2008 Woodie Awards
Politics Cause Crisis in Kenya
Zana Fejzic
Issue date: 3/21/08 Section: News
After a two month political crisis which much bloodshed, Kenya is determined to make a peace deal. Nearly 1,500 lives have been lost since late last year. The crisis worsened when opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki of rigging the December elections. The rivals signed a deal on February 28th and Parliament assembled to enact the pact.
Kenya's fast-growing economy practically halted to a stop during the crisis, losing millions of dollars due to property and infrastructure damage as a result of the violence. Tourism is one of Kenya's biggest industries and bookings have fallen 80-90 percent in most areas due to the violence that started late December. However, salvaging the tourist industry might take longer than expected; even if there is no more violence this year, the business could still be down by 50 percent, according to Rose Musonye Kwena, an official for the Kenya Tourist Board.
Kibaki's re-election ignited riots and clashes concerning politics and ethnic groups (Kenya has 42 different ethnic groups) which left 300,000 people homeless.
Kibaki has made significant improvement in Kenya, raising primary school enrollment by 2 million, helping HIV/AIDS victims, and raising economic growth from 0.2 percent to 7 percent. Kibaki is also committed to forming a policy that will ensure 30 percent of public appointments go to women, as well as improving roads.
Other issues that need to be dealt with in Kenya are improving the agricultural sector, Kenya's biggest employer, and further increasing access to education.During the crisis, road blocks were commonly held by young men asking passer-byers for identification to try and determine their ethnic group.
It was considered to be in the name of politics, since Kikabi is Kikuyu and Odinga is Luo, two of the bigger ethnic groups. In the "name of politics" members of ethnic groups that supported Odinga killed hundreds of Kikuyus and drove them off the land; Kikuyus eventually took revenge and killed Luos and others.
Kenya's fast-growing economy practically halted to a stop during the crisis, losing millions of dollars due to property and infrastructure damage as a result of the violence. Tourism is one of Kenya's biggest industries and bookings have fallen 80-90 percent in most areas due to the violence that started late December. However, salvaging the tourist industry might take longer than expected; even if there is no more violence this year, the business could still be down by 50 percent, according to Rose Musonye Kwena, an official for the Kenya Tourist Board.
Kibaki's re-election ignited riots and clashes concerning politics and ethnic groups (Kenya has 42 different ethnic groups) which left 300,000 people homeless.
Kibaki has made significant improvement in Kenya, raising primary school enrollment by 2 million, helping HIV/AIDS victims, and raising economic growth from 0.2 percent to 7 percent. Kibaki is also committed to forming a policy that will ensure 30 percent of public appointments go to women, as well as improving roads.
Other issues that need to be dealt with in Kenya are improving the agricultural sector, Kenya's biggest employer, and further increasing access to education.During the crisis, road blocks were commonly held by young men asking passer-byers for identification to try and determine their ethnic group.
It was considered to be in the name of politics, since Kikabi is Kikuyu and Odinga is Luo, two of the bigger ethnic groups. In the "name of politics" members of ethnic groups that supported Odinga killed hundreds of Kikuyus and drove them off the land; Kikuyus eventually took revenge and killed Luos and others.
Be the first to comment on this story