Scarred by Strife After Election, Kenya Begins to Heal

People driven off their land in Kenya began returning home on Monday. (Guillaume Bonn for The New York Times)
MOLO, Kenya May 6th. (NY Times) — The bus was full. Expectant faces pressed against the windows. Soldiers stood guard with their guns. Kenya began an operation on Monday to resettle people displaced after the crisis that followed December’s disputed election. Molo is emblematic of the ethnic fighting that erupted after the election, in which more than 1,000 people were killed. It was time to go home. “I’m ready,” said Dominick Ngigi, an 80-year-old farmer, stoically clutching a plastic bag with no more in it than a sweater and a flashlight. For the first time since Kenya’s disputed election erupted in crisis in December, the government has started a large-scale operation to resettle thousands of people violently driven off their land. Many have been living in squalid, wet camps that turned into breeding grounds for disease, crime, idleness and frustration. They have been languishing for more than four months, since the disputed election set off a wave of ethnic and political bloodshed that pitted neighbor against neighbor and drove upward of 600,000 people from their homes. More than 1,000 people were killed, and Kenya, once celebrated for its stability and relative harmony in a tumultuous region, ripped apart along ethnic lines.

Operation Rudi Nyumbani (Operation Return Home), which began in full on Monday, was all about stitching the country back together. Packed buses with heavily armed soldiers in tow rumbled across a scarred landscape, past homes with roofs burned off, past trees downed in January to block roads, past the very spots where farmers, laborers, mothers and children were killed by machetes, arrows and fire. The buses disgorged the occupants into familiar settings, but now with a strange dynamic: new arrivals in their old homes. “I feel lucky to be back,” said Meshak Njata, a farmer, as he inspected a few baby pineapples in his weed-choked garden.

Still, not everyone felt that way. At one camp in Molo, a large town in the Rift Valley where much of the fighting occurred, a mini-protest broke out Monday morning when hundreds of displaced people refused to leave. Peter Ngoge, a shopkeeper, shook a piece of notebook paper listing several demands. He spoke for many, as evidenced by the feisty crowd behind him, when he said he would not leave the camp until the government improved security and paid compensation to those displaced. “There’s no peace out there,” he said. “What do you think is going to happen?” a man in a grubby sweater next to him asked. “They will kill us.”

Molo is emblematic of the us-versus-them problem still festering in Kenya. The town is nestled in a breathtaking sweep of rolling hills and impossibly green farmland. But it lies on a fault line between the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu, two powerful ethnic groups that battled viciously after the election. The Kalenjin mainly supported the opposition, and the Kikuyu mainly supported the government, which is led by president Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu. Most of the families driven off their land were Kikuyus. Kenya’s leaders face a growing economic and food crisis, and they decided that, ethnic tensions aside, now is not the time for miles of productive farmland to go to waste. As part of Operation Rudi Nyumbani, the government is promising food, tools, new houses and even cash for those who return to their farms. To make its plan work, the government has said, there must be genuine ethnic reconciliation. Over the past several weeks, local administrators have held meetings, seminars and soccer games to build trust between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin. “It’s a process,” said Katee Mwanza, Molo’s district commissioner.

And that process may be bearing fruit. Some Kalenjin elders, who just a few months ago had insisted that Kikuyus leave the Rift Valley, came to the Molo police station on Monday to welcome the Kikuyus back home. “The war’s over,” said Samuel Kirui, a Kalenjin elder. The change of heart came, he said, because “our leaders have agreed to work together, so why can’t we?” But are the leaders really working together? Mr. Kibaki, who was declared the winner of the election despite widespread evidence of vote rigging, finally named a unity government in April, appointing his top rival, Raila Odinga, as prime minister. But the government’s first joint exercise, a tour of the turbulent Rift Valley, was marred by protocol wars centering on who was more senior, Mr. Odinga or Kalonzo Musyoka, the vice president and a Kibaki ally. Those squabbles frustrated many Kenyans, especially at a time when the country is still suffering from self-inflicted wounds. The election crisis has crippled the safari business, one of Kenya’s biggest industries, with recent figures showing tourism down more than 50 percent. Inflation is shooting up, and jail guards recently held a violent strike. Teachers and nurses have threatened to follow suit. Yet the president’s cabinet is bigger than ever, with more than 90 ministers and assistant ministers and a record-breaking budget.

Meanwhile, many displaced people are returning to nothing. “No cows, no sheep, no house, no corn,” said Mr. Ngigi, the farmer, as he got ready to board a bus. “All that is bad. But life in a camp is worse.”
by Jeffrey Gettleman
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Unity Cabinet Formed in Kenya, Ending Deadlock

President Mwai Kibaki, right, and the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, left, at the announcement of the new cabinet on Sunday in Nairobi. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters)

NAIROBI, Kenya: April 14th. (NY Times) — President Mwai Kibaki announced a new — and enormous — national unity cabinet here on Sunday, ending weeks of anxious deadlock that had threatened to plunge Kenya back into violence. Allies of Mr. Kibaki, who was declared the winner of a deeply flawed election in December, retained the most powerful ministries, like finance and foreign affairs, but the leading opposition party managed to get some major posts, including local government and agriculture. And as anticipated, the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who claims to have won the presidential vote, was appointed prime minister. The two sides were under mounting pressure from foreign governments, especially the United States, and from Kenyans to strike a deal that would end the bitter, and often dangerous, atmosphere that has hung over the country since December. While the voting itself went peacefully, the country exploded in violence afterward with supporters of the government and of the opposition raging against each other. More than 1,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands were displaced and Kenya’s image as one of Africa’s most stable and promising countries was seriously damaged.

In late February, the government and the opposition agreed to share power, but they haggled over who would be selected for each post. On Sunday, it took Mr. Kibaki more than 10 minutes to read aloud the list of ministers and assistant ministers, totaling 94 people, nearly half of Parliament. It is the biggest cabinet Kenya has ever had. Because of all the politicking and the need to placate various interest groups, Mr. Kibaki has created several new, highly paid positions, like the minister of development of northern Kenya and other arid lands. Trade organizations and human rights groups have roundly criticized adding those positions as inefficient and wasteful, especially when thousands of displaced Kenyans are still living in tents. Mr. Kibaki defended the expanded cabinet as crucial for Kenya’s development. “Let us put politics aside and get to work,” he said in a televised address on Sunday. “Let us build a new Kenya where justice is our shield and defender, and where peace, liberty and plenty will be found throughout our country.” The opposition party said it was disappointed that it had not gotten as many powerful positions as it wanted. “But we decided that it was more important to get a government in place,” said Salim Lone, Mr. Odinga’s spokesman. “There was too much chaos and hunger and restlessness in the country.”

Opposition supporters who said they were angry about the delay in forming a cabinet rioted in several towns across Kenya last week, and Mr. Lone credited that outburst with moving the process along. “The international pressure had been there for some time, and the riots really focused our minds on how fragile things were,” he said. Mr. Lone said the deal was sealed in a secret seven-hour meeting on Saturday between Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga. The cabinet faces a mountain of challenges and needs. Kenya, after all, is a relatively poor country, with a fast-growing population, exploding slums and diminishing available land. In addition, the election stirred long-simmering grievances, which violently split many parts of the country down ethnic lines. There was also direct economic damage from the fighting, with countless homes, businesses, factories and schools burned to the ground, investor confidence low and Kenya’s fabled safari business on its knees. So it is no surprise that many Kenyans doubt that the cabinet deal will be a cure-all. While jubilation greeted the power-sharing agreement in February, with crowds cheering in the streets, this time the mood was more muted and even skeptical. “I don’t see this lasting long,” said Wambua Kilonzo, a lawyer in Nairobi, the capital. “There’s been too much bad blood already. Everything that has been done so far has only been done by the force of the arm.” What seemed to irk people most was the size of the cabinet. “We have been duped,” said Simoni Birundu, national chairman of the Name and Shame Corruption Networks Campaign, a nonprofit group. “We needed a lean cabinet so that it does not consume all our national resources.”

Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rightes, called the bloated cabinet “an insult. The politicians are not interested in us,” he said. “They’re interested in themselves. We go begging for money from other countries to feed our children. And then we use our taxpayers’ money to buy big houses and limousines. Here we are talking about a new Kenya. But instead of going forward, we’re going backward.”
By Jeffrey Gettleman and Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting.
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Unrest in Kenya as Peace Plan Falters

A woman and child fled Tuesday amid riots in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi. Witnesses said young men lighted fires, clashed with the police and tore up rail tracks. (Karel Prinsloo)
LAMU, Kenya: April 9th. (NY Times) — Riots erupted in Kenya on Tuesday as opposition leaders announced that they were suspending talks with the government over a stalled power sharing agreement. According to witnesses, dozens of young men stormed into the streets of Kibera, a sprawling slum in the capital, Nairobi, lighting bonfires, ripping up railroad tracks and throwing rocks at police officers in a scene reminiscent of the violence that convulsed Kenya in the wake of the Dec. 27 election. “No cabinet, no peace!” the protesters yelled, referring to the cabinet that has yet to be formed because of bitter divisions between the government and the opposition.

The eruption was the first major riot since Feb. 28, when rival politicians signed a power sharing agreement that was billed as the only way to end weeks of bloodshed after the disputed presidential election. The post-election violence killed more than 1,000 people, and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes; most of them are still displaced. Much of the violence flared along ethnic lines and threatened to ruin Kenya’s cherished image as a bastion of stability in a chaotic region. Now, it seems, some of that instability has returned. Riots also broke out in Kisumu, in western Kenya, where witnesses said hundreds of angry opposition supporters blocked the road to the airport and stoned cars. Unruly protests were reported in several other towns. Police officials could not be reached for comment. By the close of business on Tuesday, the Kenyan currency had dropped against the dollar, reflecting the serious damage a few protests can do to an already jittery economy. The problem that set off the disturbances seemed to be the same issue that has bedeviled the reconciliation efforts from the beginning: the division of power. Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, whom opposition leaders and some Western election observers have accused of stealing the vote in December, seems reluctant to grant opposition leaders substantial power.

Under the power sharing accord, Mr. Kibaki and the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, agreed to form a national unity government in which cabinet positions would be doled out equally. Kofi Annan, the former secretary general of the UN, spent weeks in Kenya building the framework for such a government. But Mr. Kibaki’s side has refused to cede enough powerful ministries, like finance, foreign affairs or internal security, to placate the opposition. It is not clear whether the riots are part of a campaign by opposition supporters to press the government to give up important positions, or if they signal a more serious breakdown in the power sharing agreement. Opposition leaders have denied organizing the protests and said they were spontaneous. Anyang Nyong’o, secretary-general of Mr. Odinga’s party, the Orange Democratic Movement, said it had suspended negotiations until the president’s side “fully recognizes the 50-50 power sharing arrangement and the principle of portfolio balance.” Salim Lone, Mr. Odinga’s spokesman, said that the suspension was meant to be temporary and that Mr. Odinga wanted the talks to resume — but only after each side had sent two emissaries to negotiate about negotiating. “It’s definitely a step back,” Mr. Lone said. “But there is a profound disagreement about the notions of power sharing.”

Mr. Kibaki, meanwhile, has blamed the opposition for confronting him with “preconditions and ultimatums.This matter must come to a close without further delay,” he said in a statement issued Monday. “I invite Odinga to engage constructively so that we can conclude the formation of the new cabinet.” Alfred Mutua, a government spokesman, said Tuesday, “the delay is very simple. Somebody, somewhere is holding Odinga hostage,” he said. “They really want to draw this out.” Mr. Kibaki seems to have the stickiest political calculations to make. His parliamentary coalition is made up of several smaller parties, compared with Mr. Odinga’s movement, which is one political organization and seemingly unified. Diplomats and political scientists here say Mr. Kibaki needs to hand out as many influential cabinet posts as possible to retain political support in Parliament, which is about evenly split between Mr. Kibaki’s and Mr. Odinga’s allies. Mr. Kibaki has pushed for the cabinet to be expanded to 40 ministers, which would be a Kenyan record, from about 35. Mr. Odinga’s party — with many trade organizations — has criticized this, saying that Kenya lacks the money to pay for so many positions, especially when thousands of people still live in tents.
by Jeffrey Gettleman and Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting from Nairobi.
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Displaced Kenyans Live in Limbo as Aid Lags After Election Strife

Clinton Masheti, 8, was left behind when his parents fled post-election violence last December. Now he lives in a children’s home in Nairobi. (Guillaume Bonn)
NAIROBI, Kenya: April 6th. (NY Times) — Clinton Masheti, 8 years old and all alone, sits on a wooden bench rolling snakes out of clay. When the men came and started burning down houses in his village, his parents ran away — without him. He now lives in the Nairobi Children’s Home, a place with cheery paintings on the wall and lots of blank little faces. He is among thousands of children lost or abandoned during the fighting that followed Kenya’s disputed election in December. If Clinton’s parents are not found by August, he will be put up for adoption. “My father was a farmer,” he said. That seemed to be all he knew. In another part of town not far away, Jane Wanjiru has been living in muddy uncertainty since January. She and about 200 other displaced people are camping just up the road from one of Nairobi’s fanciest malls. Their tents and clotheslines are curious sights so close to the Mercedes-Benzes and mansions, a reminder in case anyone here needs one that the issue of displaced people is not isolated to the Rift Valley, where most of the election-related bloodshed was, but has crept into the capital, Nairobi. Still, very little has been done about it. More than 300,000 people remain homeless, living in camps or staying temporarily with relatives, but top politicians have been preoccupied with haggling over cabinet posts and forming a coalition government.

Officials recently announced that the new government would include 40 ministries, a Kenyan record, and many people fear that the money for salaries, cars and staff for the bloated cabinet will eat into what the displaced people need. Donors have pledged millions of dollars to build homes and resettle people, but most of that is in limbo. And now it is the rainy season. Nearly every day, the skies crack open and the water gushes down. Tents collapse, latrines overflow, firewood gets soggy, food goes uncooked and diseases like malaria and the flu flourish. Many of the displaced people are farmers, and the same rains they would have prayed for, had they not been violently driven off their land, are now a curse. Three women in a camp recently died from exposure to the cold and 5-month-old twins from pneumonia. “The rains are my biggest fear,” said Naomi Shaban, Kenya’s minister of special programs, who oversees the displaced persons camps. “These people are living in tents, and these are not just showers, they are heavy rains. There is a lot of contamination, with children playing in the water. We anticipate health problems.”

