Entering Kenya on the 1st of March was a
treat for so many reasons, not least the sheer good humour of the man in the
immigration office in comparison with his counterpart on the Ethiopian side.
The Ethiopian official rolled his eyes at Alex’s foolishness, unable to use the
finger print machines efficiently – hadn’t he ever used one before? The Kenyan
was full of interest and enthusiasm for our journey. Perhaps we were a nice break
from ‘The Ministerial Guide to Reducing Corruption – 2006’ which sat on his desk.
Finally cycling on the left side of the road was also a welcome change (and entertainment of the potential chaos of swapping over). But Kenya is a country that we have visited before and thoroughly enjoy the feel of. The Kenyan election took place on the 4th March which has had quite an impact on our journey. Aware of the troubles that occurred in 2007, TDA have been liaising with numerous people over the previous weeks and decided that in the interest of safety, we should travel south by bus and wait out the election in Nanyuki, seeing how the nation responds. Nanyuki is a pleasant town with an airport and a British Military Base, (which we smugly hope will prioritise evacuating us first, should the need occur). It seems this concern over potential violence is one which the country is incredibly aware of and is openly confronting - we see newspaper and television adverts urging the population to participate peacefully in the election.
Considering the Western stance on Democracy, it seems a shame that we should view elections as a moment of concern – the right to vote is one which the West has promoted and pushed globally, we should not become queasy at its actual operation. While the fact that the act of voting should be considered a potential flash point for violence is clearly grounded in history, admittedly with no real basis to feel this way other than hope, I feel strongly compelled to be optimistic about its handling. There is no doubt complexity in the politics here (the fact that the incumbent isn’t standing and that a leading candidate is on trial in the International Criminal Court is testament to that) and the impressive analysis in the media is encouraging. But, in particular in the rural areas we have passed, it is also possible to observe what appears to be an element of ‘t-shirt’ democracy in play – for the illiterate parts of the population arriving at the ballot box, simply match the face on the free t-shirt they have been given with that on the ballot paper. However, with expected voter turnout at 60%, there is definite engagement here which makes this democracy exciting.
Finally cycling on the left side of the road was also a welcome change (and entertainment of the potential chaos of swapping over). But Kenya is a country that we have visited before and thoroughly enjoy the feel of. The Kenyan election took place on the 4th March which has had quite an impact on our journey. Aware of the troubles that occurred in 2007, TDA have been liaising with numerous people over the previous weeks and decided that in the interest of safety, we should travel south by bus and wait out the election in Nanyuki, seeing how the nation responds. Nanyuki is a pleasant town with an airport and a British Military Base, (which we smugly hope will prioritise evacuating us first, should the need occur). It seems this concern over potential violence is one which the country is incredibly aware of and is openly confronting - we see newspaper and television adverts urging the population to participate peacefully in the election.
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| An engaged member of a democracy? Or just a free t-shirt? |
So we loaded the bikes onto the trucks and hired a bus to travel through the
desert which fills Northern Kenya. The contrast between our normal
self-propelled transport and one which requires unique patience has been
dramatic. For two months now, every revolution of the wheel has come from our
own determination and exertion, swap this for two days in which you sit,
immobile on a large bus with an undetermined journey time.
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| Inside our glamorous bus for two day's bumpy riding |
The days we missed would have been tough ones on the bike, unpaved the road was
strewn with lava rock with patches of deep sand and, as we commented from the shelter
of the bus, quite a headwind. In the first 250km, other than the major town of
Marsabit, we passed only two very small villages. But, again from the elevation
of the bus, the views of the desert have been fantastic.
We have seen much excitement about the election. Posters cover the stores in towns (some were even plastered to rocks in the middle of the desert). Many people sport the t-shirts of those they will vote for, and we’ve seen mass rallies with singing and dancing – there is a sort of festival atmosphere. Politicians, never ones to overstate the momentousness of an occasion, claim that this is the biggest opportunity for choice that the people of Kenya have had since independence in 1963. Yesterday we saw people line up in their droves at the polling station in the centre of Nanyuki, voting on representation to 6 separate institutions, including the Presidency. There are 8 candidates standing for this post, an outright winner needs 50% of the vote. If no-one achieves this, the top two candidates will go head to head in a month’s time.
We have seen much excitement about the election. Posters cover the stores in towns (some were even plastered to rocks in the middle of the desert). Many people sport the t-shirts of those they will vote for, and we’ve seen mass rallies with singing and dancing – there is a sort of festival atmosphere. Politicians, never ones to overstate the momentousness of an occasion, claim that this is the biggest opportunity for choice that the people of Kenya have had since independence in 1963. Yesterday we saw people line up in their droves at the polling station in the centre of Nanyuki, voting on representation to 6 separate institutions, including the Presidency. There are 8 candidates standing for this post, an outright winner needs 50% of the vote. If no-one achieves this, the top two candidates will go head to head in a month’s time.
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| A sample ballot paper |
Considering the Western stance on Democracy, it seems a shame that we should view elections as a moment of concern – the right to vote is one which the West has promoted and pushed globally, we should not become queasy at its actual operation. While the fact that the act of voting should be considered a potential flash point for violence is clearly grounded in history, admittedly with no real basis to feel this way other than hope, I feel strongly compelled to be optimistic about its handling. There is no doubt complexity in the politics here (the fact that the incumbent isn’t standing and that a leading candidate is on trial in the International Criminal Court is testament to that) and the impressive analysis in the media is encouraging. But, in particular in the rural areas we have passed, it is also possible to observe what appears to be an element of ‘t-shirt’ democracy in play – for the illiterate parts of the population arriving at the ballot box, simply match the face on the free t-shirt they have been given with that on the ballot paper. However, with expected voter turnout at 60%, there is definite engagement here which makes this democracy exciting.
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