Gitau Warigi
6 January 2008
analysis
Nairobi — Successive Kenyan governments have been deploying the mantra of the country being "an island of peace in a sea of chaos." It has taken just days to shatter this self-delusion, perhaps for good.
The violent images in the media have seen to that.
The violence assumed the worst features of anarchy. Rioters were not even targeting the security forces. The violence instead was mainly inter-ethnic. In Rift Valley, communities perceived to have voted for President Kibaki were on the receiving end, as were those whose support for ODM was deemed to have been in some way less than fulsome.
After Police Commissioner Maj Gen Hussein Ali visited Eldoret, the displaced people started being evacuated on Wednesday by military-escorted convoys to safer areas. The Thursday convoy en route to Nakuru had to divert through Lessos after rioters blocked the road with culverts some distance from Cheptiret. At Lessos, the evacuees met a group of militias who taunted them to "go and never come back".
Another escorted convoy to Kisii was scheduled to leave Eldoret on Friday. Many families with roots in Ukambani were also holed up at Kesses near Moi University and were expected to be evacuated together with convoys leaving for Central Kenya. They complained they were being targeted not just because of the perception that they voted for Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, but also because the person who announced the disputed presidential election results, Mr Samuel Kivuitu, is from Ukambani.
It was Burnt Forest near Eldoret that provided the most horrific image of the post-election violence after several dozen children were burnt alive when arsonists razed a church they had taken refuge in. Since then, the name of Burnt Forest has suddenly acquired a new dark meaning reminiscent of Rwanda. The horrific pictures of the smouldering church were featured in almost every major newspaper in America.
Something else that has happened is that proponents of majimbo exclusivity have been jolted into a harsh reality which they had long ignored about the inter-dependence of this country's regions. Uasin Gishu may be the granary of Kenya, with its huge maize and wheat farms, but its capital Eldoret depends on fresh produce - vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes and so on - from Burnt Forest and Timboroa, which were both affected by the Rift Valley violence.
A lot of produce also comes from Nyandarua, but no transporter wanted to risk having his pick-up burnt or put his life at risk at the many ad hoc roadblocks put up by youths along the route to Eldoret. Matters were worse in Kisumu, which depends almost entirely on Kisii for fresh produce. Transport from Kisii was virtually paralysed.
More ominous were the images of Asians fleeing Kisumu in chartered flights to Nairobi and Kampala, many en route overseas.
Kisumu's commercial life is dominated by Asians but, with their businesses looted and vandalised, the town has been left with little by way of essential supplies. In fact, it is now a shell.
The enduring image of the chaos in Kisumu was the looting of Ukwala supermarket which was relayed nationwide through dramatic TV footage.
With Kisumu bleeding, available commodities were going at very exorbitant prices. The story was the same in other towns affected by the violence such as Kakamega, Bungoma and Kericho. Basic commodities like sugar and flour were either unavailable after shops closed or, where available, were retailing at high prices.
Reports from Malindi on Thursday said a kilogramme of potatoes was going at Sh150, up from Sh30. A sack cost Sh8,000 in Mombasa on Wednesday which, in turn, severely affected the fish and chips businesses in the town. In some places a packet of milk was going for Sh120.
Getting cell phone airtime was a particular problem. Many of the suppliers in the western region closed shop or had their premises vandalised. Numerous text messages were being sent to friends in Nairobi requesting them to "sambaza (share out)" airtime.
Worst of all was the petroleum shortage. It not only affected transport but also trading activities by hindering the movement of goods from place to place. Unlike the 1990/91 or 1994 clashes, this was the first time generalised violence was hitting major urban centres. The sobering fact that did not escape notice was the sheer economic gridlock this caused in about four days.
The cliche that when Kenya sneezes the whole region catches a cold turned out to be quite true. Uganda was facing closure for lack of fuel and other goods that must come through Kenya. The spiral of prices in Kampala was certain to follow if the crisis persisted.
The slum areas in Nairobi where the violence was worst also happened to be the most affected. Kibera, where most kiosks had been razed, was by Wednesday short of sukumawiki (kales) and other vegetables.
A severe shortage of meat had also hit many city estates as one of Nairobi's main slaughterhouses, Kiamaiko in Kariobangi North, was a no-go zone. And the closure of supermarkets affected the well-to-do equally adversely.
If the police have been instrumental in the return to normalcy in the city, it was when the crisis of dwindling supplies of food and the extended closure of most outlets began to bite that the demonstrators and their backers began to look exhausted. For once, Kenya stared at the precipice, and almost went under.
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