Kenyan Elections 2013 - A Very Quick Summary!

• From the hotel in Tanzania we kept an eye on the unfolding elections. This is a brief summary of a long few days:
• Voting started with huge queues kilometres long at most polling stations. Showing how serious and passionate the Kenyans are especially given the heat of the day.
• The counting was being fed to the TV and a running total was at the foot of the screen.
• After a couple of days this seemed to stall and for 24 hours there was no change.
• We began to fear the worst. Would the patience of the Kenyans run out, would people use this to agitate trouble, etc.
• There were reports of problems with the electronic voting system and patience was requested as they resorted to the manual system.
• The totals were taken off the TV screen for a day or so.
• Counting resumed and the difference between Uhuru and Odinga had changed dramatically.
• Over the next couple of days the gap hovered around 500,000 with Uhuru in the lead. Then on the Thursday night the gap started to close. At one point it was down to 100,000 this would lead to a run off. By Friday morning it had extended again, at the close Uhuru had won by the required 50% plus one or more.
• There was the inevitable protest from the other party. This would probably have happened had the results been the other way too and was expected.
• Investigation was then required and a judgement from the supreme court.
• The process was concluded with the court declaring the result valid and 9^th August Uhuru was declared president.
• There is obviously much more to it than that and there are many sources of background on the internet – refer to www.nation.ke for one source etc. 

March 2013 - RELOCATION OF 29 VOLUNTEERS TO TANZANIA

After a full day at the VSO office sorting out the final preparations and making sure all the volunteers were safely en-route to Nairobi, I set off to the Hotel in Nairobi where we were to leave from the following day. I had a full bag of my stuff (we had to pack as if we might get evacuated to our home countries for a few weeks) 3 envelopes of cash in Kenyan shillings, Tanzanian shillings and Dollars around £2000 in total. This was to cover the cost of Visas, allowances for the volunteers and a contingency fund for the stay. Luckily I got a lift to the hotel. 

9 volunteers from outside Nairobi were staying overnight and the rest were meeting us in the morning to board one of the two buses that were to take us to take us to Arusha, Tanzania. Ben and Makenna (Director and Head of Programmes respectively from VSO Jitolee) were on hand to see us off and clarify any final matters before handing over the Nicole (another volunteer) and me to take care of any problems whilst we were away. 

Wendy the other volunteer representative was travelling direct with the Mombasa team.

The trip to the boarder was painless. The process to exit Kenya and enter Tanzania was on balance pretty simple given there were 25 of us but with chaotic queues and having to work out what the process was as we went along it was quite entertaining. To assist others the process for pedestrians (from memory) was as follows, If you have a vehicle there are other papers, processed and buildings to visit to process the exit and entry of your car:

-       After passing through a traffic barrier and police gate you are then in the Kenya border zone. On getting to the Kenya exit building (at the top of the hill last building on the right before the gate). Obtain a form (yellow or blue card A4 sized available in the building) fill in your personal details, passport, where you have travelled from, where you are going, when you are due to return, details of your tour company if applicable and a contact address in Tanzania. Top tip is carry a pen so you can fill this in in the queue.

-       At the desk you hand this in with your passport and get the appropriate exit stamps etc.

-       Then you go out and cross through the Kenya gate and into no-mans land. This is where care is needed!!

-      

    NOTE – As you pass through the Kenya gate you enter what is a large dusty gravel area and looks like a truck stop. In the distance, towards the left are some administrative buildings and a Tanzania flag. You should head to these and ignore the very persuasive hustlers who work as a team to un-nerve you and convince you they are genuine. They try and say if you give them $50 they will give you 3,000 Tanzanian shillings and sort you out the stamp you need. This is a scam. 3000 TzS are worth around $1.5!!! the stamp is a fake and you will still have to pay the $50 ($100 for Americans – don’t know why?) when you get to the official building. So just walk past anyone and keep a tight watch on your bags, wallet and passport.

-          Once safely in the Tanzania Visa building a helpful official will hand to a form similar to the one you filled in on the Kenya side. You then join the relevant queue for your visa position and pay your $50 ($100 for Americans). Then once you get the stamps you are clear to go.

-          Returning to Kenya is a reverse of the above.

