(my country), tears of thee

Three months ago, this country was gunning for double-digit economic growth. The shilling was at a near-10-year high against the dollar. Investors were super-confident, and we were on our way to the biggest IPO in East African history. Now there's a completely different story. What's changed? I wonder.

Well, there has been a general election, with catastrophic results. Man has risen against woman, tribe against tribe and friends against each other. I actually saw this on the news and my insides churned: a 75-year old woman stood outside her house as the youth burned it to the ground, and they could see her. They actually knew she was there, could see how old and helpless she was and it didn't faze them. They didn't even bat an eyelid. My God! Im pretty certain this was not the dream our post-colonialism heroes had for us, but then again they are from the tribe that started all this, so maybe I shouldn't underestimate them. :(

I took a drive across the western part of the country and saw for myself. Cameras really don't lie. The devastation is gut wrenching. In a town called Turbo, essentially everything was razed. Im guessing the town even shut down for a few days. All around the rift valley you see ruble, large stones beside the road [that were used to form jua kali roadblocks for purposes of oppressing travellers and extorting cash out of them], burnt up trailers and cars, and blood in a few of the areas. No doubt people got pumelled to death there. At the G7 conference, I saw other countries agonising over the rising prices in the property market, oil, inflation, and I was thinking, "That's supposed to be us." Such problems actually pale in comparison to having to wonder if you'll wake up tomorrow, or have a place to sleep. I've actually seen a woman deliver at one of these concentration camps. I've seen someone slaughtered by the roadside, just coz he happened to be from the wrong tribe. Growing up these were things I thought were the stuff TV was made of. The thing about TV is you can turn it off if it gets to be too much, or change channels. So what if it's all around you? Where does one turn? You wait to hear that relief is coming, instead you hear more militia and foreign troops have been dispatched. You hope for food, you get more blood. Music to calm the senses, you get gunshots. A blanket of peace to sleep under, wreckage. I mean people are even burning down churches! Imagine!

And through all this, one can't help but wonder, where the ***** is the president!?! At statehouse, I guess. He's supposed to stay there, isn't he? He got sworn in in record time - 30 minutes after the announcement, with only a handful of invited guests at the Statehouse [don't even get me started on how irregular that is - the National Anthem didn't even play, and the media were shut out] under the guise of "...insecurity around the country cannot allow there to be a power vacuum at the top..." One would at least expect that insecurity would be the first thing he'd try to deal with, to give people a sense of hope of a brighter tomorrow, even if false. But no. The areas most affected were not Central or Eastern, so why should he bother? The rest are opposition regions, aren't they? Let the opposition handle it. Seriously, a sitting president?!!? All this is of course made worse if you look at it through the binoculars of the US elections. The kinds of principles you need to have to even stand a chance, leave alone win. Their campaign platforms. I look at Obama and I say, that there is leadership [I am a fan of Hillary though, it's I think a personal thing, or maybe coz I've read hers and Bill's autobios so I know a bit more about her]. Granted they're 200 years old, but even then, I've seen the Declaration of Independence, and that was written in 1776. If they thought like that then, they can't have been very far off from what they are now leadership-wise, and two of their three great presidents actually led around the 20s, not recent times.

I guess what Im trynna say is our leaders scarcely have an excuse. They cannot blame the current state of affairs on our young age as a democracy. That UN director had it spot on, a peaceful state is predicated on justice. If there is no justice, there will be war, it is only a matter of time. Our time had probably come. Im just sad I was alive to see it.

It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and love isn't even in the headlines. Imagine that. :(

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