More info on Kenya

The following is an excerpt from the paper I am writing as an independent study

Kenya gained its independence from Britain on December 12^th 1963. (Hassan) Since then Kenya has had three presidents. Jomo Kenyatta was president from 1963 until 1978, following Kenyatta’s death Daniel Arap Moi took over the presidency until 2002 when he was barred from running. Mwai Kibaki then won the presidency. And served one term then reran for the 2007 election. (Kenya)
In the 2007 presidential race the forerunners were Mwai Kibaki who is a member of the Party of National Unity (PNU), Raila Odinga a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), and Kalonzo Musyoka who is a member of the Orange Democratic Movement – Kenya (ODM-K). (Kennedy and Hassan) Kenyan political parties are formed not necessarily around a set of beliefs as they are in the US, but around a candidate. (Matunga) New political parties are created every time there is an election. (Matunga)
PNU was formed in September of 2007 as a party for the current president to run under. PNU was created by combining several pre-existing parties, namely the Kenyan African National Union (KANU), National Rainbow Coalition – Kenya (Narc – Kenya), Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya (FORD – Kenya), Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – People (FORD – People), Democratic Party, and Shirikisho Party of Kenya among others. (Party of National Unity) Kibaki’s first term he ran under the NARC (National Rainbow Coalition). Since then NARC didn’t seem to want to support the president. And the newly formed NARC-Kenya was not well supported by various politicians in Kibaki’s cabinet. (Party of National Unity)
ODM and ODM-K were originally one party which was formed in 2005 as a result of the Constitutional Referendum. The party split into ODM and ODM-K in August of 2007. (Orange Democratic Party) Both parties retained the Orange Democratic Movement as a result of the Constitutional Referendum. On the ballot for the referendum a yes vote was represented by a banana which is also supposed to represent the number 1. (Hassan) A no vote was signified by an orange which also represents the number 0. (Hassan) The referendum failed by a mere majority of 58.12%. Thus the Orange Democratic Movement was formed to celebrate the win on the referendum. (Orange Democratic Movement)
Another interesting aspect of the election is that PNU only won 43 seats in Parliament. ODM won 99 seats, but if you count all of the seats won by PNU’s ‘co-parties’ PNU can control 78 seats. (Party of National Unity) Because ODM has the largest number of seats from any single party it is extremely important to develop a good relationship between PNU and ODM. (Matunga)
Another necessary understanding to the situation in Kenya is tribal differences. (Kennedy) Kenya officially has eight different tribes, unofficially the count is closer to eighty. (Odhiambo-Mabona ) The main tribes are Kikuyu – 23%, Luhya – 14%, Luo – 13%, Kalenjin – 11%, Kamba – 10%, Kisii – 8%, Meru – 8%, and Somali – 3%. Kenya is split up into eight provinces which are further divided into districts. (Odhiambo-Mabona ) It should not be surprising that the province lines lie extremely close to tribal lines. Also unsurprising should be the fact that different tribes support different candidates. Kenyatta and Kibaki are both Kikuyu while Moi was Kalenjin. Odinga on the other hand is a Luo. Most presidents then in turn favor their individual tribe providing more supplies, education, advancement, and better treatment. “Mwai Kibaki – whose policies of favoring his own ethnic group have marginalized about half the country” (Jettleman)

Next Instalment of Kenyan Politics

So, after Kibaki was illigally sworn into the presidency Odinga and his supporters were upset due to the suspected vote tampering and the illegal ceremony. Therefore Odinga called for rallies and demonstrations all around the country which were abruptly outlawed by Kibaki. Kibaki also is censoring all press. The Kenyan constitution allows Kenyans the right to peaceful assembly and free press as long as it isn't inciting violence.
There have been several attempts made to intervene and get these two people together to discuss options and it was looking like there was going to be a peace talk between Odinga and Kibaki and the African Union Chairman Ghanian President John Kufuor. These initial talks failed. More talks were scheduled but once again nothing seems to be working. One of the reasons these two men won't come together is that Kibaki appointed nearly all of his cabinet before the peace talks happened. One of the reasons for the talks was to get a government that had representatives from both PNU and ODM parties. Kibaki announced around 10 of the cabinet positions, the most important and powerful 10, and only 2 of those members were ODM party members. The vice president is ODM-Kenya (not at all linked to ODM - they are two completely different parties). Today is supposed to be the last day of the rallies Odinga called for and once again more people died. I read today in the Daily Nation (one of the Kenyan newspapers) six more people died, I believe this brings the death toll up to nearly 400 people since the 27th of December.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQuKg7iDvpo

This is a link to a video that aired on Kenyan tv on Wednesday, which was the first day (I believe) of the rallies and demonstrations called for by ODM and Odinga. I was in this area of Kenya on the 13th - three days before this video was taken. Kibera is partly inside partly a suburb of Nairobi and it is supposedly the second largest slum area in Africa with over 1 million residents in an area around 2.5 square kilometers (around 630 acres). That means the population density is around 300,000 people per square kilometer. If you've ever seen the movie The Constant Gardener Kibera is shown several times during the movie.

