Business Daily (Nairobi)
Laila Macharia
26 February 2008
opinion
Media footage of looting and burning left the impression of large scale destruction downtown, but a trip to Kisumu three weeks ago showed that with the exception of one supermarket and a few other spread-out shops, the city is largely intact. Hawkers are out doing their thing and the number of boda bodas and tuk tuks are overwhelming as usual.
Still, political tension is perceptibly high. The gentleman driving us from the airport remarks that people have been very annoyed . They say Raila deserved to be president since he won the election. However, he concedes, the second-best option would be a rerun. Failing that a power-sharing where Raila is prime minister, but accountable only to the Parliament.
Any news bulletin provokes city-wide attention. Otherwise illiterate people seem to understand the nuances of international relations, reciting the day's agenda for the mediation team and the ongoings at the African Union as if they had been there in person.
There are some signs that things are not quite right. Remnants of burnt tyres remain on some roads. At the hospital, the nurses are relieved that blood supplies are finally being flown in from Nairobi. A visit to IDPs, ironically located at Haki House, reveals that 35 people, including children, desperately need funds for transport "at least as far as Nakuru". One woman explained that she would stay. "I was married in Bondo in 1989.
These are my people. Once the problems end, I'll go back home." In back streets, the mood is less pragmatic. One hotel is closed, its owner having fled and left it under constant armed police guard. But there is another under-current. Asked whether he thinks the ethnic animosity runs deep, a businessman shakes his head. If the political stalemate is settled, he predicts, things will go back to normal.
Different people seem eager to emphasise that no Kikuyu was killed even at the height of the clashes. Someone else points out that the IDPs driven out of Naivasha were not turned on by their neighbours, but by militia "brought in from elsewhere."
The weather is exceptionally crisp and bright and a trip to the lakeside yields exceptional views and sumptuous fried fish. For both tourism and real estate development, this year was going to be a bustling one, with large housing estates planned in Eldoret and upscale resorts both on Lake Victoria and bordering Kakamega Forest. After the visit, it's clear that these projects are not cancelled, but merely postponed.
Dr Macharia runs Scion Real, a property investment firm. She is also a member of the Citizens Pathway Group.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
