Kenyan Pundit

- Media Council has strongly denounced the ban on live broadcasts. I suspect that media houses were caught off-guard and are just now trying to find their footing. I’ve been told that KISS fm has been doing a good job with updates. Also hopefully print media will be back in full force tomorrow (if we can get to somewhere where we can buy papers that is).
NTV and KTN now broadcasting news updates every hour.

- Government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, claims that there only a few cases of “skirmishes here and there” which will be dealt with over the next few days and things will return to normal (easy to say when you have the power of the bullet behind you).

- Kalonzo calling for Raila and Kibaki to come together and reconcile for the sake of the nation (except for that small matter of a stolen election).

- For those making comparisons with the Bush v. Gore situation in 2000 and saying guys should go to court- how long did it take for the courts to resolve the issue in the U.S? Forget the issue of a stacked court -do you have any idea how long election petitions taken in Kenya?

- The U.S. endorsement of the government is out of self-interest. Nothing surprising there. They’ve made a calculation - the fracas will die down and the ‘baks will be the guy to do business with.

- Chaos on Mbagathi way, police trying to turn back guys who want to march into the City Centre. I could hear gunshots on Ngong Road half an hour ago. Civilians have been cleared out of City Centre.

- 2 C130s just landed at Eldoret airport.

-Pictures of violence in Kibera.

- ODM rally on Jan 3rd confirmed, Raila says that they have notified the police as required by law.

Popularity: 7% [?]

From news sources:

- Bitange Ndemo said that news media can broadcast news it just has to be delayed because the Government doesn’t have the technology to censor live broadcasts if there is inciteful information being broadcast.

Death tolls so far (this is from media sources, I suspect number is much higher getting reports of ethnic-based retribution on both sides)

- At least 46 people killed in Kisumu, 20 injured. Running battles still going on.

- 7 people dead in Mombasa

- 40 people dead in Eldoret

- At least 36 dead in Nairobi. GSU heavily guarding city mortuary probably to prevent real death toll from being known. 4 people killed in skirmishes between Mungiki and ODM supporters on Ngong Road

Rumors:

- Govt says Chief General Kianga still in office. There were rumors circulating that he had resigned and that the military is split as far as which way to go.

- ODM inauguration postponed till the 3rd.

From Kenyan Pundit readers:

- Raila calls for mass protests on the 3rd (seen on Al jazeera)

- Mutua says that the blackout is targeted towards vernacular radio in particular.

Where to get updates:

- We still can’t seem to get Al-jazeera where I’m staying, but I’m hearing K24 is broadcasting.

- BBC also seems to have stepped up their coverage.

Other news:

-There’s a run on supermarkets. the line at Nakumatt junction has reached the entrance of junction. Uchumi on Ngong road limiting how many people can enter the store.

- Shortage of credit for mobile phones in Nairobi. Guys relying on sambaza.

- It’s business as usual in Central Province. There were celebrations and parties yesterday. A friend of mine in Kiambu says that there’s zero police presence there.

- Raila press conference to be held in the afternoon. Will report on that.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Have been unable to post or moderate comments today. Not sure what the issue was since my bandwidth is not close to being exceeded.

Got paranoid and thought that the govt was blocking me, but would like to think that the local ISP I’m using has just been overwhelmed with the traffic.

Off to get the comments up. Might have to shut comments down completely to ensure I have access.

In the meantime you can email tips, stories, leads, death tolls, news, etc to: kenyanpundit-at-gmail.com

Thanks for staying tuned.

Popularity: 6% [?]

I’m OK, blog is not down just took a break to decompress.

As far as the arrest rumor, consensus is that Pentagon rumors HAVE NOT been arrested.

Drove to a friend’s house less than ten minutes away and had to go through a police checkpoint. Very scary.

I have no news to report. It’s a total total blackout. Watching TV feels like watching TV under some crazy dictatorship. I mean we all know that the country is on fire, but KBC is airing Just for Laughs. WTF???

I, however, remain committed to keeping whatever news I can flowing so keep the info coming (even though it might sit in moderation for a while). And hopefully I’ll have something updates tomorrow from what is now for all intents and purposes my bunker.

Meanwhile, a section of the country is making plans for New Year’s Eve like nothing has happened.

Off to bed. This is all so draining.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Some people have problems understanding English so I will try one more time.
Yes I am biased. Biased against a flawed process and whoever is behind it. I am not going to be neutral on this particular point so get over it!

With live media shut down [update - ban just extended to phone interviews with journalists and political reporting] rumors are dominating.

KBC is showing Just Laughs. It honestly feels like we are under a military government.

Not sure if ban extends to coverage of internet broadcasting. Right now I’d say that Aljazeera is most up to date since they are still broadcasting.

Again, I really hope ODM and other guys with news get savvy and get their message out online.

There is footage of the earlier ODM press conference been shown on NTV. ODM has rejected the results and said that they will set up a parallel government.

Stories coming in through the grapevine - note: not verifiable.

- ODM was planning an alternative inauguration at Uhuru Park tomorrow.

- Raila and other ODM guys have been arrested. If so, probably on charges of sedition.

- Shoot to kill order in Kisumu.

Popularity: 7% [?]