We have just witnessed the
Change of power from one fool
And liar to another
Our lives on the line again
She had lived through the wars
She didn’ t wanna go through it all again
She has seen injustice
She has seen corruption
She has seen racism
And any other kind of suffering
You can think about
Then she said to me
Son, Is this the end of suffering?
Is this freedom? (Lucky Dube)

The bloody aftermath of Kenya’s December 27 presidential elections is now another blot on the history of the troubled African continent . Tainted with accusations of fraud and vote rigging, the disputed Kenyan election has triggered off a wave of deadly riots, arson, murder and looting. As of today, January 5th, 2008, over 180 000 people have been displaced and 350 people were declared dead. Dozens of children have died of exposure.
The unrest has taken on ethnic overtones, with other tribes armed with machetes now pitted against the president’s Kikuyu people.
Kenyan politics has been marked by ethnic tensions since independence in 1963.
The country has a population of 34.5 million, comprising of more than 40 ethnic groups and Mr Kibaki depends for support on the largest ethnic group, the Kikuyus, while the western Luo and Kalenjin groups – who seek greater autonomy – back Mr Odinga.

Food shortages have led to drastic price increases and thousands have gone days without food in the slums of Nairobi. One resident in an email has claimed that “it is a lot worse than is being reported in the international press.”

The widespread violence comes as a major setback for a country that began its uncertain walk to to democracy in 2002.
International observers described the elections as “deeply flawed” in the former British colony.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed the view that the polls “were totally rigged,” and Attorney General, Amos Wako, a close friend of Kabiki, has called for an independent investigation of the vote counting procedure. The parties involved are now seeking a power-sharing agreement between the country’s incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, and opposition leader, Raila Odinga.
Kibaki has indicated that he is ready to form “a government of national unity”.

Odinga however, appears to favour a new election rather than power sharing or national unity and according to his spokesman, Salim Lone, he is not willing to share power. He has called for a transitional government in preparation for a new presidential election.
In parliamentary balloting, Odinga’s party won 95 of 122 legislative seats and half of Kibaki’s Cabinet lost their seats, meaning that Kibaki cannot govern Kenya without opposition cooperation.
Other neighbouring countries are feeling the fallout with shiploads of goods destined for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo waiting to unload at the Kenyan port of Mombasa, the gateway to eastern Africa.

Once more, we have another leader who flirted with democracy for a while but alas, now shows the world that it was just an infatuation. Like any closet dictator, a keenly contested election quickly brought Kibaki to realization that he loves power more than honesty, fair play and democracy. He basked in the glory of being a trusted US ally in its war against terrorism and was proud to usher in a period of peace as Kenya came to be regarded as a pillar of stability amidst the strife-torn countries of East Africa. But when the good times were over, his tenuous commitment to democracy snapped very quickly. In the face of a popular opposition leader and a country that is looking at its political options with critical eyes, Kibaki seems ready to part ways with democracy.

To his credit, Kibaki has indicated his willingness to participate in a unity government. Chances are he may have calculated that this announcement would placate Britain and other world leaders, while being well aware that the truculence of Odinga would render such a compromise as impossible.
It is a familiar story in Africa and some parts of Asia, and this is the ground where the seeds of dictatorship and decades-long ethnic conflicts are sowed. Leaders like Kibaki and Odinga in ethnically volatile countries must accept that with power comes responsibility. They must be willing to take a long term vision of their country’s future without factoring in their own greed, power lust and ego as the primary driving forces. But this may be too much to ask of these third world leaders. They both appear to be among those inflexible and self-serving leaders who are willing to sacrifice the innocent while picking the bones and resources of their people, long violated and exploited by colonial powers like Britain and France.
From the depth of Kibaki’s culture and repressed mind, there seems to be emerging the demonic shadow that has haunted the history of Africa for too long – the old time dictator with a lust for blood, a lifetime in power and coffers of money in foreign bank accounts to enrich his family, 30 generations down the road. Let us hope that I am wrong. Let us pray that Kenyans will be spared the savagery of that familiar demon in disguise, the scourge of every emotionally wounded and war-weary African longing for redemption and a chance for peace and social progress.