kenyaimagine.com

Home

State of Kenya: Chaos after ODM prayer rally

Written by Updates

Wednesday, 23 January 2008

The Editors Guild have issued a 24 hour ultimatum to the government to lift the ban on live media coverage in force since December 29th. [Check for Updates]

Kenyan athlete Wesly Ngetich, who most recently won the Grandma's Marathon in Minnesota, has been shot dead by an arrow in Trans Mara.

There has been no confirmation on the reasons for the shooting. According to interviews by Associated Press, Ngetich's death is not related to the post-election violence. It seems he was caught in the crossfire between two communities fighting over an un-related dispute.

ODM prayer services will go on as scheduled in Nairobi later today at Ligi Ndogo Grounds. Yesterday, prayers were held at the Kisumu Moi Stadium.

-------------------------------------------------------

In a statement read by Macharia Gaitho of the Daily Nation on behalf of the Editors Guild, they said that if after 24 hours their demand to drop the ban is not met they would "enforce other measures in the interest of public information."

" We cannot sit back as gatekeepers and watch as crucial information is held back from the public we must act to ensure that information dissemination is kept up to pace". Read more here.

---------------------------------------------------------

'Chaos erupted after the ODM prayer rally at Jamhuri Park in Nairobi. I had to run to Kibera, youth set ablaze the Ngong Road Telkom Exchange at Jamhuri and its CDMA transmission mast. They than burned two cars and felled the fence surrounding the facility. A protester almost hacked me when he saw me speaking on my phone. They were accusing me of reporting to the police. I had to explain that I was a reporter and showed them my notebook. They were saying to me atherere, thinking I was Kikuyu.'

Reporter on the Ground.

------------------------------------------------------------

Please send updates to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Updates
		About the author:
		kenyaImagine editors will keep you updated on the latest news in Kenya and the world. Write to us if you are interested in being featured in our updates: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Related Articles:

The poor are forgotten
On my Faith and my Church
Dissolution by other means; the story of KANU
Our political intolerance
The Serial Myth

Articles by this Author:

Timeline of Raila/Kibaki Feud
Steve Clemons interviews Kalonzo Musyoka

View all articles by this author

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (17)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Justice
written by donde , January 23, 2008

The kind of violence we are witnessing in Kenya at the moment which has been dubbed as the 'post elections violence' are in fact more than what meets the eye. World over more post election violence only take an average of about 3 - 4 days and thereafter things often slowly go back to normal which is not the case with Kenya. About three weeks down the line houses are still being torched , people mimed events, mistrus amongst neighbours and tension everywhere which from my point of view are as a result of injustices whether real or imagined and were only waiting for the right time to explode.
Preaching peace in a nutshell without getting into the root cause of a Kenyan turning against another with impunity and without any remorse will only quell the skirmishes in the short run but eventually it will rear it's ugly head even more fiercely.
The Goverment should as a matter of fact constitute a truth and reconciliation committe to determine the causes of the rife and even go further to identify potential areas like the Likoni area,Kwale and parts of Western province.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

RIP
written by This year , January 23, 2008

To Wesley RIP is in order.
To the Kenyan at large we need prayers and
all of us must walk the peace talk. Even if this will come from the most unlikely quarters(... Kaguta... if this rings a bell)
GOD BLESS Kenya.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Two updates for you
written by magothe , January 23, 2008

At the one "prayer" meeting that opposition followers were legally allowed to hold in Nairobi (near Kibera), ODM youths burned a Kenya Tele exchange and stoned police cars: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wor...204166.stm.

Secondly, for proof that Ojinga just wants power, read the last paragraph of this Reuters article:
http://www.reuters.com/article...23?sp=true

(Edited for style and clarity of reference. Ed.)

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Shame
written by B. Muthiora , January 23, 2008

The ODM says it will consider calling off protests if Mr Annan asks them to.

Is it only Anan that can appeal to ODM's conscience? Shame!

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Timothy Wainaina , January 23, 2008

Now Raila wants to be Prime Minister, he wants to be executive Prime Minister and will leave the presidency up to Kibaki. Why would Kenyans accept as their leader a man who endorses the murder of some among their number?
url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080123/wl_nm/kenya_crisis_dc_95]Link here

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Greed and reckless ambition
written by aeichener , January 23, 2008

Now Raila wants to be Prime Minister, he wants to be executive Prime Minister and will leave the presidency up to Kibaki.

Yes he WANTS. Wants, wants, WANTS. Wants it NOW. Sure. When I was a child, I also wanted a lot of things.

