B
B1ackwater
Guest
BBC
At least four people have died as mobs torched houses in a slum in the
Kenyan capital Nairobi, after the killing of an opposition MP nearby.
Mugabe Were, from beaten presidential candidate Raila Odinga's ODM
party, apparently died in violence triggered by disputed elections
last month.
Meanwhile towns in the Rift Valley are witnessing fresh inter-ethnic
fighting.
Army helicopters fired on a mob of ethnic Kikuyus attacking Luo
refugees trying to flee the town of Naivasha.
"It is no longer about the election, it is about revenge killing
Bogonko Bosire, AFP journalist
They used tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets, causing the crowds to
flee in panic.
Police on the ground had been unable to control the mob, said to
number thousands of people, which was looting and burning buildings in
the town.
Members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have been fighting
with Luos and Kalenjins who backed Mr Odinga in last month's election.
Government and opposition are due to begin talks to resolve the crisis
on Tuesday afternoon.
A UN spokesman said the dialogue process, mediated by former UN chief
Kofi Annan, would start at 1600 local time (1300 GMT) at a neutral
location.
- - - - -
BBC-America showed some film last night where the
police damned well weren't using RUBBER bullets.
One man was shot dead on camera as he taunted
a security-forces officer - he fell on the body
of someone previously killed as the cop moved
forward, taking aim at others.
"Dialogue process" ??? How typically UN. As we've
seen in Darfur, that's a code phrase for "Let's
just pretend we're doing something until the
genocide is over with and the problem goes away".
Kenya had long been the best, most stable, nation
in central Africa. Relatively wealthy, unusually
tolerant of diverse ethnic/tribal groups, better
educated, an island of decent 2nd-world life
in a 3rd/4th-world cesspool.
And then el-Presidente decided he'd like to add
"for life" to his title. That's all it took to
totally unravel Kenyan society and plunge it
back into tribal warfare and blood vendettas.
2nd-world to 4th essentially overnight.
What's the difference between a 1st-world country
and a 2nd-world country ? It's not really the money,
it's the SYSTEM. In a 1st-world country the people
can have faith that the system will persevere even
if individual politicians or parties screw up. The
Democrats cynically squealed about Bush "stealing
the election" both times ... but there were no
bloody riots and massacres. Even if Bush HAD 'stolen'
the election, he was still just a small cog in a
much bigger well-established stable machine. 49 or
51 percent ... well ... life goes on. We'll fix it
next time ...
But in a 2nd-world country, there isn't much of a
"system" per-se. Instead there are collections of
personalities, often corrupt, who handle this and
that by sheer force of will and/or military power.
There's the illusion of a 'system', but beneath
the veneer it's really "Mr.X", "Mr.Y" and how THEY
choose to do things for THEIR reasons. Less a
"nation" in the western sense than a 'gangland'
where the strongest gang sets the agenda.
3rd-world ... just worser and worser ... less and
less 'system' and cash, more and more personality
cult and/or disunion. 4th-world ... total disunion,
para-anarchy, everyone-for-themselves. At present,
only Somalia and parts of Afghanistan really fit
the description of 4th-world. Not good places to be.
And poor Kenya ... the former jewel of central Africa
is now encrusted with blood and sworn to revenge. It
doesn't matter who's president tomorrow, what has
happened over the past few weeks will hobble that
country for generations to come.
At least four people have died as mobs torched houses in a slum in the
Kenyan capital Nairobi, after the killing of an opposition MP nearby.
Mugabe Were, from beaten presidential candidate Raila Odinga's ODM
party, apparently died in violence triggered by disputed elections
last month.
Meanwhile towns in the Rift Valley are witnessing fresh inter-ethnic
fighting.
Army helicopters fired on a mob of ethnic Kikuyus attacking Luo
refugees trying to flee the town of Naivasha.
"It is no longer about the election, it is about revenge killing
Bogonko Bosire, AFP journalist
They used tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets, causing the crowds to
flee in panic.
Police on the ground had been unable to control the mob, said to
number thousands of people, which was looting and burning buildings in
the town.
Members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have been fighting
with Luos and Kalenjins who backed Mr Odinga in last month's election.
Government and opposition are due to begin talks to resolve the crisis
on Tuesday afternoon.
A UN spokesman said the dialogue process, mediated by former UN chief
Kofi Annan, would start at 1600 local time (1300 GMT) at a neutral
location.
- - - - -
BBC-America showed some film last night where the
police damned well weren't using RUBBER bullets.
One man was shot dead on camera as he taunted
a security-forces officer - he fell on the body
of someone previously killed as the cop moved
forward, taking aim at others.
"Dialogue process" ??? How typically UN. As we've
seen in Darfur, that's a code phrase for "Let's
just pretend we're doing something until the
genocide is over with and the problem goes away".
Kenya had long been the best, most stable, nation
in central Africa. Relatively wealthy, unusually
tolerant of diverse ethnic/tribal groups, better
educated, an island of decent 2nd-world life
in a 3rd/4th-world cesspool.
And then el-Presidente decided he'd like to add
"for life" to his title. That's all it took to
totally unravel Kenyan society and plunge it
back into tribal warfare and blood vendettas.
2nd-world to 4th essentially overnight.
What's the difference between a 1st-world country
and a 2nd-world country ? It's not really the money,
it's the SYSTEM. In a 1st-world country the people
can have faith that the system will persevere even
if individual politicians or parties screw up. The
Democrats cynically squealed about Bush "stealing
the election" both times ... but there were no
bloody riots and massacres. Even if Bush HAD 'stolen'
the election, he was still just a small cog in a
much bigger well-established stable machine. 49 or
51 percent ... well ... life goes on. We'll fix it
next time ...
But in a 2nd-world country, there isn't much of a
"system" per-se. Instead there are collections of
personalities, often corrupt, who handle this and
that by sheer force of will and/or military power.
There's the illusion of a 'system', but beneath
the veneer it's really "Mr.X", "Mr.Y" and how THEY
choose to do things for THEIR reasons. Less a
"nation" in the western sense than a 'gangland'
where the strongest gang sets the agenda.
3rd-world ... just worser and worser ... less and
less 'system' and cash, more and more personality
cult and/or disunion. 4th-world ... total disunion,
para-anarchy, everyone-for-themselves. At present,
only Somalia and parts of Afghanistan really fit
the description of 4th-world. Not good places to be.
And poor Kenya ... the former jewel of central Africa
is now encrusted with blood and sworn to revenge. It
doesn't matter who's president tomorrow, what has
happened over the past few weeks will hobble that
country for generations to come.
