Political Conditions in Kenya

December 27th, National Elections were held in Kenya. When the votes were counted there were some alleged discrepencies in the tally. The PNU party headed by President Kibaki claimed victory. The ODM party headed by Raila Odinga challenged the outcome and called for demonstrations protesting the election results. The right to assemble was denied and so tear gas and water hoses were used to disperse the congregating people. The demonstrations continued throughout the first couple weeks in January in Nairobi. In other parts of the country demonstrations quickly turned to violence and went from political demonstrations to ethnic violence. In the Eldoret area over 300,000 people were driven out of their homes and relocated in camps set up by the Red Cross and other relief agencies. There is one main road from the seaport Mombasa to Uganda. It goes through the middle of Nairobi. Bandits put up road blocks and shipping stopped for a while. The past two weeks have been rather normal with trucks going east and west on the highway. There is still some outbreaks of violence from time to time and from place to place, but overall it's much quieter now. Several statesmen have come to Nairobi to meet with the two contenders and they are trying to put together a government that both parties can support.
6 years ago there was one newspaper in Nairobi. Now there are 40+. Then it wasn't safe to talk against the current government, now people discuss politics everywhere. This country is emerging into a democracy. There are many, many good people in this country and we are praying that the light of Christ will be heeded in the everyday lives of the people.