"Some youths came to the church," said a local reporter from the scene. "They fought with the boys who were guarding it, but they were overpowered and the youths set fire to the church."
The explosion of violence in one of Africa's most stable democracies and strongest economies has shocked the world
and left Kenyans aghast as long-simmering tribal rivalries pitch communities against each other.
In Kenya we have yet another example of the widespread African calamity that will take generations to solve. Democratic government and capitalism have nary a chance in this cauldron of poverty created by family, tribal and ethnic loyalties.
We in America hold to freedom as the cornerstone of our governance system. In much of Africa freedom is more often subservient to power and corruption fueled by ignorance and hatred which creates the grinding poverty and disease. I fear progress will continue to be slow and painful as history has shown.
"Mr. Kibaki's supporters say he has turned Kenya's economy into an east African powerhouse, with an average growth rate of 5%. He won by a landslide in 2002, ending 24 years in power by the notoriously corrupt Daniel arap Moi. But Mr. Kibaki's antigraft campaign has largely been seen as a failure, and the country still struggles with tribalism and poverty.
The election violence had a tribal undertone in the slums, where youths shouted ethnic slurs. Mr. Kibaki, from the Kikuyu tribe, has been accused of maintaining the tribal patronage system of the Moi years. Mr. Odinga is a Luo, another major tribe. Tribal allegiances have always been a factor in elections in Kenya, where there are more than 40 tribes, and where candidates on the campaign trail are not above appealing to tribe in subtle as well as direct ways."
No comments:
Post a Comment