I have since learned that closing one's eyes before reality, stomping on the ground, throwing a tantrum and threatening others will not necessarily bring one what one WANTS, but could actually make one an outsider.

Alexander

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

re: Greed and reckless ambitio
written by Wuod Aketch , January 23, 2008

Now Raila wants to be Prime Minister, he wants to be executive Prime Minister and will leave the presidency up to Kibaki.

Yes he WANTS. Wants, wants, WANTS. Wants it NOW. Sure. When I was a child, I also wanted a lot of things.

Alexander

Can I add that, you just wanted, but never worked hard enough. Agree with me that Raila deserves more than a prime minister's post!!!
At least Raila did not just "want", he has been working hard for it - and many Kenyans know just that!!! The thief in state house who wanted a free ride for another five years is in for a surprise.
I now understand why people loath Raila - he prevents people from turning round in circles.
Alex enjoy this VDO:

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Aketch
written by Tim Norwood , January 23, 2008

Can you imagine where Kenya would be if there was let's say a Kikuyu, a Luhya, a Kalenjin leader of Raila's type? Would you support him if he was not of your village?

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

re: re: Greed and reckless amb
written by Kimemia , January 23, 2008

Now Raila wants to be Prime Minister, he wants to be executive Prime Minister and will leave the presidency up to Kibaki.

Yes he WANTS. Wants, wants, WANTS. Wants it NOW. Sure. When I was a child, I also wanted a lot of things.

Alexander

Can I add that, you just wanted, but never worked hard enough. Agree with me that Raila deserves more than a prime minister's post!!!
At least Raila did not just "want", he has been working hard for it - and many Kenyans know just that!!! The thief in state house who wanted a free ride for another five years is in for a surprise.
I now understand why people loath Raila - he prevents people from turning round in circles.
Alex enjoy this VDO:

Several points to be amde on your rejoinder Mr Aketch

First of all lots of people work hard for things that they deserve and do not get them because injustices occurin this world but where rule of law exists and is paramount then they have the means to seek legal redress. Now though Raila has every right to be aggrieved name calling street protests, peaceful or otherwise, do not represent th correct way to seek redress in this matter in the way going to the house of someone who has stolen your cow to protest will not get you your cow back but will only result in you disturbing the peace.

Second point is in a democratic process it does not really matter how much the person running want's the said position whether or not he can assume that duty is dependent on whether he can get the largest group of supporters to endorse him for that office by voting in his favour.

my last point is that though alot has been made by people with their sympathies directed towards ODM about Kibaki 'stealing' the election the truth of the matter that more than half the constituencies across the poiltical divide means that unless a peoper cleanup of the vote is done no one really has the authority to say they won the election and even if Raila had been declared winner, or Kibaki were to suddenly step aside and ask Raila to come in as president the result would be jsut as severely tainted as the one the ECK tried to force down the throats of Kenyans at the end of last year.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Hopeless Raila Greed and Reckl
written by Wephukulu Luteya , January 23, 2008

Now Raila wants to be Prime Minister, he wants to be executive Prime Minister and will leave the presidency up to Kibaki.

Yes he WANTS. Wants, wants, WANTS. Wants it NOW. Sure. When I was a child, I also wanted a lot of things.

Alexander

Can I add that, you just wanted, but never worked hard enough. Agree with me that Raila deserves more than a prime minister's post!!!
At least Raila did not just "want", he has been working hard for it - and many Kenyans know just that!!! The thief in state house who wanted a free ride for another five years is in for a surprise.
I now understand why people loath Raila - he prevents people from turning round in circles.
Alex enjoy this VDO:

Raila is like a child. He gets one toy, and that is fine only for a short time. He sees other toys and immediately he wants that too. Raila was a creation of Moi, when he abandoned NDP party to join KANU. He wanted to take over KANU from Moi. When that didn't work, he left from the back door, and knocked the NAK party door. Kibaki was already the part torch bearer, and the late Wamalwa was hice running mate. Both were skeptical about Raila. But mama Ngilu persuaded them to welcome LDP the new outfit for Raila and his fellow rebels in KANU. Negotiations between the two groups, sorted out the matter. Kibaki and Wamalwa remained the torch bearers of the now new NARC. We were told by Raila, they as NARC had decided Kibaki 'Tosha'. That wouls have been an opportune time to tell us they also had an MOU, whose details will be implemented after NARC wins the 2002 elections. Raila opted not to disclose the secret, until several months later long after Kibaki had formed a government and named the cabinet that included Raila and some of the LDP members. Demands for more cabinet seats and the overt seat on non existent Prime Minister started to emerge in the context of a MOU that had remained secret.