-          From memory I believe this should be a good guide. If anyone has anything to add please let  me know and  will update it.

So we entered Tanzania and drive through a dry scrub land with occasional Masaai style villages. The road from the border was one of the best I have been on in Africa. We made good progress with views of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru.

As we entered the outskirts of Arusha the bus I was in started playing up and there was a strong smell of burning. Eventually it ground to a halt with stem rising from the engine. Being volunteers we rolled our sleeves up and pushed it to the side (well actually the ladies did as you can see from the photo). We transferred the people to the other bus for the last 5km and our bags arrived later when the working bus had gone back to retrieve them.

We were to stay at the hotel Pentagon which was about 3-4km out of the centre. This is a pretty good hotel and all was good.

Over the next few days we were at our leisure to explore the area. Arusha is a great place, quite modern and the people are very friendly. We noticed we received much less attention, less shouts of Mzungu, etc. which was nice. There were many ex-pats in town as many other organisations and individuals had chosen to get out for the elections. Also holiday makers had been relocated too.

Top Tips for a stay in Arusha

Good coffee – http://www.africafetanzania.com/

Pizza – Pepe Italian Restaurant – Kanisa Road

Ethiopian Restaurant  Spices and Herbs - Phone 255 572279 Mobile: 0742-401050 Simeon Road (also known as New Moshi Road) on the right as you go up the hill from the roundabout.

Sazan Japanese Restaurant – +255 732 978 624 - Awesome place with great food at amazing prices. Where Kanisa Road meets Nelson Mandela Road head out of town on Nelson Mandela Road (also known as Nyerere Road) about 200m on the right is where you will find it. 

Kenya Election Debates - Encounter with the GSU

Before the elections Kenya help televised debates with all the 8 candidates present. This was the first time for such an event in Kenya and most of Kenya watched them. There were some real characters among the 8 and also some thorny issues for the participants to defend. For the second round I was in Nairobi  and watched the first 2 hours from a bar in the CBD. Then I returned to the hotel for the second half. En-route I passed the Tom Mboya statue and square where there was a big screen and a large crowd. At the back there was a large green army truck full of GSU (General Service Unit of the Army – the most feared of security teams in Kenya) luckily all was peaceful so and a smile and wave from the passing Mzungu managed to crack one or two of the stern faces on the truck into a smile. They are human really……… 

I decided taking a photo was probably pushing it a bit  :)

Feb 2013 - KICC Tower and Nairobi Safari Park

My final weekend before “re-locating” to Tanzania for the elections, I visited Nairobi to see a Kenyan friend. They had arranged for us to go up the KICC tower in the Central Business District. http://www.kicc.co.ke/index.php/about-the-building This gives you an amazing view of the Nairobi panorama. This is on my top 10 list of things to do in Nairobi. It is about 200 shilings for nationals and around 400 for others (from memory!!). Luckily there is a lift to the top almost 30 storeys up. Also we had the privilege of being on our own up there to enjoy the view. The photo is a 360 degree panorama that will be too small as it appears on here but if you blow it up you will get the idea. Anyone wanting the full resolution version let me know.

After a quick lunch we then jumped on a Matatu for the Nairobi Safari Park where there is a safari walk. http://www.kws.org/parks/education/nairobi_safariwalk.html  It is a little zoo like but you get a good view of the animals – see the leopard below!! And it is a nice relaxing stroll and place to chill out. Again, recommended. If you are a resident remember your ID! I did not and had to pay 1800 kenya shillings rather than around 200 to 400. Another good and recommended day trip in Nairobi. 

February 2013 - Security Meeting

With the forthcoming elections 4^th March in Kenya and the troubles in the last ones in 2007/8 there were inevitable concerns about security risks to volunteers etc. There had been a number of meetings to put plans in place for every eventuality. I was involved as one of the regional volunteer representatives. The latest meeting was following the decision to relocate us to Tanzania as a precautionary measure from 2^nd March for a week or so. This also allowed the office to close and the staff to concentrate on their families etc. There is a lot written about the 2007/08 election violence so any google search will find many commentaries. There is also a very good documentary on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUUcjWC6rG8 not easy viewing but the personal interviews and viewpoints give a very intimate and emotional perspective on the impact of the events on real people not just a headline about a far of country.