Many displaced people in this nation of 37 million are worried about how long they can survive and feel abandoned by their government. Ms. Wanjiru, who voted for Mwai Kibaki, Kenya’s president, said she did not support him — or any other politician — anymore. “All we get are words,” she said. She spends her days washing the few clothes she has and sitting in a cracked plastic chair watching the cars go by. A mother of six with a seventh on the way, she said she did not even have the bus fare to go into town or check out the mall. “I lost everything,” she said. Ms. Shaban defended the president, saying he was very concerned about the plight of the displaced people and that helping them is a post-election priority. She said the government had already spent $11 million on food and medicine since January, though the distribution of supplies was sometimes delayed, because some of the people hanging around the displaced persons camps were “impostors” and it took time to verify who the real victims were.

The Kenyan government is asking donor nations, including the United States, to provide nearly $500 million to resettle people and rebuild the tens of thousands of burned down homes, businesses, public utilities and schools. After the disputed election, supporters of the government and of the leading opposition party raged against each other. More than 1,000 people were killed, many quite brutally, and much of the fighting was along ethnic lines. Ms. Shaban, like many other government officials, insisted that most of the displaced people would eventually go home. “As the healing process goes on, more and more want to go back,” she said. But many people are scared. Hundreds of thousands have already resettled in areas where their ethnic group dominates, because that is seen as the only way to guarantee safety. Just a few days ago, in late March, leaflets were circulated in several Rift Valley towns telling Kikuyus, Mr. Kibaki’s ethnic group, that if they returned, they would be killed. “People are still bitter,” said Florence Muia, a Catholic nun who works with displaced people. “They have seen this violence before, and this time they are saying never again.” Many of the displaced children, traumatized into near silence, simply have nothing to return to.

Naomi and Joseph Nganga were abandoned by their father after a mob burned down their house in the Rift Valley and their mother died from a stomach sickness in a displaced persons camp. They are sister and brother, 9 and 10 years old, and live in the children’s home with about 80 others, including: Clinton, who speaks in whispers; a 3-year-old whom workers call Baby Joshua because they do not have any more information about him; and a cheerful 16-year-old named Millicent who has a baby of her own. The boys wear V-neck sweaters and the girls plaid dresses. They play in bare concrete rooms and drink plastic mugs of tea for a snack. When asked if he wanted to stay in the children’s home in Nairobi or go back to his village, Joseph’s voice dropped to a mumble. “I just want to go to school,” he said. His sister nodded next to him and then looked down at her cracked leather shoes.
by Jeffrey Gettleman
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Kenya Rival Is Cautiously Optimistic

NAIROBI, Kenya: Mar. 4th. (NY Times) — Raila Odinga is a happy man. On Sunday, he went to the beach and was pictured on the front page of Kenya’s leading newspaper, The Daily Nation, lounging by the waves, wearing shorts and argyle socks. On Monday, as he polished off a bowl of vegetable soup and sautéed fish at the Nairobi Club, Mr. Odinga seemed relaxed, chatty and upbeat — for the first time in weeks. “Better half a loaf than no bread,” Mr. Odinga said of a power-sharing agreement struck on Thursday that marries his political party to his rivals in the Kenyan government. Mr. Odinga, 63, is Kenya’s top opposition leader, and his decision to drop his claim to Kenya’s presidency — which he says he rightly won — and to accept the newly created position of prime minister has helped pull this country back from the brink of chaos.

Last week, the governing party agreed to form a coalition government with Mr. Odinga’s party, a breakthrough in a dangerous political crisis that erupted in December with a flawed presidential election. The incumbent, Mwai Kibaki, was declared the winner, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging. The election set off weeks of bloodshed, destruction and ethnic balkanization, which for a moment put Kenya’s entire future in doubt. The political violence has mostly calmed down, though on Sunday night more than 10 people were killed in western Kenya in clashes over contested land. Mr. Odinga, in an interview on Monday, credited the unstinting pressure by the EU and the United States government with forcing Mr. Kibaki to compromise. “They knew the game was up,” Mr. Odinga said, referring to Mr. Kibaki’s side, which had insisted for weeks that it would not share power with the opposition, but finally conceded to just about all of Mr. Odinga’s demands except for the presidency. Mr. Odinga said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been especially influential — and tough. She visited Kenya last month, and by the accounts of Mr. Odinga and others with knowledge of her meetings, she gave Kenya’s president a serious tongue-lashing and told him that his plan to prevent Mr. Odinga’s team from getting any real power was “unacceptable.”

People close to Mr. Kibaki have conceded that the foreign pressure had played a role in Mr. Kibaki’s about-face, especially from donor nations like the United States, which has provided Kenya with more than half a billion dollars of aid each year. And, Mr. Odinga says, that pressure must continue. “We’re still at a very critical stage,” he said. The next step is for Parliament to ratify the political agreement signed by Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki. There are many questions to sort through, like how the government will function with essentially two bosses and what will happen to the vice president, a position that now seems to be eclipsed by that of the prime minister. Parliament is scheduled to meet Thursday. But the biggest question seems to be how Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki will get along. The two had teamed up in 2002, when Mr. Kibaki won his first term as president. But they soon had a bitter falling-out. Mr. Odinga said he had no problem working with Mr. Kibaki. He said his only potential problem was “the clique around him.” He said this clique could persuade some Parliament members to skip the vote on the power-sharing agreement. The agreement needs a two-thirds majority to be put into Kenya’s Constitution through an amendment. So far, Mr. Kibaki’s political allies have said that they would support the agreement, though some have continued to grumble about its ramifications.

Mr. Odinga seems to be cautiously optimistic. He spoke Monday of the ministries his party wanted to take over, including finance and internal security, and how he planned to provide better housing to improve conditions in Kenya’s slums, which had been incubators of violence during the election crisis. He also said he was excited about the American presidential race, and was rooting for Barack Obama, who is half Kenyan and whose father was a Luo, Mr. Odinga’s ethnic group. Luos have felt marginalized for years. There is an old joke in Kenya that has gotten a lot of chuckles lately, that a Luo will be president of the United States before being president of Kenya. “We beat them to it,” Mr. Odinga said, laughing so hard that his eyes watered. “I just wasn’t sworn in.”
by Jeffrey Gettleman
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As Kenya Bleeds, Tourism Also Suffers in Land of Safaris

Lel Cartwright, a tourist, with Isaac Rotich, a safari guide, at the Cottars 1920s Mara Safari Camp in Kenya’s Masai Mara. (Guillaume Bonn for The New York Times)
KEEKOROK, Kenya: March 1st. (NY Times) — Nancy Holan just had the safari of her life. She and a friend flew to Kenya from Detroit and as they cruised the wide open plains, they had the lions, zebras and elephants all to themselves. "It was wonderful," she said. Not far away, Isaac Rotich, a high-end safari guide, paced an empty game lodge in freshly polished safari boots. He can spot a six-inch lizard 50 feet away, and tell you the name — in Kiswahili, English and Latin — of the plant it is sitting on. He has spent years building this career and was making $30,000 a year, a king’s ransom in these parts. Now he is afraid of losing it all. “We’re hurting, big time,” Mr. Rotich said. This is what Kenya’s legendary safari business has become: wonderful for tourists, disastrous for just about everyone else.

