For those reading this randomly or only recently arrived, this blog started when I was based in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2011. Beforehand, I had another blog, written in French, where I posted my reports for BBC Afrique and the German International Radio, Deutsche Welle, Le Figaro and some other news outlets, but increasingly, though I was only a newcomer in East Africa and a humble freelance journalist, I was willing to write in a language the people around me in the region could understand...
Here is the link to the blog, if you feel like readind old news ;)
http://bbcafriquekenya.blogspot.fr
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Also, from February 2011, I started travelling way more, after spending five wonderful months discovering mostly Nairobi and nearby towns, as Kisumu, the mesmerizing island of Zanzibar, and the marvelous Rift Valley.
I travelled to Kampala, Uganda, for the 2011 elections and soon to Dadaab, at the border of Somalia, which hosts one of the largest refugee camps in the world. No need to say how life-altering these journeys have been. I was privileged enough to soon travel to Ethiopia, to Somaliland and a year later to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.
Tomorrow, August 8th, Kenyans are voting for their new president and this could have important consequences for the whole region. Though I suspect current President, Uluru Kenyatta (son of Jomo Kenyatta who let Kenya to independence and become the country's first president) has too much to lose to admit any form of defeat. Long story... I'll post some articles from the Guardian.
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A few reports in French:
BBC Afrique
Reportage de Melissa Chemam au Kenya et en Ouganda à l'occasion de la journée de lutte contre le paludisme.
http://www.bbc.com/afrique/nos_emissions/2011/04/110425_minimag_melissa.shtml
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Des SMS pour se soigner
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Autres audios
https://audioboom.com/melissachemam
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But first, because East Africa is one of the most beautiful region in the world, situated in the Horn of Africa and home to the Rift Valley, among other marvels, here are a few souvenirs in pictures.
The view on the city skyline from a famous hotel, used by researchers and journalists as a regular spot and base...
My take on the old sign post at the main train station in Nairobi, the one that is featured in the famous American film, Out of Africa, adapted from Karen Blixen's book.
For the anecdote, Nairobi has a neighborhood named Karen, now a wealthy suburbs in the west of the capital, that was named after Baroness Von Blixen...
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There would be so much more to say about this beautiful country.
But that will come soon.
To be continued....
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Latest news, in The Guardian:
Kenyan police to flood streets as country braces for election violence
Tuesday’s poll pits incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta against veteran challenger Raila Odinga
Monday 7 August 2017
An
estimated 180,000 police officers and members of the security forces are being
deployed across Kenya as
the country prepares to vote on Tuesday in a fiercely contested presidential
election.
Voters will
either return the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, who has been in power since
2013, or elect the veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga.
Recent opinion polls have not indicated any clear leader in the campaign and
turnout will be a key factor.
The country
is braced for widespread unrest whoever wins, after a campaign marred by
hundreds of violent incidents – including the murder of a
high-profile election official – issues with new voting
technology and widespread concerns about fraud.
A contested
poll in 2007 led to more than
1,000 deaths, and violence could sweep the country again if the
losing party refuses to accept the result.
At a church
service near his home in Nairobi on Sunday, Kenyatta, 55, called for calm. “Do
not allow anything to drive a wedge between you. You have been good neighbours
and I urge you to remain so regardless of your tribe, religion or political
affiliation,” the president said.
Thousands
of city dwellers have been returning to their home towns to wait out the
aftermath of the poll in relative safety. Others have been stocking up on
provisions in case of trouble. Streets have emptied and business has slowed.
“Normally I
fill up my matatu (minibus taxi) in 15 minutes but today I’ve been waiting
three hours. It’s a disaster. People are fleeing,” said Willy Fiyukundi, a
conductor at Nairobi’s central bus station.
Human
rights officials, community leaders and politicians have called on voters to
“control their emotions and preserve a peaceful environment” when the results
are announced.
