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Kibaki and Raila must act to
save Kenya
Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 1/28/2008
The fresh tidal wave of deaths and violence, mainly witnessed in
Nakuru and Naivasha, is clearly pointing to an ominous dimension
the political turmoil is taking. At the close of Sunday, at least
72 people had added to the grim statistics of Kenya’s bloodbath.
What we are witnessing is not just raw anger triggered by
irregularities in the presidential poll tallying. Even if it was,
the crisis has taken a life of its own and there is no knowing how
bad it will get. For when armed gangs descend into an estate and
hack people to death and get away with it, or when youths surround
a monastery hosting displaced people, burn hostels and hold priest
and other occupants hostage for hours, then we cannot talk about
the rule of law. And not when armed gangs can block the
Nairobi-Nakuru highway and cause mayhem in broad daylight as they
did Sunday.
Reports from the Rift Valley illustrate one eerie fact, that the
Government has lost control of some of this country. The police is
overwhelmed and the provincial administration, as we know it,
cannot even fathom the depth of the crisis. That the Government
had to bring the military to help restore sanity in Nakuru and
combine that a dusk to dawn to curfew underlined that things have
got out of hand.
The humanitarian tragedy attending to this is not within the scope
of Kenyans’ comprehension. Never in our history did we ever
imagine that this country would disintegrate and rapidly go to the
dogs right under our watch. Such stories were best left to the TV
episodes from other parts of the continent.
But all is not lost. We still have time and chance to redeem this
country and stem the losses and further bloodshed and misery. This
is why we reinforce the strong message mediator Kofi Annan
delivered to President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga; the two
must make hard and tough choices. They must quickly agree to
resolve the political stalemate by eschewing their hardline
positions. What more must happen to convince the two principals at
the heart of the poll dispute that the country is collapsing and
that they stand to lose everything they are haggling over so
fiercely.
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