Tourism is one of Kenya’s biggest industries, but the violence that exploded after a flawed election in December has eviscerated the business, with bookings down 80 to 90 percent in most areas. Even after a peace deal was signed Thursday, government and tourism officials worried that it could take months — if not years — to recover. Kenya’s rival politicians have agreed to share power, and on Friday many people here praised them for finally calming the country down. But the long-term economic consequences are just beginning to sink in. “We will work very hard to see what we can salvage,” said Rose Musonye Kwena, an official at the Kenya Tourist Board, who estimated that even if there was no more major violence this year business would still be down 50 percent. The images of machete-wielding mobs caused a tourist stampede, and the lingering uncertainty over the country’s direction has caused a wave of cancellations, leaving dozens of hotels closed and thousands of guides, drivers, cooks, waiters, masseuses, wood carvers and bead stringers out of work. Many of them support a vast network of relatives. A continued tourism meltdown could push millions of Kenyans toward poverty, which was one of the underlying causes of the violence in the first place. The downturn also threatens to reverse the momentum that Kenya has made in recent years to protect land and animals. Government officials are worried about out-of-work guides and trackers poaching game. Village elders in animal-rich areas who had been persuaded that conservation and tourism would be profitable have been re-examining this equation and considering selling off their land. Sales mean farms, and farms mean fences, which could block the millions of zebra, wildebeest and antelope that migrate across the famous Masai Mara game reserve each year, possibly endangering one of the most spectacular gatherings of animal life on the planet. “It’s absolutely catastrophic,” said Calvin Cottar, the owner of an upscale safari camp.

Kenya’s billion-dollar tourism industry, which injects critically needed foreign exchange into the economy, is hardly the only victim. The election crisis, which started when Kenya’s election commission declared the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, the winner of a closely contested race, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging, has killed more than 1,000 people and balkanized Kenya, with hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes and resettling in ethnically homogenous zones. The violence punched a hole through the economy, disrupting coffee and tea production, knocking down the stock market’s value and bruising transport, manufacturing, construction and nearly every other industry — except maybe the funeral trade. Tourism could take among the longest to bounce back, because it is especially sensitive to perceptions, and the well-publicized bloodshed of the past two months has badly dented Kenya’s image. Last year, the country had more than two million tourists. In January, there were only 55,000 new arrivals, well below projections. The truth is that most of the violence has subsided and it never really touched the tourist areas, like the Masai Mara.

But many Western governments seem to think otherwise. Australia is still warning its citizens traveling to Kenya to stay indoors, not exactly the greatest plug for game watching. “These warnings are a real problem for us,” Mr. Cottar said. Even if the game lodges have been perfectly safe, he said, people have not wanted to come to Kenya if they think “they will be drinking Champagne while somebody is getting hacked to death over the hill.” His resort is as good an example as any. Cottars 1920s Mara Safari Camp is one of the most luxurious lodges in Kenya, charging up to $710 a night per person, and is usually booked solid at this time of year. Now it is deserted. It is nestled in an especially picturesque corner of the Masai Mara, overlooking the green hills of Africa that inspired Ernest Hemingway and so many others. The lodge plays up the old-school theme, decked out with leather trunks, brass telescopes and pith helmets. On Sunday, the only guests were a couple from Kenya who paid cut-rate local prices, which allow the lodges to stay open — but just barely. The couple, James and Lel Cartwright, arrived in their own plane. For once, the air over the Masai Mara was clear as glass. “It was stunning,” Mrs. Cartwright said. “There’s usually a wall of dust from all the minibuses.” The staff at Cottars threw on their fezzes and best smiles. But underneath they seemed down. Their salaries have been halved. The tips have dried up. Daniel Lanke, a waiter at Cottars, just enrolled his ninth child in private school but now, he said, “I can’t even buy him socks.” In the villages around the lodge, it is the same story. At the sound of a truck, Masai women dash in from the fields and set up tables full of souvenirs. Some have not sold a necklace for months. “We are going to go hungry,” said one woman, Nalarame Noloswesh, who has seven children.

Many lodges have teamed up with local communities, sharing a slice of their profits in exchange for using the communities’ land. The whole point was to make tourism more profitable than agriculture, so villagers would have an incentive to set aside their land for animals. Kenya’s tourism officials seem to appreciate the stakes. They are planning to begin a huge marketing campaign to reassure potential visitors that Kenya is safe. Mr. Cottar says that he will donate some of his proceeds to the Kenyan Red Cross to emphasize that “if you go on safari now, you’ll be helping the country.” But those with the means may not wait. Mr. Rotich, the safari guide, is fully aware of his skills. He is an expert game spotter, speaks impeccable English and seems genuinely interested in every form of life on the veldt, from the towering giraffe to the lowly dung beetle. “This is all I know,” he said. The other day, he found a herd of 150 elephants eating grass in a clearing. Babies wrestled with one another as their enormous mothers lumbered past. The elephant train was headed south to Tanzania, where the safari industry is booming because many tourists are flocking there instead. Mr. Rotich said he might join them. “I love Kenya,” he said. “But I have my dreams.”
by Jeffrey Gettleman
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Kenya Rivals Reach Peace Agreement

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, left, and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, with Kofi Annan in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday. (Simon Maina/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya: Feb. 29th. (NY Times) — Kenya’s rival leaders broke their tense standoff on Thursday, agreeing to share power in a deal that may end the violence that has engulfed the nation but could mark the beginning of a long and difficult political relationship. The country seemed to let out a collective hooray as Mwai Kibaki, the president and Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, sat at a desk in front of the president’s office, with a bank of television cameras rolling, and signed an agreement that creates a powerful prime minister position for Mr. Odinga and splits cabinet positions between the government and the opposition. There are still many thorny issues to resolve, among them how the government will function with essentially two bosses. There is also a deeply divided country to heal. More than 1,000 Kenyans have been killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes in an uncharacteristic burst of violence set off by a deeply flawed election in December. Much of the fighting, like the voting, has been along ethnic lines.

But the two-page agreement, which came after intense international pressure and mediation by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, seemed to serve as a contract to pull Kenya back from the brink. Both leaders urged their supporters, who have battled viciously across the country in recent weeks, to respect it. “I call on Kenyans to embrace the spirit of togetherness,” Mr. Kibaki said. Mr. Odinga was beaming next to him. “We should begin to ensure that Kenyans begin to celebrate and love each other and that we destroy the monster that is called ethnicity,” he said. Kenyans were glued to their television sets and radios across the country as the news broke. In downtown Nairobi, the capital, a crowd poured into the streets and danced and cheered until they were run off by tear-gas shooting police officers. In offices across town, business executives, who have watched their profits fall and the investments tank over the past two months, finally exhaled. “Yes, I’m relieved,” said Ngovi Kitau, the manager of a large car dealership. He had just come from a meeting where his company had decided to let 10 people go a month because business was so bad. “You don’t know what we’ve been through.” But he injected a note of caution that many Kenyans seemed to feel: “It’s a marriage of convenience, and it’s the best way out because it’s going to get the country moving again. But it’s not a solution.”

Kenya used to be considered one of the most prosperous countries in Africa, known as an oasis of stability in a turbulent region. But the country spun into chaos in late December after the national election commission declared Mr. Kibaki the winner of a closely-contested election over Mr. Odinga, who claims to have won the most votes. Election observers have been unanimous that the election was tainted by irregularities, with some saying that the government rigged the tallying of votes to give Mr. Kibaki a slender, 11th-hour edge. The controversy spawned bloodletting across the country, with supporters of Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki fighting one another in brutal battles. Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki are from different ethnic groups, and the election seems to have kicked the lid off a set of simmering political, ethnic and economic issues. The violence cooled down in the past few weeks, but the tension and displacements continued, with many Kenyans saying that the country would not return to peace until the dueling politicians agreed to some sort of solution.

