Kenya will have a general election for the
first time since the 2007/2008 post-election violence in less than 48 hours,
and people’s mood here in Nairobi is
mixed. For some, the election is a
festive event. Today I saw
some excited young people singing songs together on the street. But for some, it is a source of anxiety. When I went for a grocery shopping at 10am this morning,
there was already a long line at the register. It was interesting to see each Kenyan queued with
two to three huge carts whereas Westerners waited impatiently with only one cart per person (of course Kenyans generally have
larger families than Westerners). Some
daily stuff, like 5-liter water bottles, went out of stock quickly. But the
situation is not as serious as to raise the price level.
Such anxieties are well understandable. More than 1000 people were
killed and around 0.6 million lost their homes after the last election. In December 2007, the voting itself was
conducted peacefully. It was after vote
counting started when the peaceful atmosphere suddenly changed. After people started questioning the results,
the violence spiraled out of control just like a wild fire. Kenyans paid the high price.
 |
| President Kibaki called for peace during the election. (Source: KBC) |
This time, many people are preaching peace,
from young to old, from laymen to religious leaders, and from big names to
street beggars. Yesterday, President
Kibaki appeared on Kenya’s national TV and asked Kenyans not to pick up arms. The eight Presidential candidates pledged for
peace during the historic presidential debate conducted for the first time since the independence. Peace concerts and rallies have been taking
place across Nairobi in the past several weeks.
The vote is mightier than the sword. Let’s hope that Kenyans will show the international
community that it is undeniably the leader and role model of East Africa
with a free, fair, credible, and peaceful election.
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