Comments on: Update Jan 5

By: Jacqulyn Strissel

Jacqulyn Strissel — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:40:29 +0000

What a fantastic collection of great posts in your blog. I hope I can make something of that quality one day Congratulations!!. I’ve been looking for this info in many websites related to this topic thank god I found your website! Thanks a lot!

By: Solar Panels at home

Solar Panels at home — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:14:53 +0000

-George Porter

By: Madness. Madness! « Life in Color

Madness. Madness! « Life in Color — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:14:58 +0000

[...] does Kenya mean to me, KP asks. Not very much at this point, I’m afraid. Kenya was this beautiful country I missed terribly [...]

By: II: the word of kenyans « beauty and depravity

II: the word of kenyans « beauty and depravity — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:57:01 +0000

[...] And it’s unfortunate that we are now placed in the position of trying to demonstrate how tolerant we are – conversations are peppered with “I have lots of Luo /kikuyu friends,” “my family has lots of intermarriage” … we are all now super aware of our ethnicity – how long will it take for that to fade away again. (Ory) [...]

By: sf

sf — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:01:09 +0000

Thank you so much for keeping us informed about what is going on in kenya. I am a second generation kenyan after my grandparents immigrated there in the 1950′s. Kenya is my home and we are greatly disturbed with what is going on. We are hooked on the news, calling home(coast) and reading news online. Kenya was an example to all other african states and we were all proud of her. What has become of our country? Neighbours turning against each other just because of their ethnicity?? Where has all the love gone. At the end of the day, it’s not the politicians who will suffer, but the citizens. I pray that it doesn’t get worse. God Bless Kenya!

By: Erick

Erick — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:24:56 +0000

Thanx for the updates, Ory. You did a much better job than those paid to inform others. About making it personal, I'll borrow a phrase from Half n Half: I hate it that I saw a pic of a man carrying a little girl to safety, and was shaken. "There but the Grace of God go I". I hate it that the extremists are now holding the rest of us hostage, and now all of us are guilty until proved innocent. I hate it that PEOPLE ARE DYING and all our "leaders" are doing is talking, talking.... Where is the leadership? Where is the action? I hate it that in the next few elections, many of us will say "what's the use of voting?". I hate it that when I hear rumor-as-fact comments from fellow Kenyans, all I do is roll my eyes. When I feel like shouting "Are you listening to yourself? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?" I hate it that my childhood memories of South C are good, yet this girl's innocence is gone. I hate it that I have an "I hate it" list

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:42:53 +0000

Hi Mil,
i got this info (the attacck planned in Turbo) from reliable sources. I shall call home and check wtehr its happened or not. My family too is in Turbo, and you can imagine my worries. I already asked them to move into the interior.
However, i believe God will protect them.

By: Emma

Emma — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:54:45 +0000

Thank you so much for the blog and all that you are doing.

What’s the site for the GoogleEarth mashup? I am trying to find other maps of the post-election violence to match the UNOSAT ones tracking the fires and would very much like to contribute to the mashup of GoogleEarth maps or any related project if I can be of any use at all. This project will be really important.

Stay safe and thank you once again for your work.

By: Abass

Abass — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:52:21 +0000

Mandera, in the far East of the country is where I was born. With many refugees from Somalia already living in our town, for a moment, I was pondering what if all of a sudden we become like them. I was confident though that things would calm down and that Kenyans are wiser than the footages I was watching at miles away from home. Still, the notion that we are Africa’s beacon of stability and democracy has being dealt a blow that only time will tell its severity.
Living in the diaspora too doesn’t help much. You live in anxiety, not knowing what tomorrow holds in place for your country. You can’t contemplate on what would happen if the worst-God forbid- happens. I remember during the election day, I used to stay awake almost all night waiting for the results. And when I finally go to bed, it is so difficult to sleep. And when you finally wake up, you can’t wait to switch on the PC before you pray or do anything. Little did I know that it will end in this. Much credit to Ory, who has being invaluable in keeping us up-to-date.
What hast triggered all of this ‘sudden’ violence? Personally, I believe it is a combination of complex factors rooted in injustice, poverty (the result of unemployment), ethnicity, a struggle between two generations, greed for power and what I would say a lack of academic or mental maturity among other factors. Successive regimes since independence ignored the needs of the people as they amassed wealth to enrich themselves and their closest relatives. In where I come from, Mandera, for example, the people often wonder whether they are part of Kenya. This is because the people’s needs have being ignored, many live in abject poverty and they feel they are being marginalised. The same with other communities all over the country. When the ‘leaders’ only care about their selfish interests, when the plight of the youth is ignored, when one group dominates another, there is bound to be some sort of reaction that may result in violence with time.
The solution? I believe first and foremost that the root cause of the problems be addressed. I believe that for this problem to be addressed effectively, the plight of the youth must be addressed. Kenyans from all over the country must be treated equally beyond the constitution. With justice comes equality, with equality starts the eradication of poverty, with the eradication of poverty, comes stability. With all these, we can achieve unity and with unity, we can have peace. As for the political limbo we are in now, a gov’t of national unity is, in my view, not the way out. We need to address all those things I mentioned and others. We need to lay the foundation for a stability that will be beyond Raila and Kibaki. The international community is calling for a gov’t of national unity but I doubt whether they have any understanding of the political situation in Kenya. In fact, I doubt whether Jendayi Frazer ever heard of something called NARC. When this didn’t work in 2002, how is it going to work now? I guess the short term solution is an interim gov’t with a new election in the shortest time possible. Read that again. The short term solution, not a long lasting solution. Once we have a legitimately elected gov’t then, the first task of this gov’t should be to address all these factors and find a lasting solution for posterity.

By: Grace

Grace — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:53:50 +0000

Thanks Ory for everything,

There is a mashup started at the above website. The techie is based in USA but the Breaking News is updated with the international rss news feed.