Mr. Annan took the lead in trying to bring the two sides together. For the past month, he has been meeting nearly every day with negotiators for Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga, searching for a political compromise. More than anyone else, he has been the hope of this country. A newly-born baby rhino was even named after him. This week the talks nearly collapsed altogether. Negotiators deadlocked over whether they would share responsibilities or share power, with the government refusing to give Mr. Odinga substantial authority or to amend the constitution to create the position of prime minister, which had not existed in Kenya’s system. Mr. Annan then decided to bypass the negotiation teams and go directly to Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki. He met with them behind closed doors for six hours on Thursday. At 4:30 p.m. local time, Mr. Annan, Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga emerged. The two leaders signed the agreement with Mr. Annan standing behind them, his hands clasped, as a crowd of diplomats, cabinet ministers and political supporters clapped.

The deal creates a government of national unity, melding the president’s party with Mr. Odinga’s. Mr. Odinga will become prime minister and will “coordinate and supervise” government affairs. The cabinet positions will be divided, based on parliamentary strength. Mr. Odinga’s party has a slight edge in Parliament. This is not the first time Mr. Kibaki, 76, and Mr. Odinga, 63, have vowed to work together. The two were close political allies in 2002, when Mr. Kibaki was elected president, but they soon had a falling out. Under the deal, the two sides will work together on constitutional reform, land reform, electoral reform and a complete overall of Kenya’s political system. “Today we have reached an important staging post, but the journey is far from over,” Mr. Annan said. “Let the spirit of healing begin today. Let it begin now.”
by Jeffrey Gettleman with Kennedy Abwao contributed to this report
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Annan Tries to Spur Kenya Talks

NAIROBI, Kenya: Feb. 27th. (NY Times) - Kofi Annan suspended day-to-day mediation talks in Kenya on Tuesday and said he would now take up the remaining divisive issues with Kenya’s leaders directly. Mr. Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, seems to be growing increasingly frustrated with the pace of the negotiations, which have ground on for more than a month and are intended to solve a political crisis in Kenya that has cost more than 1,000 lives. “We cannot continue on the current basis,” said Mr. Annan, who is shepherding the talks. “It’s important for the leaders themselves to take charge.” Mr. Annan said it was crucial to reach a comprehensive solution and not “a patch-up job.”

Kenya’s troubles started in late December after the national election commission declared Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent, the winner of a presidential election over Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging. The turmoil that followed pitted supporters of Mr. Odinga against those of Mr. Kibaki in brutal battles that spread across the country and split many areas along ethnic lines. Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki are from different ethnic groups, and the election seems to have kicked the lid off simmering political, ethnic and economic issues. Mr. Annan has been meeting nearly every day with negotiators for Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga, searching for a compromise that will calm the country. Mr. Annan said Tuesday that he was not giving up, but that a conclusion would be reached much faster by bypassing the negotiators and speaking with Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga themselves. The two sides have agreed on many points. Last week, the government acquiesced to the opposition’s demand to create a position of prime minister for Mr. Odinga, who claims to have won the election.

But this week the two sides seem to have split over the details of that position, and Mr. Annan said that barely any progress was made Tuesday. The talks seem to alternate between promising and hopeless, and whenever progress is blocked, the two sides start hurling accusations at each other, as they did on Tuesday. The government now claims that the opposition is refusing to budge. From the government’s perspective, it has conceded much. Mr. Kibaki’s team rejects the accusations that the government rigged the elections to keep Mr. Kibaki in power, as some election observers have suggested. Mr. Kibaki’s team believes that offering the opposition posts in the government is a generous compromise. “We tend to feel we have been railroaded,” said Mutula Kilonzo, a negotiator for the government. But the opposition says that the government has been stubborn, and that beneath all the talk it does not want to share power in a meaningful way. “We have been extremely frustrated,” said Musalia Mudavadi, an opposition leader. “There are moments we believe we have made ground, but we realize the following day that there is a reversal.”

The pressure for a deal is increasing. Opposition leaders have threatened to resume nationwide protests on Thursday, and such events have turned bloody before. Foreign powers, like the United States, are demanding that Kenya’s leaders find a political solution fast. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a threatening statement saying, “There can be no excuse for further delay.” “We are exploring a wide range of possible actions,” she said. “We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps.”
by Jeffrey Gettleman with Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting.
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Kenya - After the Violence

Nairobi, Kenya: Feb. 21st: Arriving in Nairobi some weeks after the post election violence one is aware of normality slowly returning to that city. What strikes one is that it is the poor areas, the slums that have been most affected. As I walked through Mathare, Huruma, Korogocho, and Kariobangi, there was plenty of evidence of the violence which occurred, houses and churches had been burned, homes and stalls abandoned from where people of different tribes had either been evicted or had fled in fear.

There were also long queues of women and children outside stations where food was been handed out. In talking with some of the people they shared feelings of anger, fear, hopelessness and shame for what had happened. Now that the violence has calmed down people were asking, how could these things have happened? Why did neighbour turn against neighbour? What ignited such destruction? In one of the camps which I visited with the local Chief, people sat around still bewildered at what had happened. Some of these people had lost all their property and source of income, others worried about missing family members. In one of the tents I came across a mother who had given birth to triplets on the night the violence started. The babies were the centre of attention as they smiled and gurgled, but the comments of others were, "why should these lovely innocent babies be born into such a violent world". An elderly man wondered, "is this the Kenya I fought for during the war of independence and worked so hard to build up Kenya". In one of the areas where Sr Lydia and her team had gathered displaced children I looked at the drawings these children had done of their experience of the post election days. A sense of dismay and sadness came over me when I saw what these children had drawn, homes and churches on fire, people waving sticks and pangas, people lying dead on the streets, some beheaded, other injured.. One could not but help wonder the impact of such violence had on these vulnerable children.

But what impressed me most were the good stories and the presence of so many good Samaritans. Somehow the response to the evil had also evoked great good, but these are the stories that rarely make the headlines. For example - the Kikuyu woman who when she saw Kikuyu youth threatening to kill a Luo man, threw her arms around him and started crying and pleading to save her husband, and succeeded in saving the stranger’s life; - or the Luo woman who hid five Kikuyu children in her home; - or the Christians who hid their priests who were of a different tribe. In the camps and affected areas one meets volunteers both local and international, missionaries and Non Government Organizations who are assisting those affected with food, blankets, clothing and tents, as well as assisting others to get back home or to repair their homes. Some of this has been possible due to grants that have been received from IMRS/Irish Aid. At present the mediation meetings with Kofi Annan continue. People are anxiously awaiting the outcome. What is very evident is that the ordinary person on the street wants a peaceful solution. They want to get on with their lives. We continue to pray that the Leaders who sit in comfortable hotels, whose families have not experienced the violence and destruction, will come together to work for the good of the people of Kenya and united will address some of the underlying causes for the unrest and discontent. To- morrow I move on to Nakuru.
Sr. Miriam. From Nairobi
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Peace Deal Nearly Done in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya. Feb. 22nd. (NY Times) — Kenya’s rival political parties have nearly completed a deal to end the crisis that has kept this country on edge for almost two months, with the government agreeing to create a prime minister position, one of the opposition’s chief demands, a high-ranking government official said Thursday. Not all the details have been worked out, the official said, but lawyers were drafting language on Thursday evening that would outline the job description of the prime minister position and how it would be incorporated into Kenya’s political framework. An opposition official confirmed that a deal was close, but was a bit more cautious, saying that the amount of power given to the new prime minister position had not yet been pinned down. “It’s a major achievement,” said the opposition official, on the condition of anonymity because both sides had been asked by international mediators not to speak to the press. “The next challenge will be to put meat on the bone.” Many Kenyans were glued to their televisions and radios on Thursday for the latest developments, and they seemed to be keeping their fingers crossed. The consensus here is that a political compromise between the government and the opposition is the only way to end the fighting between each side’s supporters.

