Category: Commentary

  • Unrest in Kisumu

    Here is a riveting account by a missionary in Kisumu, Kenya on January 31, 2008.

    Dear all,

    I feel indebted to all of you who have shown interest and concern to at least brief you on some of the details of what happened today.

    This morning I picked up Evans at 7:00 and took him and his wife to the Kisumu airport to fly to Nairobi to begin cancer treatments. They ended up getting bumped because of a problem on the plane. By noon I was ready to head out. I planned to make 4 stops this afternoon.

    Stop one was at Sylvanus and Perez. They had five self supporting children living in Nakuru. Now they are either back in Sylvanus’s compound or on their way back. Currently they have 17 people in their compound. Three of the children had all their belongings burned by the Kikuyus last week.

    I listened to Caroline, a daughter, relate here narrow escape from a huge crowd of Mungiki killers. Others were being killed just near to where she was running but somehow she managed to escape. She thinks they didn’t know she was a Luo. It was the kind of story that books are made of.

    I was almost ready to leave when Perez overheard a phone conversation between Sylvanus and someone else. She quickly informed me that town is in an uproar. Almost immediately I got calls from others telling me the same thing. I decided to make a dash for home, hoping to get there before the road blocks keep me out.

    As I sped toward home some bikers motioned me off of the road. Others motioned me on. I came within about a mile of town when I saw a huge crowd. I pulled off of the road trying to determine what to do. As i paused a public transport van veered into an off road opposite from where I was parked. Several young guys lobbed rocks at his rear window.

    I quickly decided to get out of there. I retraced my steps back to Sylvanus’s, arriving without a problem. They were very happy to host me and assured me that my vehicle and I are safe there. I was given ugali and scrambled eggs. I waited there until about 4:30, thinking that probably I’d end up spending the night there. I kept talking with others via phone trying to assess from a distance how town was. Bernice informed me that there were many gunshots.

    Around 4:30 pm our gateman called and said the road is starting to open up. He was on foot and was assessing the situation for me. He called and said that vehicles are passing and that I should come. I agreed to meet him and then take him with me through the worst parts.

    I was not expecting what I saw.

    I had imagined a road that was basically open with a few road blocks pulled off to the side to allow traffic to pass. What i saw was basically road blocks the whole way in to town. The road was covered with big rocks. Vehicles were burning/smoldering on the road. And people by the thousand. They were manning the road blocks and only letting people through if they pleased.

    Jackton (gateman) was worried but told me to drive slowly and let him talk to the people. I felt hesitant but proceeded. It was basically a gauntlet of hundreds of frenzied young Luo men carrying machetes, pipes, clubs. They came up asking for money, yelling, threatening. Jackton sweet talked our way through the first road block. From there we encountered groups of young Luos every 10 feet or so. They were still throwing rocks on the road. The road was impassible but we were able drive beside the road. We were following a “press” vehicle. They seemed to have some tolorance for the press so I kept tight on their trail. One by one we worked our way through the crowds and road blocks. Sometimes they had to move stuff to allow us to pass.

    It was not a joke. I did not feel overly fearful at any time. Not sure how to explain that.

    Finally we got through the last road block. It might have taken 10 – 15 minutes to go through the whole ordeal. At one point riot policemen were footing it on the road. They had guns but they looked quite stressed out. After they cleared one road block, the crowds simply put it back in place. We passed a number of burned vehicles, huge amounts of rocks on the road, burning tires etc.

    I was very glad to be home and I think Bernice was glad too… unless she was faking it ; )

    Thanks for all your prayers.

    I’m thinking that maybe tomorrow I’ll do bookwork at home…

    Hosea

  • War in Kenya

    What happened in Kenya is that the elections were flawed and there are currently two men who claim to be the rightfully elected President of Kenya. The incumbent (Kibaki) is from the largest tribe in Kenya which are the Kikuyu. The opposition (ODM) is led by a man by the name of Raila. ODM is a coalition party comprised of almost all of the other major tribes,which are the Luhya, Luo, and the Kalenjin.

    According to government statistics, the main groups are — Kikuyu (22 percent); Luhya (14 percent); Luo (13 percent); Kalenjin (12 percent); Kamba (11 percent)

    The fighting started because the opposition is positive that Raila is supposed to be the president, but Kibaki had already sworn himself into office within an hour of the announcement of the results. Sadly that reason was only a excuse to get started. The political stalemate has lasted long enough that the fight has taken on its own life, and has evolved into a tribal war that stems from resentment from things that happened 49 years ago while Kenya was still under British rule.

    The Kalenjin tribe is claiming all of the Rift Valley Province to be their own, and of course the Kikuyu are disputing that. The problem is that while the Kalenjin are vastly outnumbered by the Kikuyu, they are fearless and heartless, and the Kikuyu are deathly afraid of them and run from a direct fight with them. But the Kikuyu are taking their anger and frustration out on the friends of the Kalenjin, which only makes the Kalenjin even more angry.

    This all came close to home last Fri and Sat. Friday night there were church members that were chased from their homes and on Saturday there were mobs and some major fighting very close to our compound here in Nakuru. We even heard some bullets flying overhead. One thing that we are thankful for is the fact that the ‘bad guys’ don’t have guns, only the Police and military have them, which gives a definite upper hand to the ‘good guys.’ The weapons of choice are machetes, sticks, spears, rocks, bow and arrows, and such like medieval weaponry. But things are continuing in a downward spiral. Just this morning (12:30 am) a Minister of Parliament was murdered as he arrived home in his car.

    Pray for us as we make decisions and pray for the Kenyan people as their lives are shattered.

  • Kenya elections

    There was a lot of fear coming up to the elections that the situation would become very volatile and that there would be a lot of violence. But I am writing this on the morning of the second day after and there is not much happening. It looks like the previous president will be “unseated by the polls” which would be a first for Kenya.

    Parliament was shaken up though. Sixteen of the MPs that were running for reelection were left out in the cold. Including the former Vice President. And the former minister of roads. Yay!

    Now, lets see if these people keep their promises.

  • Bhutto killed in suicide bombing

    Bhutto Killed… (paywall)

    BBC story

    Wow, looks like the extremists are not above killing their own countrymen in this perverse way. Of course, I knew that they do stupid stuff like that but it still amazes me. I wonder if the bomber will still get his 70 rewards? He didn’t kill any infidels.

    It’s amazing what deluded people will do. Would you blow yourself up for the sake of anything that you believe? Now these guys are doing it for the sake of a really bad cause, would you give your own life for the sake of a really good cause?

    Is Democracy working in this situation?

  • World view of Pres. Bush

    The world thinks that Bush is a gun slingin’ cowboy that wants to have his own way. The witch doctors in Guatemala are planning to purify the ancient site that he is planning to visit, because of the evil spirits that he will bring. Is he really all that? I mean, c’mon guys, do you really believe all that crap?