Kenyan Election

Today, current incumbent Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the 2007 Kenyan Presidential election, with Raila Odinga leading extremely closely behind. Until today, it appeared that Odinga would be the winner of the election, leading many to question the legitimacy of Kibaki's win. Violence erupted in Nairobi, Mombasa, and other urban areas as the election results were postponed and Kibaki later sworn in as President.

The New York Times posts this article about the post-election violence, but I find their interpretation extremely off the mark. This wasn't a "tribal" problem- how patronizing to describe it as such (especially given the fact that Kikuyu and Luo people aren't "tribe members" at all, but rather members of ethnic groups.) This was a group of progressive ODM supporters upset at Kibaki's suspicious win so late in the game.

I found another source that I believe is more reliable- for who would know better than Kenyans themselves?

Kenya: Kibaki Declared Winner, Sworn In (East African Standard)

There are also a good number of blog articles up already, so I encourage those of you interested to do your own searches and make your own conclusions, keeping in mind that western media sources don't necessarily have the whole story. There is one thing I know for certain... it will be an interesting time to be in Kenya!

Hey Everyone!

I will be spending spring semester of this year in Kenya on the MSID program (Minnesota Studies in International Development) through the University of Minnesota. UW-Madison sends several students each semester on the program through our own International Academic Programs department. The program consists of 7 weeks of classroom study followed by a 6 week internship. I don't know my placement yet for the internship, but I'm excited to find out! Hopefully my placement will utilize and enhance my Swahili skills. I probably won't be blogging too much before I leave, but my plane flies of the the U.S. on January 20th, so check back soon after that!