The trouble started in December after the national election commission declared Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent, the winner of a presidential election over Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging. The unrest has killed more than 1,000 people and threatened Kenya’s reputation for stability in a turbulent region. Mr. Odinga claims he won the election and has demanded that his party be given a meaningful role in the government. He has said the minimum he would accept was a role as prime minister. Over the past few days, the two sides have argued intensely over exactly what that position would look like. On Thursday, they agreed that the prime minister would “coordinate and supervise government functions,” said the government official. “It’s quite a substantial and reasonable role,” the official said. “I didn’t see anyone unhappy.” The president would still remain head of state and head of government, with the prime minister reporting to him, according to the current proposal. It was not clear on Thursday evening if the president would be able to fire the prime minister, something that the opposition has adamantly opposed, or if that would be up to Parliament. Opposition leaders are also pushing for guarantees that Parliament has real muscle, arguing that there is not an adequate separation of powers between the president and the Parliament.

Still, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, who has been in Kenya for a month trying to broker a political truce, seemed optimistic that all this could be sorted out. In a short statement on Thursday, he said he could finally see “the light at the end of the tunnel.” Other officials close to the talks said that many of the thorniest issues had been resolved and that the government had agreed to give the opposition at least a dozen cabinet posts. But a deal had seemed close several other times recently, only to evaporate. Both sides described the prime minister proposal as a temporary solution, and have vowed to change the country’s laws to address long-festering problems. The disputed election stirred up decades of grievances about land, power and economic opportunity, and set off battles between ethnic groups supporting the president and those backing the opposition. Many Kenyans vote along ethnic lines. Lawmakers have also promised to work together to rewrite the Kenyan Constitution, which vests enormous powers in the presidency and is seen as one of the root causes of this crisis.

But the biggest hurdle was a power-sharing agreement. Mr. Odinga and his team said the only fair solution was to make him the prime minister, but Mr. Kibaki seemed intent on shutting him out, saying this week that any deal had to be consistent with Kenya’s Constitution, which does not specifically authorize a prime minister position. But Mr. Kibaki has come under international pressure to compromise. On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Kenya and said that “real power sharing” was needed, a clear signal to Mr. Kibaki that Washington wanted him to give the opposition a significant role. The high-ranking government official cautioned that serious issues had to be to overcome before completion of the deal, which some people close to the talks said could be as early as Friday. Tough issues include how the prime minister job would be created — whether by Parliament, as the government wants, or by a constitutional amendment, as opposition leaders had sought, though on Thursday they seemed to back down. Who would have more power, the prime minister or the vice president, currently a former opposition member who switched sides? Other questions include how long the position would last and whether there would be another election before Mr. Kibaki’s term expires in five years. “No deal is done until it is done,” the government official said.
By Jeffrey Gettleman with Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting.
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Kenyan Opposition Warns of More Protests

(Evelyn Hockstein for The New York Times)
NAIROBI, Kenya. Feb. 21st. (NY Times) — Kenya’s leading opposition party on Wednesday accused the government of stonewalling in negotiations to resolve the country’s festering political crisis and threatened to resume protests if a power sharing agreement was not reached within a week. At the same time, Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, seemed to send out mixed signals whether he would approve the creation of a prime minister post for the opposition, which is one of its chief demands. All in all, the political situation in Kenya remains tense and difficult to predict, with mediators from both sides engaged in heated talks about how to lift the country out of a post-election crisis that has claimed more than 1,000 lives and destabilized the country. The trouble erupted in December after Kenya’s election commission declared Mr. Kibaki, the incumbent, the winner of a presidential election over Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging.

On Wednesday, leaders from the Orange Democratic Movement, Mr. Odinga’s party, said that unless the government supported a constitutional amendment to create a new position of prime minister, giving them a meaningful role in government, they would take to the streets. “If we do not see any progress in one week,” said Najib Balala, an opposition leader, “we are resolved for mass action.” Mass action has been the opposition’s leverage of choice, but despite opposition leaders’ repeated insistence that protests will be peaceful, many have turned into riots, with property destroyed and dozens of people killed.

Mr. Kibaki has so far rejected the prime minister idea. He has indicated that he is willing to bring opposition leaders into his cabinet, but he has balked at the suggestion of making Mr. Odinga the prime minister and sharing executive power with him. Kenya’s constitution, which many Kenyans feel needs to be revised anyway because it vests too much power in the hands of the president, does not authorize a prime minister position, and Mr. Kibaki has said that any political settlement must obey the constitution. “It would be a dangerous precedent for the country if decisions were made that were outside the constitution,” said a statement issued by the presidential press service on Wednesday. But Mr. Kibaki also said, “It is possible to have a comprehensive constitutional review within a year,” and that he was receptive to making changes that Kenyans want.

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general who has been in Kenya for the past four weeks trying to broker a truce, tried to reassure Kenyans that a solution was still in sight. “Despite discouraging reports prompted by statements from one side or the other,” read an e-mail message issued by Mr. Annan’s team on Wednesday evening, “the talks are going well and we are on track.”
By Jeffrey Gettleman. Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting
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Kenyan National Park Longs For Tourists

NAKURU, Kenya, Feb 19 (Reuters) - There are about 1.5 million pink flamingos at Lake Nakuru National Park but hardly anyone to admire them majestically walking along the shoreline during Kenya's high tourism season. The country's post-election tribal violence has scared away hundreds of thousands of visitors and few people are feeling the squeeze more than the staff at the picturesque park. Guide Timothy Letema is normally standing at the edge of the lake explaining the behaviour of flamingos, pelicans and other bird species by mid-morning. Instead Letema told a reporter that he and others would be taking extended leave to cushion the financial blow of bloodshed that has killed more than 1,000 people, displaced 300,000 and hurt Kenya's image as a regional tourism and trade hub. A lazy buffalo looked on, free of the usual throngs of excited tourists with binoculars who deprive it of peace. After two years of studying to be a tour guide, Letema is just another casualty of ethnic clashes that erupted after the disputed Dec. 27 poll that have hammered the $1 billion a year tourism industry, Kenya's biggest foreign currency earner. He enthusiastically points to a rhino in the distance, an instinctive reaction from better days when rival Kenyan tribes were not hacking or burning each other to death not far from the sanctuary's peaceful woodlands, grasslands and rocky hillsides. Deputy park warden Paul Opiyo puts on a brave face despite a massive fall in sales. Visitor numbers in January dropped by more than 70 percent from a year ago. A night-time curfew forces many employees to go home early. The park's restaurant is empty.