“If your
candidate wins, do not rub other people’s noses in it, and if your candidate
loses, suffer stoically and do not let Kenya down … We must hope for the best
but be prepared for the worst,” said Kagwiria Mbogori, the chair of the Kenyan
National Commission on Human Rights.
Mbogori
said the KNCHR was concerned about “cowardly leaflets” threatening candidates
and warning voters “of certain ethnic origins to flee or else”. She called on
security personnel to avoid using excessive force. In 2007, many casualties
were the result of police using live ammunition against protesters.
Local
elections for appointments as governors, members of the lower house, senators,
county officials and women’s representatives involve 16,000 candidates and are
seen as potential flashpoints.
In Mathare,
a poor area of Nairobi, several people were wounded and one killed over the
weekend as rival supporters clashed with machetes and guns.
Around 19
million voters, half of whom are under 35, have been registered. Prisoners are
able to vote for the first time.
Political
allegiance in Kenya often reflects ethnic identity. Kenyatta’s Jubilee Alliance
is largely supported by the larger Kikuyu and Kalenjin tribes, while Odinga has
a following among the country’s smaller communities, such as the Luo.
Many
Kenyans downplay ethnic factors, pointing instead to issues such as rising
prices of staple foodstuffs, allegations of corruption and high unemployment.
“It is not
about tribes. It is about corruption,” said Paul Ouma, manager of a bus
company, who indicated he would be voting for Odinga. “Bread costs the same
whichever tribe you are from. This government is not delivering development to
the ordinary man and woman. They are heartless people.”
Ouma said
violence could be avoided if there was a “fair and transparent” ballot.
“Then there
will be no war … But if it is rigged there will be chaos,” the 51-year-old
said.
At the
church in a middle-class neighbourhood of eastern Nairobi where Kenyatta prayed
on Sunday, worshippers said tribal differences were minor.
“We sing
here in all the languages of our country. Our pastor has been telling us there
will be peace so we are not worried,” said Daniel Mwangi, a church official.
Rose
Wangchuk, 19, said she was happy Kenyatta had come to the Jesus Winner
Ministry. “He is in our prayers. He recognises God and he cares about his
people,” she said.
Observers
see the election as the last showdown of
a dynastic rivalry between the families of Kenyatta, 55, and
Odinga, 72, that has lasted more than half a century.
Odinga is
making his fourth attempt to gain power. He claims that elections in 2007 and
2013 were stolen from him.
Kenyatta
would be constitutionally barred from a third term if victorious this time
while Odinga would be prevented by age and previous failures from mounting a
further challenge in 2022.
“It is the
beginning of the end of an era and so it has to be painful and brutal,” said
the commentator Charles Onyango-Obbo. “In part because Kenya has escaped the
worst of African coups and wars it has never made the transition from a
post-independence leadership. We are approaching a turning point.”
Nic
Cheeseman, a professor of African politics at Birmingham University, said both
candidates were so certain of victory that they may have “talked themselves
into a corner” in which defeat is not an option.
“The
question is not whether or not they will accept the result but what they will
do when they don’t accept it,” he told Agence France-Presse.
A new
biometric system of voter identification and counting was introduced after the
2007 election but partially failed in 2013.
Odinga
claimed there was vote rigging, however he took his complaints to the courts
instead of the streets and despite some rioting after he lost his case, the
process ended peacefully.
Fears
surrounding the system were raised last week when the election commission’s
chief IT manager, Chris Msando, was found
strangled and torturedin a forest on the outskirts of Nairobi.
Msando, a
high-profile figure who had made frequent media appearances, had access to all
the system’s passwords and secret codes.
Last week
it was revealed that patchy mobile phone coverage meant around a quarter of
machines would not be able to relay crucial information in real time.
Observers
say preventing unrest after the poll depends on disappointed voters being confident
there has been no vote rigging.
Mbogori
encouraged Kenyans to perform their civic duty to choose their leaders. “We
look forward to the day when elections in Kenya are not the reason for fear and
uncertainty,” she said.
