Politics and Rain

Salutations!

I remained at home most of the weekend, as I was feeling a little down with a sore throat and headaches. However, I did venture out Saturday for what turned out to be one of the more interesting experiences I have had to date.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's 5 year term as president is drawing to a close, and new elections are to be held this December. As a result, the entire populace seems to be engaged in various political debates and conversations all the time. Additionally, with Kibaki having announced his re-election campaign last week and challenger Raila Odinga formally throwing his hat into the ring Saturday, rallies, speeches, and propaganda campaigns are beginning in earnest.

And it just so happened that president Kibaki, having heard that Raila was planning a major Rally in Nairobi to coincide with his official campaign announcement, decided to try and steal some of national headlines with a rally of his own right here in Nakuru. Midafternoon found me tagging along with a few members of REPACTED (most of whom support the challenger Odinga) as we walked down to the soccer stadium outside of town where the rally was to be held. Many thousands of people turned out for the event, and security was tight. But even so, it was difficult to remain close to all of the members of the group as the crowd moved swiftly towards the gate in the stadium's outer wall. In fact, by the time we were inside only Dennis and one other member were still by my side. Worried for my safety (I was probably the only non-Kenyan, and certainly the only white person in the crowd), we moved quickly to the side of the crowd and picked a sparsely populated vantage point just inside the outer gate. From there, we could easily see the masses filling the field, the bleacher seating, and every other available scrap of space.
Some of the crowd at the rally.

Although such massive attendance was certainly impressive, the shouts of the crowd rang a little hollow. It was only a few hours earlier that I had been in Kenyatta Park downtown watching PNU members (The Party of National Unity - Kibaki's party) pay anyone they could find 100 shillings (Roughly $1.50) to wear Kibaki's Tshirts and carry his posters. "Many of these people are only here for the money and to see the president," Dennis said, "Most of them won't vote for Kibaki." In fact, just then we recieved a call from another REPACTED member who said that several of them were going to be paid to entertain the crowd during lulls in the rally. I had heard these same people express their support for Raila as recently as that morning. What makes this system even more surprising to me, is the fact that as the current ruling group, PNU is allowed to pay all of these people with government money. Imagine your tax dollars being used to increase attendance at Republican fundraisers. Anyway, we waited around for a little while, waiting for something to happen. As we did, a little rain began to fall. "A bad omen for Kibaki?" I asked. But unlike in America, where the saying "rain on your parade" conveys our belief that inclement weather is a sign of bad fortune, or at the least, an inconvenience, here in Kenya it is thought that rain is a heavenly blessing. Having a little rain falling was a stroke of good luck for the incumbent. As I contemplated this, the noise from the crowds outside the stadium suddenly reached new heights. The president's motorcade had arrived. The rapidly swelling crowd around us began to surge forward as the first security vehicles rattled through the gate, and by the time the president's personal guard rolled in on a convoy of motorcycles, I found myself pressed from all sides. A warning "watch for pickpockets" from Dennis was the last thing I heard before the noise of the crowd peaked as president Kibaki himself came into view, only fifteen feet or so from where we stood. He stood in his car, standing so that most of his body emerged through the sunroof. He waved benevolently at the throngs around him, thanking them for their faithful support. It was quite a sight to behold.

After he and a multitude of other ministers and officials passed, the crowd began to move towards the field again, and we found ourselves more or less alone with a few policemen who had been stationed to guard the gate. One of them was being laughed at, and it took me a minute to understand why. Apparently his phone had been taken right out of his pocket in the middle of the surging crowd. Even he was a little amused at the irony. I quickly checked my own possessions to make sure they were all safe, and was relieved to find that they were. However, we decided that we had taken enough risks for the afternoon, and decided to retire to the theater for the remainder of the day.

Several other things of note have transpired since I last wrote, but for now I must go. Perhaps later today I will be able to write more.

For now,
Chris