Now, we can see Raila again wants to be Prime Minister. Why did he not say so, instead of causing so much pain and deaths of innocent people and of looters and hooligans, he now calls freedom fighters. What kind of leader will he make with blood stained hands? All I can say here and right now, he can be what he wants to be, but he will not last. His leadership is. cursed

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

re: Aketch
written by Wuod Aketch , January 23, 2008

Can you imagine where Kenya would be if there was let's say a Kikuyu, a Luhya, a Kalenjin leader of Raila's type? Would you support him if he was not of your village?

Your question is not clear - there are many possible answers. But if you want to know whether I can support any other Kenyan worth the salt then let me tell you that I supported Kibaki a Kikuyu in 2002. I was happy when I saw Kibaki being sworn in at Uhuru park and I remember him wanting to cane Moi that very moment. I was overjoyed when Kibaki was invited to the white house, not that it was something great. But seeing the Kenyan president once on foreign television was something. It brought home nearer. I even teased most of my African friends from the DR Congo, Ivory coast, Algeria ... about their unstable democracies.

Now it is them laughing at me.
I had even thought that we had become the best democracy in the world. What later happened to Kibaki? Only God knows.
But I remember my friends used to inquire insistently to confirm whether the miracle about Kenya being really democratic was true, and I used to get impatient with them.
Now I can understand their doubts. Our democracy was not all that different from the one in Uganda or that in the DR Congo i.e African (banana republique) democracy!!!

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

re: Shame
written by InSidious , January 23, 2008

The ODM says it will consider calling off protests if Mr Annan asks them to.

Is it only Anan that can appeal to ODM's conscience? Shame!

It is, nevertheless an indication of compromise. I,m an optimist.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by InSidious , January 23, 2008

I would keep my ear close to the ground if I were you.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by InSidious , January 23, 2008

Frankly I disagree and I think, given a chance, order can be restored. So what if we have failed this time? It is under such difficult times that we find ourselves, our destiny and what unites us. If at all shame is all you worry about, then how shallow can our collective interests be.

I would give peace a chance not mock it in it's face!

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by D , January 23, 2008

ODM have called off the rallies that were scheduled for Thursday

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by a guest , January 24, 2008

@WEPUKHULU - Who is causing pain and death of so many people? Whose hands are blood stained? Raila's ? Those are your views and you are entitled to them. My view and those of most people around me and many others is vice versa? Kibaki is causing pain and death of so many people. He is the president of a mourning nation. A president who instead of all Kenyans uniting to celebrate his victory, or those unhappy by his win but satisfied that he won democratically keeping mum, there was hue and cry all over. Celebrations were limited to one province only out of eight. The country was and still is on fire, just because Kibaki was announced winner. No congratulatory messeges from his heighbouring presidents apart from a belated one from a dictator Yoweri. Amidst all these Kibaki is still sitting pretty smart in state house, he does not care as long as he is president. The Kenyans dying are innocent, law abiding and tax payers. It is the responsibility of the government to protect and provide security to its citizens. If the government is aware that Raila is killing its citizens then the they should bring him to book.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

stop mud slinging on the net
written by New Day , January 24, 2008

People,
so far at least we all agree on one thing; both Raila and Kibaki are humans and have weaknesses, that we know. So stop going round and round about how Raila is like a child and how Raila is this and that and Kibaki that and this. And how come we are still stuck in this character assassination even after the elections have been completed (disputed and threatening to break the country apart)?

So, if you have little of value to add to the subject, just keep reading other people's opinions and celebrate with those demonizing the guy you loathe, instead of emptying your hatred on the thread.

And one last question: I find it strange that PNU still bothers to buy double pages or more in the Daily Nation (very expensive) just to come up with intimidating headlines like 'we are still waiting !' I would imagine that, if PNU really believe that Kibaki won the election PNU wouldnt be bothering with entering into such unnecessary frays with the opposition. Even in chess or boxing, when you win clearly and your opponent comes up with accusations of irregularities, you would normally come out clean, ask for specifics and infact sit down with them to teach them one or two tricks about how it is done. One week would remove all doubt. But when you enter into name calling and deployment of restrictions, it means that something is bothering/haunting you about your own victory and this is being manifested through repeated self-defeating impulses like use of force. Winners do not portray the kind of uncertainty and insecurity as is being shown by PNU. Like running early into parliament so that the opposition does not occupy the government side of the floor. nini hii !

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Show/Hide comment form