I'll post more in a day or two.

Return from Kenya

I just returned from a very exciting and interesting trip to Kenya on Tuesday. I was there a total of 13 days. One of the reasons for the excitement was the violence throughout the country that began following the presidential elections on Dec. 27th. I arrived in Kenya on the 3rd and there were still many areas in western Kenya that were ravaged with violence - burning buildings, using machetes to hack up people, burning vehicles, gunning down police, and many other violent acts. As a visitor to this country I strove to find out why violence was the answer that people chose, why they were angry, and to understand something about the politics of the country. I learned more than I could ever have learned in a classroom. The main reason people were upset was because of the results of the elections. The two main contenders were Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. Mwai Kibaki was the president in the last term and he was going up for reelection. He is a member of the PNU party (Party of national unity). Raila Odinga is a member of the ODM party (orange democratic movement). As I understand it the ODM party was created as a protest to the current administration. Kibaki won the reelection and Odinga and the ODM party was upset. There is speculation as to vote tampering and many foreign ambassadors aren't willing to congratulate either party in the win. The other rather curious thing was that immediately upon the electoral committee announcing Kibaki's win he was sworn into office during a secret ceremony.
That should be enough to keep your attention until I get a chance to write again and give more detailed information.

Thanksgiving

This holiday that comes around once a year is one for which I am always at a loss of words. I feel that the holiday should be used to show your thankfulness to people who matter in your life. I know this is something I should do much more frequently than I do currently, but I wanted to take this special opportunity to thank my friends and family.
There have been many experiences that I've had in my life that have shaped the person who I am today. Most of these experiences I have had thanks to my family and friends.
The first of those experiences I'll explain was my trip to Kenya. When I was in 8th grade my parents took my sister and I to Kenya. During this trip my entire view on the world changed. I left the U.S. looking at the world as it concerned me and started the trip with this very me vs. them mentality. I left Kenya and returned to the states looking at the world as one in which my role was to show others what a connected world we live in. That was quite the task to explain to my peers.
The next I think is the relationship I have with Leah. She has been my friend since the first day of 7th grade when she approached me on the way from English to Science (we debate if it was this way or vise versa). Anyway, she approached me and said in a terribly high pitched and excited beyond all reason voice, "HI, MY NAME IS LEAH!!! WANT TO BE MY FRIEND!!!" It wasn't that blatant but it really is quite entertaining when I look back on it. Anyway Leah has been one of those people that are there for me for EVERYTHING! Together we've been through loss of relatives, mild to clinical depression, loss of pets, as well as some of the happiest times in my memory. I love you Leah! Thank you!
I suppose another person who battles with Leah for that number one spot in my heart is my sister. She is and always has been there for me regardless of whatever it is I'm going through. I love her more than I could ever explain. She is three years younger than me, but I'm constantly learning from her. She is usually the first one I call when I get either good or bad news. She is one of the most energetic people I know and I feed off of that energy she has. I am really proud of my sister and love her so much! Thanks Scramps!
Katie would be another one I feel very thankful for. Katie and I met in 3rd grade and she always challenges me in every aspect of my life and the person I'm becoming. We don't talk as much now as we used to but every time we do it is just like going back to the beginning. I have learned so many things from Katie and truly am thankful for the relationship. I love you Katie! Thank you!
These are just a few of the people that I feel I owe thanks to on this holiday. Hopefully I will remember to thank them as well as the numerous other people who have helped to create who I am today.

To everyone whom I've left out of this list and will thank personally later thank you!
And to everyone - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I think this picture is one of the great ones that embrace her personality. I was also remembering when she was very little we used to take her to parades and anytime a marching band went by she got really freaked out by the base drums and used to hide behind dad's chair.