"We do not care about tribal problems or politics. The staff morale is high even though they are from many tribes," he said, adding that violence had forced 300 terrified families to take refuge in the park about 160 km (100 miles) north of Nairobi. Security guards in camouflage fatigues stood near the lake with rifles in case lions charge the few tourists still drawn to the park's 450 species of birds, rhinos and other animals. Baboons, always on the lookout for food dropped by tourists, are lonely these days, strolling through the grass. Two students from Dubai seemed to have the 62 sq km (24 sq miles) park all to themselves, relaxing on a steep cliff overlooking the lake as the smell of marijuana from their pipe drifted through the air. Asked if he was concerned about his safety, Salim Hashim just smiled. "God is with us," he said, oblivious to thousands of Kenyans taking refuge from the bloodshed in a soccer stadium a few hundred metres beyond the park's gates.
By Michael Georgy

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In a Mother’s Loss, Kenya’s Agony

Members of the Israel Church of Africa prayed during the funeral of two children who were burned to death in a house with 17 other people in Kenya. (Benedicte Kurzen for The New York Times)
KATITO, Kenya, Feb. 15th. (NY Times) —It did not take many people to carry the coffins of Wycliffe and Cynthia Awino. They were 7 and 9 years old. The brother and sister were burned to death by a mob last month in Kenya in the explosion of post-election violence. And if there ever was a woman alone, it was their mother, Millicent Awino, who stood by herself at the foot of two freshly dug graves on Thursday, blotting out reality with her hands over her face, as her only children disappeared into the ground. “I only wish to have kids again,” she said, staring at the caskets. Ms. Awino is a 23-year-old single mother who was at work packing roses for the equivalent of $2 a day when her children were killed. A mob surrounded the house where they were hiding with 17 other people, barricaded the doors and soaked the walls with gasoline. No one inside had a chance. Everyone died, including 11 children. It was one of the most disturbing episodes in the bloodletting that convulsed Kenya since a disputed election in December. The incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, was declared the winner over the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging. Since then, more than 1,000 people have been killed in vicious fighting between supporters of the two politicians, fighting that followed mostly ethnic lines but broke all rules. Old men were chopped in the head with axes. Mothers were stabbed to death in front of screaming babies.

The killings seem to have subsided for now as Kenya’s rival politicians continue to negotiate. On Thursday, officials said that government and opposition leaders had agreed to the idea of joining together in a coalition government but remained bitterly divided over how much power the opposition would have. Condoleezza Rice, the American Secretary of State, is headed to Kenya next week to coax along the politicians. While they haggle, there are open wounds almost everywhere. Katito, where Ms. Awino now lives, is a small town about an hour’s drive from Kisumu, an industrial city on Lake Victoria. About all that is left of Kisumu’s once vibrant Kikuyu community, which once numbered in the tens of thousands, are a string of scorched shops picked clean by looters. Mr. Kibaki is a Kikuyu and opposition supporters have vented their outrage about the election toward members of his ethnic group, who have been methodically hunted down across the country. The Kikuyus have taken revenge, massacring Luos, Mr. Odinga’s community. The Awinos are Luos. They lived in Naivasha, an ethnically mixed town in the Rift Valley that used to be known for its nature walks, fancy hotels and flower farms. Around 7 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Ms. Awino left for work. She was one of the many migrant workers who had flocked to Naivasha for jobs in the flower farms, neatly packing beautiful roses by day and returning to their iron-roofed shanties at night. Two dollars a day is considered a decent wage here, especially for a woman who dropped out of 8th grade to have her first baby at age 14. Wycliffe and Cynthia were sent to a neighbor’s house. Wycliffe seemed especially caring for a 7-year-old. “Whenever I came home from work, he’d take one look at me and say, ‘Mommy, you’re tired,”’ Ms. Awino said.

Cynthia helped raise him, boiling tea in the morning and cooking rice. The only picture the family has of them shows the children sitting on the grass, Wycliffe with a freshly shaved head, Cynthia wearing a lemon-colored dress. Ms. Awino rushed back to her neighborhood that Sunday afternoon when her boss told her that Kikuyu gangs were killings Luos. She found her house in ashes. When she reached her neighbors, she collapsed. The bodies of Wycliffe and Cynthia were found huddled with the others in a back room, burned almost beyond recognition. On Thursday morning, Ms. Awino brought the bodies home, two wooden coffins trimmed with lace strapped atop a minibus. Home is now a shack with plastic sheeting for walls, built on the edge of a farm belonging to her ex-husband’s father. The people here are strangers to Ms. Awino. Even though she split up with her husband seven years ago, custom has it that she still should live on his family’s land. About 20 people came to the funeral. The refreshments were simple, warm Coca-Colas and slices of white bread. Members of the local church tapped metal rings that rang like bells. The smell of fresh manure wafted up from the fields. The speeches were short. Ms. Awino told the story of how her children were killed. Their father, Morris Okoth, then shared a few words. “There is no need for payback,” he said. Wycliffe went first. Before his three-foot coffin was lowered into its hole, one woman threw herself on it. “Wycliffe! Wycliffe!” she wailed. “Where are you?” Cynthia’s coffin was then covered by shovelfuls of earth. There was no comforting message at the end. There seemed to be nothing to say. Most people walked away with their heads down. The only sounds were soft sobbing and birds chirping.
By Jeffrey Gettleman
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Kenya’s Middle Class Feeling Sting of Violence

Mumo Kituku, a dentist, has a clinic near one of Nairobi’s most volatile neighborhoods, and some of his patients are staying home. (Christophe Calais for The New York Times)
NAIROBI, Kenya: Feb. 11th. — George G. Mbugua is a 42-year-old executive with two cars, a closet full of suits and a good job as the chief financial officer of a growing company. His life has all the trappings of a professional anywhere. He recently joined a country club and has taken up golf. But unlike anywhere else, this executive has to keep his eyes peeled on the daily commute for stone-throwing mobs. When he gets home after a long day, he has to explain to his daughters why people from different ethnic groups are hacking one another to death. Even his own affluent neighborhood has been affected. Some of the Mbuguas’ neighbors recently fled their five-bedroom homes because of the violence that has exploded in Kenya since a disputed election in December turned this promising African country upside down. “Nobody’s untouched,” Mr. Mbugua said.

Of all the election-related conflicts that have cracked open in Kenya — Luos versus Kikuyus (two big ethnic groups), The Orange Democratic Movement versus the Party of National Unity (the leading political parties), police versus protesters — none may be more crucial than the struggle between those who seem to have nothing to lose, like the mobs in the slums who burn down their own neighborhoods, and those who are deeply invested in this country’s stability. The well-established middle class here is thought to be one of the most important factors that separate Kenya from other African countries that have been consumed by ethnic conflict. Millions of Kenyans identify as much with what they do or where they went to college as who their ancestors are. They have overcome ethnic differences, dating between groups and sometimes intermarrying, living in mixed neighborhoods, and sending their children to the best schools they can afford, regardless of who else goes there. The fighting that rages in the countryside, where men with mud-smeared faces and makeshift weapons are hunting down people of other ethnicities, seems as foreign to many of these white-collar Kenyans as it might to people living thousands of miles away. But the professionals are hardly retreating. Three times a week, a group of doctors, lawyers, former politicians, writers, wildlife experts, business consultants and professors meet in a conference room at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi, the capital. They call themselves Concerned Citizens for Peace, and they have taken up projects such as raising money for displaced people, organizing candlelight vigils and bending the ear of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United nations, who met with business leaders during his emergency trip to Kenya this month. The group begins each session by standing up, holding hands and singing the national anthem. Mr. Mbugua spoke the other day at one of those meetings about the importance of reconciliation in the workplace. His idea was to keep local languages, which many Kenyans speak in addition to the country’s official languages (English and Kiswahili), away from the water cooler. “We don’t want people to feel excluded when they’re at work,” he said. Bethuel Kiplagat, a retired ambassador, praised the meeting’s openness. “We must put everything down on the table,” he said, “however painful it is.”

