Kenya, a country situated on the Eastern coast of Africa, is historically considered to be one of the more stable nations on the continent, according to the BBC country profile. Yet, since the Dec. 27 elections, parts of Kenya have been in violent upheaval, according to the International Regional Information Network (IRIN).
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, assisted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently facilitated peace talks between the two political parties in Kenya, in hopes that a shared-power agreement might end the violence.
An inside view
Two weeks before Dec. 27 the election, Nicki Verploegen, an adjunct professor of the St. Michael's Graduate School of Theology, visited Kenya for three days with the intent to come back for a 10-day visit in January, she says.
The second trip was later cancelled due to the violence that had erupted in the western parts of the country after the elections, she says.
While she was there, the atmosphere was relatively congenial, but everyone was aware that the coming elections could cause problems, she says.
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Most of the violence in Kenya is concentrated in the Rift Valley area and specific towns. (Photo illustration by Brielle Domings) |
The election, a race between former president Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, a candidate for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), in which Kibaki won again, spurred a lot of the violence in Kenya. However, Verploegen thinks that the issues go back further than the recent election, she says.
“The idea that the protest is coming out as a direct reaction to the election may only be part of the problem,” she says.
Much of the violence stems from tribal conflicts in the country, says Kevin Kelley, journalism professor and U.S. correspondent for Nation Media Group. Kelley writes for both The Nation, a daily newspaper in Kenya and The EastAfrican, the country’s weekly newspaper.
Home to many different ethnic groups, Kenya’s three largest are the Kikuyu, the Luhya, and the Luo, according to the CIA World Factbook. President Kibaki is from the Kikuyo tribe and Odinga from the Luo, which is what has caused the most contention between parties, Kelley says.
In his last five years as president, Kibaki had been exclusionary based on tribal affiliation, Kelley says.
Many believe the election was rigged and Odinga was the rightful winner, he says.
“Seeing [Kibaki] steal the election was the breaking point,” he adds.
Travel curbed
On Feb. 8, the U.S. Department of State reissued a travel warning for American citizens planning to travel to Kenya, according to its Web site.
The St. Michael’s Study Abroad program has allowed students to go to Kenya through various programs, says Peggy Imai, director of Study Abroad.
However, it is the college’s policy that once a travel warning is issued, students can’t travel to that area, she says.
At St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., one of their oldest study abroad programs is located in Kenya, sophomore Carolyn Clynes says.
Clynes planned to travel to Kenya for the spring semester, but the trip was cancelled in mid-January, she says.
"I was getting really nervous and family and friends were advising me not to go." |
-Carolyn Clynes, sophomore at St. Lawrence University |
They were scheduled to leave on Jan. 10, but it was postponed and the students were given the opportunity to withdraw from the program on Jan. 9, she says.
“I was getting really nervous and family and friends were advising me not to go,” Clynes says.
Clynes decided to withdraw along with some other students and the trip was cancelled on Jan. 17, she says.
Aside from study abroad, St. Michael's students have also traveled to Kenya to participate in service work. St. Michael's junior Tula Florent and her boyfriend Sean Willman, a senior at Concordia University in Meqon, Wis., planned to go with their church to do missionary work, Willman says. The trip was cancelled in the beginning of February, he says.
Despite the reports of violence, Willman wasn’t worried about traveling to the country, he says.
“Our trip was planned toward the eastern part of the country,” Willman says. “I didn’t necessarily feel unsafe.”
Future concerns
Despite Kenya’s uncertain future, both Clynes and Willman would still like to visit the region if the opportunity arises.
St. Lawrence College offers a program in Kenya in the summer but it is uncertain if this will get cancelled as well, Clynes says.
In addition, the problems with the election in Kenya are causing concern for the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe, Verploegen says.
Zimbabwe has a history of unfair elections and the upheaval in Kenya makes one wary of issues there as well, she adds.
While peace talks are underway, both the Kenyan government and the ODM are struggling to come to a conclusion, Kelley says.
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Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice urged leaders to come to a peace agreement soon. (public domain) |
After her visit to Kenya, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is urging the Kenyan leaders to reach a conclusion soon, according to her statement on Feb. 26.
Former Secretary General Kofi Annan is frustrated with what the talks so far, Kelley says.
In an attempt to push leaders towards coming to a conclusion, Amnesty International is organizing a forum, both public and online, where individuals can express their feelings about the current issues in Kenya, according to the Amnesty International Web site.
The Kenyan leaders are considering sharing the power, making Kibaki president and Odinga prime-minister, Kelley says.
“This is the only solution that potentially makes sense,” he says.