Kenya in the News

Explosion in Nairobi  Yesterday there was an explosion at mall in downtown Nairobi.  In the last few months there have been several small grenade attacks in Kenya, mostly on the coast and in Garissa-a region bordering Somalia.  For the most part these attacks have been blamed by Somali militants associated with Al Shabaab, although this explosion currently has no identified cause.

Although there has been an uptick in the number of attacks recently, in my part of the country it's completely noticeable.  That attacks may as well be occurring in Russia or on the moon. With the exception of these few incidents in these few areas, the vast majority of the country is very calm and unaffected.  The risk of automotive accident or eating bad omena is much higher.

Going to the Hague Back in 2007, Kenya experienced a wave of violence following contested elections between Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki.  In the aftermath, four Kenyans, MP William Ruto, MP Uhuru Kenyatta, Joshua Sang, and Francis Muthaura were all indicted by the International Criminal Court for various crimes during the violence.  They've had various appeals since, although now legal avenues have been closed.  The two MPs are an especially interesting case, as they have intentions of vying for the Presidency of Kenya in the upcoming elections.  Several of their appeals have been to postpone the trials until after the elections so as to allow them to run.  This has not been done.

Most of my colleagues are Luo, and as such were supporters of Odinga and his party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).  Odinga came in second behind Kibaki in the election, and many of his supporters claimed election fraud.  Generally, they-my colleagues-are in favor of the ICC process.  Many Kenyans have little faith in the government's ability to prosecute major public figures successfully, and the ICC is seen as a step towards ending 'impunity.'  Not everyone agrees, of course.

And some shorts:
: The Coca Cola company in Kenya has some pretty awesome energy and resource saving technologies on its Nairobi building.  :  Kenyan roads are a little scary.  I travel this way all the time. : Cell phone use in the developing world is crazy-and it offers some amazing business opportunities. :