Kenya's Election

March 4, 2013 I thank God for the care that he has given me during this time of Kenya’s election. Pastor Leo knows all too well what being a refugee is all about.  He and his wife have opened up there home to me without question.  When I called him and explained the issues that I was dealing with in Kenya.  He said one word to me “come.” 

Rwanda is continually healing from the genocide of 1994 and their country is growing and becoming stronger.  Corruption doesn’t seem to rule in the land of Rwanda.  Traffic on the roads is rational and organized. The land is clean and trash does not decorate the landscape.  The smells of smoldering rubbish night and day don’t exist.

As beautiful as Rwanda is I must say that my thoughts are wrapped around the happenings of Kenya right now. Today everyone is voting for a new president.  I watch and listen for any bit of news that might come my way. Will the country remain peaceful?

Kenya:  
 

NAIROBI/MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed in attacks by machete-wielding gangs on Monday as Kenyans voted in a presidential election they hope will rebuild the nation's image after a disputed 2007 poll unleashed weeks of tribal bloodshed.

Mombassa is fighting ...they started early. They aren't fighting over who will be president. They are fighting because they want to become a country of their own!!!  Further up the coast there was a political riot and 4 police officers have been killed.

Polling centers did not work properly in some places.We hear that the ballots had printing errors on them.  Some of the names did not match the photos causing confusion.

Military has been sent to bolster security in volatile Coast.

People have stood in line for hours to receive that purple ink on their little finger that signifies that they have indeed voted for the new president.  There have been reports of some waiting in line for 16 hours to vote.                                                                                                                       

Vehicles are not transporting goods for fear of traveling through “hot-spots.”

The heavy afternoon rain ushers in the night but my day is not over.  The quietness is broken with a knock on my door.  Tonight they have a cell group meeting here at the Pastor Leo’s house and they are asking me to speak.  I quickly grab my Bible and walk into the room and there about 8 people ready and waiting. We enjoyed our study together and they were eager to participate. We are coming to the end of the session and I ask if anyone would like prayer.  One young man, in his early 20’s, raises his hand and says he wants to ask Jesus into his heart.  He drops to his knees and repeats the sinner’s prayer.  We had discussed “Repentance & Baptism” that evening and as he stood to his feet he looked at me and said “I thank God that he has sent you this far to explain this to me.”

He did not know my prayer that day.  He did not know what the Lord had impressed in my heart.  I believe the Lord has sent me here for safety and to continue in service for Him.  However the doors that I thought would be open for me are closed.  While in prayer the Lord reminded me of Philip and how he sent him into new territory for the “one.” How he sent Philip to explain the word of God to the Ethiopian. I told the Lord, “I will be happy with one.  Lord, let me see that one find you.”  Tonight that one accepted Jesus into his heart!

March 5, 2013  Ugali is the staple food in Kenya. It is a heavy pasty white corn meal dish that fills the stomach fast.  Here in Rwanda the staple food is “Matoke” or cooked green bananas.  After visiting the market I can understand why.  I have never seen so many green bananas in one place before.  Matoke is an easy dish to make.  The bananas are peeled and then put in layers, a layer of bananas and then a layer of peelings until the pan in full.  Some water is added to the pan and it sits on the charcoal cooker outside for hours.  For variety you might add a little watery homemade tomato soup or some cut up kale but “Matoke” is a must every single day.

Kenya:
Nairobi is a ghost town as firms shut for vote  by John Oyuke

At least one person has been injured in an explosion in Nairobi.
Police say preliminary findings show that a grenade was hurled into a shop injuring a woman.
Bomb experts are at the scene.

One person has been shot dead after chaos erupted in Garissa county over the announcement of gubernatorial results.by Cyrus Ombati

March 6, 2013  I patiently wait for word about Kenya. They had said that today they would make an announcement but there is only silence. The new process of counting votes has failed so the fear of a corrupt count rises. One of the reasons for the delay has been a lack of electricity at the polling stations. The laptops ran out of power so the election officials were forced to go back to the paper register.

Tonight I heard of happenings only 2 miles from the lodge I stay at in Kitale.               

 

The word is that an official from the IEBC (this is the voting commission here in Kenya that is responsible for overseeing and calculating the votes) is staying at the MidAfrica hotel and took some ballots back to the hotel to "recalculate" rather than staying at the official voting station to calculate. The official was followed by CID (Criminal Investigation Department), and a riot has started along the way. Kitale is heating up.  Apparently the votes for this constituency were disavowed because there were more votes than registered voters.  A mob tried to kill the election official here by the Alakara.  Shots have been fired. Still waiting on Kenya - the longer they wait the more people will feel that they have tampered with the votes.

March 7, 2013   I'm in a safe place but a lot of people are not. Please pray for Kenya. This update is from Theresa the lady who runs the lodge that I stay at in Kitale.

Riot police are in position at the police station in town where Wekesa is protesting irregularities in the Endebess results and stirring up tensions..... word is this will spread to the center at Showground where the Endebess results should be tallied with the rest of the area and riot police are also deployed there.  There are a lot of riot police around the police station area.  The all stems from Endebess IEBC lady needing to be rescued from Mid Africa yesterday when she was (wrongly) accused of tampering with results when all she was doing was photo copying documents.  tallied with the rest of the area and riot police are also being deployed there.... don't know about the latter but can tell you there are definitely a lot of riot police around the police station area... this all stems from the Endbess IEBC lady needing to be rescued from a cyber cafe at Mid Africa yesterday when she was (wrongly) accused of tampering with results when all she was doing was photocopying documents...... stay away from town tonight!

March 9, 2013  It's Saturday morning here and I woke up to my cell phone ringing. The American Embassy sent another text message... an "Announcement" was going to be made soon. Now let's see how Kenya will react....praying for peace.  Five days have passed since the residents of Kenya cast their vote.  Everyone has been watching and waiting to see how Kenya would react when the announcement was made about their new president.  Today is that day!  However a newspaper article tells us that Kenya is censoring the news. Will we really know what is happening?

Kenyatta wins presidency in Kenyan election(Reuters) March 9 2013
Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding president, won the presidential election with a slim margin of 50.03 percent of votes cast, provisional figures showed, just enough to avoid a run-off after a race that has divided the nation. Kenyatta, who faces international charges of crimes against humanity, secured victory over his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who trailed with 43.28 percent of the vote.

Vote will be contested: Prime Minister Raila Odinga now says that it is only the Supreme Court that will determine if Uhuru Kenyatta’s election as fourth President of Kenya is legit. Raila disputed and rejected the declaration of Uhuru as the winner of the March 4, elections citing what he termed as massive irregularities that marred the polling exercise and subsequent tallying. By Geoffrey Augustine and OduorMosoku

Police fire teargas at Kenya vote losers by Muhammad Iqbal

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- It's the biggest news of the year in Kenya: A presidential election with huge potential for violence. Why then are the headlines so boring, the TV broadcasts so dull? The answer: Kenyan media are self-censoring to avoid fanning the flames of conflict.
Kenyan media members said Thursday that media outlets agreed not to sensationalize headlines or even put political press conferences live on the air, to avoid airing hate speech or a political attacks. Associated Press by Jason Straziuso 

Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.