World

Kenya 'Drifting Into a State of Anarchy'

by Rob Walker | January 29, 2008 at 11:58 am

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The violence continues in Kenya, killing at least a dozen people on Tuesday.
I've been talking to a lot of people from Kenya in chat rooms and such and very few have been willing to speak in an interview, or even pass me on to someone who will. I was curious and admittedly a little frustrated with this until a friend, who has travelled through Africa, explained that most Kenyans are ashamed of what's going on in their country.
If you or anyone you know would care to help us add more context to this story, I'm sure everyone would appreciate reading it.

Previous NowPublic Coverage here.

Making matters worse, a young politician was dragged out of his car and killed, given cause to even more violence and bloodshed.[q
url="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/world/africa/30kenya.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin"]Melitus
Mugabe Were, a freshman parliamentarian, could have been one of
the keys to unlocking Kenya’s crisis, but he never got the chance.

On Tuesday morning, as he pulled up to the gate of his home, Mr. Were was dragged out of his car and shot to death.

“Whoever did this,” said Elizabeth Mwangi, a friend, “has killed the dreams of many.”

The details are still sketchy, but the shooting appears not to have
been a robbery but a hit. Word spread fast and violently, with
opposition supporters rioting across Nairobi, the capital. The unrest
seems to be escalating, and Kenyans are now literally ripping their
country apart, uprooting miles of railroad tracks, chopping down
telephone poles, burning government offices and looting schools.[/q]

Kenyan military helicopters swooped to break up machete-wielding mobs on Tuesday as the killing of an opposition legislator stoked bloody protests across the east African country.
About a dozen people were killed on Tuesday, bringing the toll to more than 850 since President Mwai Kibaki's disputed Dec. 27 election triggered violence that has now taken on an ethnic momentum of its own.
Post-election protests have degenerated into cycles of killing between tribes who have never reconciled divisions over land, wealth and power left by British colonial rule and exacerbated by politicians in 44 years of independence.
The crisis has cost Kenya its reputation as a bastion of peace in a turbulent region, and dented its previously flourishing economy, east Africa's largest.

After many days of agony and political uncertainty, Kenyan bloggers have gone back to “almost normal” life. Bloggers can even afford to make witty comparison between Kenya and other countries.
Rants, Raves and reviews compares Kenya to South Korea:

I’m trying to move away from these political discussions, but people here don’t seem to want to do that. I suppose I’ve just come to the conclusion that Kibaki is not going to resign, they will be no coalition government (can anyone honestly see Kibaki and Raila working together?) and Raila is just going to have to fight it out in parliament.

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