well… at least the waiting part is over.  Kenya has finally declared Kibaki as the winner of this year’s presidential elections.  Which according to the results show that about half the country is happy and the other half is a bit pissed off.

There has been alot of controversy around the results.  loads of allegations about rigging numbers, etc.  The opposition party, Orange Democratic Movement, was/is very unhappy.  So are alot of their supporters.  As I am writing this I can hear sporadic gun fire off in the distance.  We live about a mile or two away from Kiberia, one of Nairobi’s largest slums, where rioting is taking place at the moment.  Protests and riots are taking place in several parts of Nairobi along with many other parts of the country.

This is not exactly the way we were hoping to spend the new year.  We have the bad feeling that things might get worse before they get better.

Now we have to wait again and see what happens.  Is there going to be chaos for some time to come?  Is the country going to ground to a halt? Or are people going to say “oh well”, settle down and go about their business?

All I wanted to do was buy some fireworks, watch too many movies, relax and enjoy the entrance into the new year.  Guess we are getting the fireworks a little bit early… not the ones I wanted though.

Christmas day for us was pleasant enough.  We enjoyed a relaxing morning then went around visiting friends and family.  Christmas day is the best day to drive through Nairobi city.  There is no one around because most people have left the city to spend with their families in rural areas and celebrate the holiday.  So no traffic jams. You can actually get from one place to another in a matter of minutes as compared to the normal crawl we experience daily.

On the 27th, Kenya held national elections for president and other government seats.  Kenya has a history of spouts of violence when it comes to elections.  We were a bit concerned about how things might go.  Surprisingly and fortunately the day went very well.  Kenyans came out in record numbers to cast votes and most of them did it in a very peaceful manner.  There were reports of a few problems here and there, but nothing major.   Many felt that there was a free and fair election.

It is two days now since voting took place.  Many expected the results to come very quickly but they have been dragging along slowly by slowly.  People are getting annoyed.  The trend throughout the country is that as the votes are coming in, the opposition party to the current government have been sweeping positions.  The guy challenging the current president was leading by a  high margin since yesterday, but this morning that gap has become very small.

The current slowness in releasing results is starting to make a lot of people very suspicious that rigging is taking place.   There is also some concern that if the Electoral commision doesn’t get with the program and release presidential results soon,  people are going to start throwing a big fit.

We are hearing rumors of unrest taking place around town  and in other parts of the country already.  We were going to visit some friends this afternoon, but they called and told us not to come because there is some rioting on the main roads to where they stay.  We have also heard that there are other problems in town as well.   None of the media sources are reporting anything like this yet, but we will have to wait and see.

Where we live should be ok.  It is in a residential area far away from the focus of where people might cause problems.  It just means we are going to have to sit tight and pray that in general things stay calm and that the final results are issued.

It has been a week now and things have gone really quiet. A few days after the incident in Bor, leaders from Murle, Dinka along with government officials including Riak Machar met in Bor. We don’t know the results from that meeting or what actions are to take place next. There are reports that military units from the JIU (Joint Integrated Units) have been deployed to provide some security. Not sure if this is accurate or not.

So at least for the moment it seems that some calm has come back to the place. I just hope the two groups are actively discussing and looking for a way forward that doesn’t involve more killing.

On Thursday we got news from contacts in Sudan that Dinka were attacking and killing Murle in Bor town. It was apparently in retaliation to an attack that had happened the day before. Our initial report indicated that Dinka had attacked and killed at least nine Murle. The attacks took place in the MSF hospital and other parts of the town. All of the rest of the Murle in Bor had to take shelter under heavy guard. We also heard that military forces were moving from Bor towards areas occupied by Murle with a possible intention of attacking them.

No official reports from Bor itself have come out except for a report from MSF Belgium. Reuters picked up that story and I think it has made to the likes of CNN and a few others.

According to the Reuters story, only seven people were killed. The last update we have heard was yesterday that indicated the Government of South Sudan was attempting to evacuate the Murle. Along with the Murle we also heard that a number of Anyuak and Nuer families were wanting to leave as well. It seems up to this point they are still in Bor because the community or members of the military are refusing to let them leave just yet.

All of this is very sad news for us, especially for Mary.

It seems a bit strange that some of the Sudan news outlets havn’t picked up the story yet. Normally they are very quick to write something about Murle aggression against the Dinka. I ran a search this morning looking for more information, but only found the MSF reports and a letter from “Citizens of Jonglei” to the president titled “Petition to Stop Insecurity in Jonglei State”. It primarily focused on their problems with the Murle. It briefly mentioned some problems relating to insecurity on the road between Juba and Bor, but neglected to mention by the names the tribes they are having conflict with there.

We are keeping a watch to see what happens in the course of the next few days. It feels like there may be a war brewing between Dinka and Murle. The Government doesn’t really seemed bothered to do much. This tension isn’t new. People have been beating the war drums for a long time now and the GoSS just sits and watches what might happen.

before I forget, here is the link the a memorial page that MSF put up about one of it’s workers who died in the attacks on the hospital