well, here i am in kenya.

Some of you may have heard about the recent spate of gang violence in one of the major slums in Nairobi, Mathari. (Thanks Tasara for directing me to the New York Times article) The article describes how many of the people living in Mathari have picked up their belongings and moved out to escape the killings and the widespread arson of the tin and wood shacks that act as housing. The violence is attributed to a flare up between two major gangs - one starts with an M but i forget the name. The other one is the “Taliban”, which has absolutely no connection to radical Islam; it’s just a scary name. One is Kikuyu (the tribe that is most numerous in Kenya, and from Central Kenya), and the other is Luo (tribe from western Kenya). According to the New York Times, the violence flared up a local issue (possibly tax on chang’aa - local brew that occasionally blinds or kills) and is unlikely to ever go away completely because the animosity is between tribes.

The general feel in Nairobi is that, yes, this is a conflict based on tribal lines. But it goes far beyond gang members. Politicians in Kenya have a history of inciting violence between tribes, and most none too subtly have “thugs.” Folks around here are fairly sure that the current violence has been initiated to drive certain tribes out of Mathari before the 2007 elections, so that a certain party is guaranteed to win in that district.

Politics in Kenya is a strange, strange thing to me. I know it’s more complicated than just tribal lines, but it sure seems to be more complicated in a money/power/favors/personal-gain way. I haven’t seen any differences expressed when it comes to underlying tenets of political theory, or economics, or nothing like that. Everyone generally aspires to Progress, which is defined by the West. Well, things only get weirder and deeper and more complex the longer I stay here. To misquote Reading Rainbow: but don’t take my word for it! come visit me and find out for yourself!