Rioting in Nairobi

Go figure, my first travel experience out of Uganda into the rest of Africa would lead me straight into political upheaval! But, to be truly honest, with my Bachelors in Government and International Politics, I found the experience quite exciting to live through. Another missionary girl, also from Oregon and living here in Uganda for a few months, needed to leave the country in order to renew her visa. So Jessica and I determined to make a holiday out of it. Inauspiciously, we decided to go to Nairobi. It was eerie on the first day to walk out of our hotel into a Ghost Town. The streets were EMPTY; no cars; no people. The city of xxx number of people had shut down, waiting for the Electoral Commission to release the results from the Presidential Election. And malls, movie theaters, banks, markets, grocery stores, and even gas stations had closed not as a result of violence, but in anticipation of violence. I had briefly mentioned that the city was shut down for elections to my parents, but it was not until the news made the front page of the Oregonian that they realized the full weight of what we were in the middle of. Every time CNN came out with a new report, I got a new call from my family. And, because of the Media Blackout by the Kenya government, it was hard to get news about what was really going on. Though, the biggest story was of the 40 people that were burned alive in a church by protesters. But, this was in a town that is a 6 hour drive away from Nairobi. And buses were attacked on the road, though tourists have been left unharmed, people were killed. And of course all buses and trains have been canceled indefinitely. Nevertheless, the fact is, that the city feels pretty safe because there were military on every street corner. And to those in the States, the very presence of military on the streets is cause for alarm, however after living in Uganda for three months, it has become commonplace to see men in uniforms with rifles, roaming the streets.

Our New Years holiday in Kenya wasn’t quite the holiday we had imagined. But, Jessica and I made an adventure out of it anyway. Since there wasn’t anything to do in Nairobi and we needed to remain within the military quarantine of downtown, we ended up jumping from Five Star Hotel to Five Star Hotel – we ate at the Hilton, the Serena, the Sarova and stopped by the Fairmont Hotel. And since there wasn’t much to do other than watch television for the impending election results and subsequent violence, we made friends with the wait staff everywhere we went who chatted with us about Kenya life and politics. One restaurant even opened up their doors just for us! The owner assured us we would be safe there and as we ate tacos our waiter, Charles, explained about the differences between the two candidates, Kibaki and Odinga. Then he escorted us to a taxi, negotiated a good price and sent us on our way safely. We also were able to do some souvenir shopping at the ten shops (of over 100) that opened for a few hours in the Curios Market. We had Kenyans physically dragging us their shops, trying to make us their best friend so we would purchase something. And, boy do Kenyans love to barter. The start the price at 5x the actual value and you have to spend hours talking them down – and you still pay too much! Mostly because you are too tired to argue anymore so you just give in.

We did get a chance to escape for a few days to one of the premiere Safari parks in Africa! But, it was a little touch and go, getting back into Nairobi, with our uncertainty about the political climate and how much violence had entered into the city. Furthermore, since our original flight had been cancelled, and all buses and train routes closed, we were unsure for a couple days how to get back to Kampala. We ultimately, got the last two seats on a one-way flight on a commercial airline. It was a relief to leave primarily because there were plans for a Political Rally that day, and the fine line between “Rally” and “Riot” is easily crossed when that many people get together. But, to further complicate things, Uganda gets all its fuel from Kenya. Therefore because of the political unrest, Shell was not delivering fuel out of Kenya. Places that had gas had long lines and prices reached up to $8 a gallon in some places. It is weeks like these that are a glaring reminders that I am living in a third world country. Even after arriving safely to Kampala, it was another week before we got back to the routine of things (i.e. getting to internet).

As a whole, this is an interesting study in Democracy in Africa. Up to this point, Kenya had been an example of how democratic peace can bring prosperity to a country. Kenya was the Pride of Africa; a haven for their more war-torn neighbors including, Uganda. Yet, the question has been raised again. Has colonization created a permanently, hostile environment for free and fair elections? Will Democracy work on the African continent? I truly believe it will. The United States has had two century’s of democracy and most of Africa has only had two or three decades. Democracy must be tried and tested. But, at the same time this serves has a good reminder that Democracy is fragile, no matter where in the world you live. And, unfortunately, it only takes handful of people to bring chaos to order and tyranny to freedom.