Kenya Election

The end of my days in Kenya was marked by the 2007 elections and a heated race for the fourth president.  It was an intense election with so much passion (often resulting in violence) and most people were split down the middle making it so close and more unstable. Starting on the 26th you could see all the extra security, the red buries (the worst of the worst with shoot to kill orders that don’t discriminate against even children) were driving around. 

One the 27th voting day everything was closed, EVERYTHING from grocery stores to gas stations etc. This left lots of people in a tight space without any credit to use their cell phone, and for me really hungry as I hadn’t been stocking any food due to my imminent departure. People didn’t want to go out because they weren’t sure how safe it was. I made a quick trip to a corner store the only thing open  in my whole area.  Then I returned home to watch movies and watch the news. The whole day went without too much incident. People were upset at the polls a lot of people were missing from the registries, Rachel told me that in Kibera where Raila Odinga was the MP/Presidential candidate all the Lou people were off the registry. This is because for men most of their alst names start with O and for women with A R or S and these letters were completely missing, resulting in even Raila having to have his name written it. Other issues were the line ups some people waited for up to five hours just to vote.

On the 28th some essential services opened up but most things remained closed. There were so many police and military cars out everywhere. I met with Rachel from the youth group for coffee and she told me her stories from the previous day, she was really excited to have voted and kept showing me the purple ink on her pinky from marking the ballots. People were anxious watching the results come in but it was a really slow process. Rachel was sure that ODM would win and thought that if they didn’t their would be riots cause it signaled rigging. She thought if ODM won it would stay peaceful.

On the 29th I was getting ready to fly out. I thought I would just walk to the internet café to check my flight. I checked the TV before I left just to make sure things were ok and they seemed to be fine. Its hard because lots is in swahilli but there were no warnings so I thought it was safe to go just to get my flight in order. I was wrong.

As I walked up from my house things were normal until I hit the main road. Then some security guards told me to take care, which I thought was a bit strange but people do say similar things so I just said thanks and they left it at that. As I continued walking I thought there looked like a lot of people going in the opposite direction of me but there were still people going the same way as me so I kept going. When I was about 15 min from my house, in front of the place I had coffee with Rachel the day before I saw a military truck with red bureas, then another, then two more, I thought oh sh** what’s going on. Some men were wishing me peace in mixed Arabic/Swahili I tried to duck into the coffee shop but they were just locking it up and security was ushering people away. People were moving like water all together and moving fast. I couldn’t go back the way I came because of all the army stuff.  People kept telling me I should be in my house and I said I was trying to get there. Finally I got to a shopping centre to see it all closed up and people flowing from the exits. I looked for a cab but they were gone, I called my regular driver and he wasn’t picking up his phone. I was starting to get nervous. I knew I had a few minutes to figure it out because there was enough people for the spot I was into be safe but I also knew I had to get home. I called through my list of contacts but no one answered. Finally Alexis answered and was still at our friend’s house only about 10 min drive away. I explained to him what was happening and he said he would come. I waited for about a half hour and they came to pick me. It was a really long half hour. We went back to his house and watched the news. Riots had broken out one person was already shot dead. In the western part of the country buildings were set on fire and bonfires were blocking some roads. Pretty much every region, except for those inhabited only by lions, was on the news showing some tension or clashes with the police. People 'aka protestors' had been sent to the hospital with injuries and large groups had gathered in Nairobi. I called my cab again a few times to see if he could take me to the airport later and he finally picked up. He said that he would try.

I called my mom Claire to see if she could check the internet and we stayed on the phone for an hour trying to confirm flights, check schedules, etc. It ended up being useless. Finally she found some phone numbers and called one in Toronto who said the flights were all still going no worries. I thought…..

Then my cab guy texted me to tell me he was locked in his estate and that roads were impassable. My supervisor from Kibera Andrew said he would come but ran into the same problem. Andrew came through and said he found a cab but that I had to pay 2500 shillings. It should only cost 1000. Ouch but I had to take it I had to get to the airport. I was so nervous and scared. But I gave him directions and waited biting my nails….

The whole drive to the airport the driver just kept telling me he ‘was fearing’ and didn’t want to drive me.  I suppose he thought this was justification for how much it cost, and fair enough.  When I got to the airport I was so relieved! I didn’t have the energy to worry about leaving things at home or my normal travel anxieties. I think it was a really great experience to have considering that is how a lot of people live their lives. Being it in helped me understand the uncertaintly and fear that can dominate a person's life. Kenya is usually stable, and was the whole time I had been there, but this helped me understand what life can be like with very few resources to buffer political instability.