social comprehension, so that, at elections, the people are forced to support only the candidates of their tribes - even where a candidate is a known murderer, thief or rapist.

Thus – although the anger has long-standing economic and constitutional roots – whenever it is triggered by many a Samuel Kivuitu**, it eggs the victims to rush for one another’s necks on the basis of tribe while the real culprits (of all tribes) enjoy their wealth padlocked in maximum security in their suburban homes.

*The US kicks in $25 million worth of reconstruction aid. I suspect that there are persons on both sides of the Atlantic who aren’t happy about this even though the amount isn’t that high. (Oprah probably has that in her purse in singles.)

*And, ending on a good note, a Kenyan man and a Russian woman won yesterday’s LA Marathon, with the woman dusting off several of the other Kenyan male runners!

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Russia's Tatiana Aryasova made a smashing marathon debut Sunday, taking advantage of a head start on the male runners to capture the Los Angeles Marathon.

She held off a group of Kenyan men and finished in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 9 seconds. She gave little thought to the men in pursuit.

"It didn't matter to me," she said through a translator. "If I see the men behind me, it's not going to make me run faster."[SNIP]

Kenya's Laban Moiben won the men's division in 2:13:50. Aryasova and Moiben each received $20,000 and a car for winning their divisions.

BTW, thanks, runners, for creating the annual maze in downtown LA from which I had trouble escaping.

The Kenya Crisis

**Kivuitu is the head of the Electoral Commission of Kenya. Many believe that he trigger much of the violence by prematurely announcing President Kibaki's victory. Later Kivuitu blamed "outside forces" for making the election results controversial and said that he wasn't really sure who had won the presidency. I get the feeling that my father doesn't like him.

UPDATE: Acting Together for Kenya: Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government. This is the preamble to the power-sharing agreement for which the signatories are Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. The witnesses are Kofi Annan and the present chairman of the African Union, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania. (Each head of an African state takes his/her turn at the African Union chair.)

(Thanks to Wangari Kebuchi)