Kenya: Up in Smoke (UPDATED)

View from A Mad Kenyan Woman:

We really cannot go on much longer with these protestations of horrified incomprehension when all along bloggers, intellectuals, human rights activists and my next-door-neighbour’s little girl have all been warning us of the dangers of ethnic fundamentalism. [SNIP]

I have been watching the television and listening to an interesting cross-section of our leaders and opinion makers: we all seem to think that unless Raila and Kibaki get together and make nice, the rest of us are doomed to go on senselessly butchering each other without fear or favour, no scratch that: with ultimate fear and delicately nuanced favour. Somewhere along the lines of: you-must-have-voted-for-the-person-I-did-not-want-to-win-so-die.

Chaos in the Rift Valley....
A plea from Kenyan presidential candidate Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka:
And, in the wake of his consultation with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, here's a word from Senator Obama (click to download):

"I have been deeply troubled by the recent news out of Kenya. The instability and tragic violence pose an urgent and dangerous threat to the people of Kenya, and to Kenyan democracy. My family’s thoughts and prayers go out to all who have suffered, and to the families of the victims.

"The Kenyan people have a proud history of supporting the growth of democracy in their country. Their thirst for democracy was on display in this most recent election, when they turned out to vote in record numbers, and in a peaceful and orderly way.

"Despite irregularities in the vote tabulation, now is not the time to throw that strong democracy away. Now is a time for President Kibaki, opposition leader Odinga, and all of Kenya’s leaders to call for calm, to come together, and to start a political process to address peacefully the controversies that divide them. Now is the time for this terrible violence to end.

"Kenya’s long democratic journey has at times been difficult. But at critical moments, Kenyans have chosen unity and progress over division and disaster. The way forward is not through violence – it is through democracy, and the rule of law. To all of Kenya’s people, I ask you to renew Kenya’s democratic tradition, and to seek your dreams in peace."

(Thanks to Swamp Politics)

UPDATE: The Current State of Democracy in Kenya (very disturbing photos).

Kenya's Electoral Commission chairman admits to announcing the election results prematurely due to pressure.

(Thanks to Andrew Sullivan)

UPDATE: This communist blogger's take on things is very informative and would be kind of fun if the so many lives weren't a stake.

PREVIOUSLY:

Winds of Kenyan War
Kenyan Tribal Violence

Comments

[JM Hanes]

Dear God, I pray for the people of Kenya. The stunning resort to mindless violence is horrifying and disheartening news. The recent church burning and the resulting deaths -- which I find hard even to refer to directly -- would shock the conscience in any case, but the fact that such things are happening in Kenya somehow makes it more terrible still. Is nowhere safe from such infection? What is the weakness that leaves democratic institutions so consistently vulnerable to collapse in so many places?