There were many views amongst the volunteers about this decision. Most agreed it was the right thing to do, but a small number thought it was an over-reaction. My perspective was: Yes there is unlikely to be any trouble in the village where I live but, other volunteers are less fortunate. Also last time the staff at VSO had to try and extract volunteers from high risk areas after the trouble started, meanwhile a number had family members unaccounted for. The most important thing for me was to let the Kenyans focus on their families. We were praying for peace but planning for the worst. If it turned out in hindsight to be an over-reaction then that was OK. Better that than the other way around!

Project Evaluations – Meru, Dol Dol, etc.

In February I spent a few days travelling with VSO staff on an evaluation exercise assessing the impact of the funding and volunteers. This was great as it gave me the opportunity to visit other volunteer’s placements. But the one I had heard so much about and wanted to visit was the Dol Dol Masaii women’s group. This is a great programme that helps Masaii women set up support groups to work together to sell their products better in larger groups. It also helps them with accounting and book keeping, pricing products, improving product quality and consistency and in particular identifying product diversification and markets.

We traveled a couple of hours in the hot sun on dusty dirt roads into the bush. Passing a very dry and arid landscape and many dry river beds. This is a very inhospitable environment. Finally, we passed Il Polai and then another 20 mins to Dol Dol – this link is a good background to the programme http://www.vsojitolee.org/news/press-release/38426/

Zaitun and one of her daughters

Some of the products they make

Modelling one of the ear rings

Another of the group members making bead work

We arrived on time but, it being Kenya, it was another hour or so before the rest of the ladies arrived. Luckily two of the main representatives were there so Mike did the individual interviews with them whilst I entertained one of their kids. Inevitably, in minutes I was entertaining half the village kids!!

A happy "student"

Studying hard

The class is growing!!

Great fun and they had an impromptu computer lesson and “helped” type a little report for me. They seemed to love it. It helped to let the Mums focus on the questionnaire. When they had finished we had time for a trip to one of the ladies, Zaitun's, home for photos for the report, etc. We needed photos of the Zaitun and her family doing the beadwork on location etc. The house was a little out of town up on a small hill. Zaitun used to rent it but due to income improvements resulting from the training etc she ha been able to buy it and was slowly making it int a lovely home as the money came in. 

"Look at what I made!"

They had made it very homely and I was made very welcome. The kids loved the photo opportunity and were not shy at all. The son decided to be solemn for the photos but had a great smile like the others when the camera was not in his direction!! Then after some fine chai we headed back to the village for the focus group discussions.

Finally we were through and it was time to leave, what a great insight though into this amazing group of ladies. 

February - Crater Lake

During February I decided to arrange a weekend visit to Naivasha Lake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Naivasha and Crater Lake for my birthday http://www.lonelyplanet.com/kenya/the-rift-valley/lake-naivasha/sights/volcano/crater-lake-game . We stayed at Camp Carnelley’s  http://www.campcarnelleys.com/ on the Friday night (refer earlier blog for new year 2012) and then visited Crater Lake http://www.mericagrouphotels.com/craterlake/ on the Saturday. 

Crater Lake is an extinct volcano with a lake inside (as teh name suggests) it is a  conservation area and privately run. There is an exclusive hotel with only about 12 amazing rooms. Each is in a separate enclosure from the other and all are inside the crater. The experience of the crater is amazing as there are few visitors due to it being quite a trek - a 20-30 min matatu (around 50 shillings each way I think from memory) from Naivasha and then a 15-20 minute piki ride (200-300 shillings each way) from there (unless you have your own vehicle of course). 
To stay the night is very special due to the limitations on numbers who can stay. The tranquillity is amazing and the sound of the animals enclosed in the bowl of the crater is an amazing experience. In the morning we sat on the terrace as the sun rose and the animals began their morning rituals – awesome. After breakfast we walked around the crater rim with views of the giraffes, buffalo, antelopes, birds of prey etc. We only saw 5 other people on the whole 3 hour walk. Such isolation, silence, proximity to animals without being accompanied by a guide is very special and worth the trip. Finally before leaving we had a late Sunday lunch on a floating pontoon, when we had the treat of the lone hippo popping it's head up just 5 metres away..... magical. Well recommended.