Kenya's Elections = chaos, riots, hundreds killed.

[Faris]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22483668/

NAIROBI, Kenya - Police used tear gas, water cannons and batons Thursday to block thousands of people from protesting Kenya's disputed election amid a political deadlock between the president and his chief rival.

The U.S. and Europe pushed for reconciliation, but said a "made-in-Kenya solution" was needed to end the violence that has killed about 300 people and displaced some 100,000 since President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the Dec. 27 election.

But as the diplomats discussed unity, Kenya's slums burned.


"War is happening here," said 45-year-old Edwin Mukathia, who was among thousands of people who poured out of Nairobi's slums to heed opposition candidate Raila Odinga's call for a million-man march in the city's Uhuru Park.

But Mukathia and the others were kept at bay by riot police, who choked off the roads and fired live bullets over their heads. The opposition canceled the march but said they would hold it Friday, setting the stage for another day of upheaval stretching from the capital to the coast to the western highlands.

'People here are dying'
The conflict has brought condemnation from diplomats across the globe as one of Africa's top tourist draws and most stable democracies descends into chaos.

The images of burning churches, machete-wielding gangs and looters making off with fuel are common in a region encompassing Somalia and Sudan, but unusual for Kenya.

Smoke from burning tires and debris rose from barricaded streets, around Nairobi's huge slums, where hundreds of thousands of Odinga's supporters live, as well as on main roads leading into suburbs that are home to upper class Kenyans and expatriates.

In Mathare slum, rival groups of men hurled rocks at each other. Black smoke billowed from a burning gas station, and several charred cars sat on roads. The corpse of at least one man lay face down on a muddy path, and a wailing wife pulled her battered husband from the dark waters of the Nairobi River, where he had been dumped and left for dead.

"There is no food, there is no water," said Peter Ochieng, 37, who lives in Kibera slum, home to tens of thousands of opposition supporters. "People here are dying."

Disputes trigger violence, pit tribes
The election dispute has degenerated into violence pitting Kibaki's influential Kikuyus against Odinga's Luos and other tribes.

Kenya's electoral commission said Kibaki had won the Dec. 27 election, but Odinga alleged the vote was rigged. Foreign observers have questioned the vote count, as has the chief of Kenya's electoral commission.

So this is the story in a nut shell, as i heard from a friend. Election time is here negros! they count, blah blah. oh wow, candidate #1 wins!! WOOHOO!!!! ok wait...how come there is 900,000 votes?
KENYA'S POPULATION IS ONLY 850,000!!! WHAT THE FUCK. YOU CHEAT!! AAAAAAA *takes out big jungle tribal knife, and starts chopping off limbs.

The numbers are not real, but thats what i heard happened, votes were more than the people who voted. As a result, its pretty pretty bad in there, people are just dying left and right, America to the rescue!!?!?!?!
no oil? no oil! you want giraffes? ^_^

[archibaldcrane]

T.I.A.

[*Shinzon*]

T.I.A.

Great movie.

[Heian]

I figured the whole Continent of Africa would be devoid of people now, I mean between AIDS and all the Tribal Genocide, it should have been enough right?

[EternityEnd]

Sorry, but:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...yEnd/KENYA.jpg

Only in Kenya.

[Charla]

Don't worry everyone! This guy's got it covered.

[thestalkmore]

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/i ... on_cheadle

[Plow]

obligatory gratuitous lol black people






seriously tho, not surprising at all considering the general status of most of the African governments these days

[Ushallbeasgods]

I'm surprised the Western world cares... let alone even noticed.

[Kuya]

machete-wielding gangs

lol

And why are so many African countries so fucked up? Looks like i have some reading to do.

The numbers are not real, but thats what i heard happened, votes were more than the people who voted. As a result, its pretty pretty bad in there, people are just dying left and right, America to the rescue!!?!?!?!
no oil? no oil! you want giraffes? ^_^

I lol'd again.

[Alleya]

It's amazing to me, even after studying tribal psychology and conditioning and all that stuff, I still just cannot fathom how shaky elections = "let's go have some mass murder and rape, dudes!" to these people. It defies all tenants of logic.

Just more examples of how extremist minorities fuck it up for everyone else. It's easy to lose perspective on this kind of thing, just like with the middle east and al-queda and all that business. Most people there are desperate for peace and stability -- everyone who's sane is, just ask Maslow. But, instead, attention is focused on the violence, and countries/people lose their credibility in the eyes of the world, leading to more endless downward spiral that sucks normal people down with it...it's sad.

[Correction]

Kenya's been on extremely shaky ground for over 5 years now. It's not 'fishy elections = rape!' but closer to 'fishy elections after years of unmitigated governmental corruption and unappeased, tribally-driven grief = rape!' Power is swirling around to whomever can grab the most guns and kill off the most potential enemies the fastest, and that's the general cycle for many African nations. Corruption > Strong Man Rule > More Corruption > Violence > New Strong Man > Restart.

[Obev]

I think that'd rather be the tenets of logic. African politics make me, depending on my mood, either happy that Western European and North American politics don't end in bloodshed, or depressed that we have become so uncaring that we don't go on a bloody rampage when people are elected under dubious circumstances.

[Charla]

Oh we still do that, we just use lawyers instead of guns.

[Obev]

Heh. I had forgotten that lawsuits can hurt more than machetes. Still, it's a lot less personal than the whole "bloody machete rampage" thing.

[Khamsin]

Heh. I had forgotten that lawsuits can hurt more than machetes. Still, it's a lot less personal than the whole "bloody machete rampage" thing.

I'd say it's a lot more personal, given that the lawsuit even has your name on it and is specifically directed at you. Machetes can just swing this way and that, hitting whoever... "nothing personal, I'm just pissed off! Grahh!"