The life of a dog...Juneau

My sweet, tender, and affectionate Siberian Husky named Juneau is going to be put down tomorrow. I thought I should give her a small tribute here as she has been such a large part of my life for so long. We got Juneau from some family friends when my family was living in Pennsylvania. I was around 5 or 6 at the time. She is a beautiful black and white husky with one brown and one blue eye, some of the trademarks of huskies. From the time she entered our family and we changed her name from 'buttons' to the popular 'Juneau' more affectionately Jubes, jubbies, or sweetie.
About two weeks after she joined the family we decided to truly adopt her and take her with us on a family vacation to Niagara Falls. The energy and exuberance she exhibited bounding about with her huge paws and wagging fuzzy tail.
Her entire life has been one filled with an overabundance of joy. When she still had all use of her legs she loved to run. She would escape from a door that was left open and run until we could catch up to her. I always remember being so worried that she wouldn't come back.
My dad would take her on really long runs and she loved to be outside and to be doing what huskies do best; running. The first winter we had her and we let her outside to romp in the snow she loved to pounce on piles of snow and disappear into the white abyss.
Juneau is still a puppy at heart and even once she lost much if not most of her ability to run she still tries despite the pain it causes. Juneau is a wonderful puppy whom I love and I am greatly saddened by the prospect of her imminent passing. I will always love her and miss her.
If anyone would like to share some thoughts please do!

A Sunday Afternoon

It is a Sunday afternoon as I'm sure you can tell from the title of this entry. It has been a weekend full of some really great times and then today - not such a great day. We'll talk about that first. I told one of my prof's on Friday that I was ill and that was the reason I wasn't in class, it was really because I needed some more sleep than I got and it was raining when I woke up. Anyway I had to email this prof to find out when the homework was due. I woke up Saturday sick, and today it just got worse. Talk about bad karma.

Anyway - the good stuff! Friday evening I got to spend with my sister going to a pumpkin patch, then to an art crawl, and then we took the pumpkins home to carve, and watch movies. Anyway it was amazing and really wonderful to spend a great evening with my sister.

Saturday morning I went with a few people to go check out River Fall's Student Center. It just opened (January 2007) and it is entirely green! It is amazing. They used over 90% of the old building in the construction of the new building. The majority of the materials used are from recycled resources. There are bamboo floors from sustainable forests, rain tubs on the roof that are used to flush toilets, light sensors to use as little electricity for lights as possible. They use as much natural lighting as possible and turn off lights if no one is around. It was super cool and we went because we're hoping to be able to convince Hamline's administration to make their new student center green as well. We're getting a new one within the next 5 - 10 years. So checking out one that is awesome was really exciting! After the trip to River Falls I went for a beautiful walk in the park and then got to watch Lost Season 1 episodes. It was great! So now, I have to get healthy and finish my homework!

First MPIRG Meeting and other updates

Hamline's MPIRG (Minnesota Public Interest Research Group) chapter had its first meeting of the year on Monday. It was really really exciting but before I explain why I'll explain a little about the org. MPIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan, student run, state wide social justice org. Ever heard of the Boundary Waters? Yeah, well MPIRG was behind the legislation that created the BWCAW. We also banned fluorocarbons, created the Metro Greenways, pushed the toughest environmental legislation in the nation to pass, plus tons of other stuff - check out the website...http://www.mpirg.org/
In other words we're pretty awesome! Anyway last year our attendance was limited to say the least and therefore this year we went all out during recruitment weeks and had 30 students in attendance plus the leadership for this year. We have a lot of really great and amazing projects planned and what looks like a great group to start the work!

On a completely different note as part of Wesley Scholars I got to listen to this amazing woman from Peru who is working for fair trade in her community. She started a group of women making various objects which are then given to several different groups of Fair Trade organizations. Her story was amazing. Peru in the past few decades has had some intense problems with poverty and governmental agencies. During the 80's insurgent groups (The Shining Path for example) gained large support because they were reacting to the government. The government then came in and began to kill participants of the Shining Path but because no one really knew who was part of the group many innocent and almost always poor residents were killed. The woman we talked to tonight was personally affected by this in several ways. Her mother died when she was 12 leaving her to be the head woman of the house and only a year or so later the government came and took her father. The government did this often during the time and it was referred to as 'disappearing people'. 90% of the people who were disappeared never returned. Yuna's father did, but only because there was one guard who gave him water at one point during his 3 + day interim locked in a cell with nothing to eat or drink. At the end of the time he was taken out to a field and the officer who had been nice to Yuna's father was chosen to kill him. Instead of killing him he shot at the ground twice and told him to go home. I'm not telling this story nearly as good as she did, but hopefully I portrayed some of the amazingness of the discussion in my note. It was wonderful!