Many African countries are all about haves versus have-nots, with millions of people toiling in the fields, barely surviving, while a tiny elite holds all the wealth. Kenya is different. James Shikwati, a Kenyan economist, estimates that of Kenya’s population of approximately 37 million, about four million are in the middle class, making between $2,500 and $40,000 a year. The number of Kenyans enrolled in college has more than doubled in the past 10 years, to more than 100,000. “There are sizable fortunes in the hands of people of all ethnic backgrounds,” said Richard Leakey, the noted Kenyan paleontologist. “I think the middle class will ultimately prevail on the government authority in one form or the other to just pull itself together and get on with business.” Business is hurting. Vigilante roadblocks have paralyzed the flow of goods across the country. Vandals have ripped up miles of railroad tracks. Tourists have bolted from the game parks faster than the antelope in them. The estimated losses are now running into the billions of dollars. Fanis Anne Nyangayi just started her own marketing company in Nairobi, and she has already had to lay off staff because nobody wants to commit to marketing plans. “Everything’s on hold,” she said. To her, the ethnic clashes that continue to flare in the Rift Valley, less than 100 miles away, are disturbing — and hard to understand.

The disputed election, in which President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner despite widespread evidence of vote rigging, uncorked decades of frustrations about land, political power and economic inequalities. Many Kenyans tend to vote along ethnic lines, and much of the violence since the election has taken on an ethnic cast, with members of groups that tend to support the opposition fighting against members of groups that have backed the president. More than 1,000 people have been killed. But ethnic identity issues are more complicated in the city. Ms. Nyangayi, 36, said she did not know she was a member of the Luhya ethnic group until she was 10 years old. She was born in Lamu, on the Kenyan coast, moved to Mombasa, a port town, and lived in Nairobi and Kisumu, in the far western part of Kenya. “I can’t even speak Luhya,” a shortcoming that is sometimes viewed as snobby, she said. “It’s not that I think I’m above being a Luhya,” she explained. “I’m proud of being a Luhya. It’s just that we moved around a lot as a kid, and I missed the bus somewhere.” Wambua Kilonzo is a lawyer, and he broke with his ethnic group, the Kamba, to vote for Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader who is a Luo. Many Kambas voted for another candidate, Kalonzo Musyoka, who is now vice president. “To me, it was more about the issues,” Mr. Kilonzo said, pointing to Mr. Odinga’s vow to fight corruption and restructure the government.

Mr. Kilonzo’s emerging law practice has been hurt by the election fallout. One of his top clients is the owner of a high-priced safari lodge that until recently had celebrities flying in on a regular basis. The resort is now a luxurious ghost town, and Mr. Kilonzo, 31, doesn’t feel right adding to the owner’s burdens. “How can I take money from my client when his business is like this?” he said. Mumo Kituku is a 31-year-old dentist in a clinic near a slum. He pulls teeth for the equivalent of $5 and gets a cut of the clinic’s profits depending on how many patients he serves. But the clinic is near Kibera, one of Nairobi’s more volatile neighborhoods, and in the past month, some of his patients have been afraid to venture out of their homes, reducing his workload and his income. “It’s been rough, man,” he said. It is issues like those that have pushed business leaders into action. They have struggled to be heard, with the young men sharpening machetes grabbing more headlines than the executives’ quiet efforts to wage peace.

But the white-collar profile has risen in the past few weeks. Executives from multinational and local companies recently met with Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga to stress the economic toll that is accruing while the top politicians continue to posture and the fighting between their supporters rages on. Some businesses have taken out advertisements in the local newspapers urging peace. “Kenya,” read a message from a bank on Monday, “our unity is our pride.” Some Kenyan journalists have complained that the middle class is not doing enough. “They have been lulled by a false sense of security they have enjoyed sheltered in their homes and clubs,” wrote Tom Mshindi, a columnist for The Saturday Nation. That said, business leaders have organized reconciliation workshops and gone back to their companies with plans of action. People like Mr. Mbugua do not want to see their dreams disappear. He wants to establish a financial planning organization in Kenya. And travel the world. “All my life I’ve wanted to go to Hawaii,” he said. “Is there ice there? And what about deer hunting in Alaska? What’s that like?”
By Jeffrey Gettleman
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Annan Sees Progress in Kenya Talks

NAIROBI, Kenya: Feb. 9th. (NY Times) - Kofi Annan, the former United nations secretary general who is brokering peace talks in Kenya, said Friday that no deal toward a durable political solution had been reached, but that progress was steadily being made. Mr. Annan has spent the past week trying to nudge Kenya’s government and top opposition leaders toward a compromise that could end the turmoil and violence that exploded in December after a disputed presidential election. More than 1,000 people have been killed, and Kenya’s economy and reputation for stability have taken a beating. “We have agreed that what is needed is a political solution,” Mr. Annan said. “We are actively discussing the terms of that solution.” He added, “I hope next week we’ll have firm details.”

Kenyans had been hoping for more. On Friday, rumors raced through Nairobi, the capital, that a breakthrough had been reached and that the two sides would come together in a government of national unity. People huddled around television sets and fine-tuned the antennas of their radios, eager for news. Kenya plunged into turmoil in late December after the country’s electoral commission declared that the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, had narrowly beaten the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga. Many election observers have said there was widespread evidence of vote rigging. Some observers contended that the government had interfered with the vote-tallying process to give Mr. Kibaki the edge. A person close to the political negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Friday evening that the two sides were close to sealing a deal. The opposition has agreed to recognize Mr. Kibaki as the president and drop its demand for a new election, the person said, and the president’s negotiators have reciprocated by talking of a “broad-based government.”

Many Kenyans have said that a meaningful political settlement is the only way to end fighting between opposition supporters and those who back the government. A power-sharing agreement has been one of the possible solutions floated in recent days, and Western officials, including American diplomats, have tried to throw their weight behind this. Though Mr. Annan said Friday that talk of a coalition government was “premature,” he emphasized that “there is ground for optimism” and that “we have narrowed down the issues.” The election controversy has stirred up deep-seated grievances over political, economic and land issues, pitting opposition supporters against members of the president’s ethnic group and groups perceived as supporting the government. Many people in Kenya tend to vote along ethnic lines, and much of the postelection bloodshed seems to have been ethnically driven, though many participants insist that their motives are political. Western governments have been increasingly alarmed about the unrest in Kenya, which until December was celebrated as one of the most stable and promising countries in Africa. The American Embassy in Kenya recently sent letters to 10 politicians and businessmen in the government and the opposition, warning them that they would be barred from the United States if the embassy determined that they had instigated or taken part in violence.

The Canadian and British governments have said they are considering similar measures. The pressure may be working. Mr. Odinga said Thursday that he was willing to back off his initial demand that Mr. Kibaki step down. Ngari Gituku, a spokesman for Mr. Kibaki’s political party, said this could be a welcome step forward. “The president doesn’t have a problem with a government of national unity, but the modalities of sharing responsibilities have to be carefully worked out,” Mr. Gituku said. “That’s going to take some time.”
By Jeffrey Gettleman - Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting from Nairobi.
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Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
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