I don't get it.

Some say it's because they want to hold on to hope, and this gives them hope. Others say it's because "Now, Kenyans will be able to get US visas really easily." I think many think that the connection will benefit them in more ways than just for visas.

I have no doubt that they'll soon be disappointed. In the West, presidents' distant relatives don't usually benefit from their presidency.

But don't tell the Kenyans this. They're celebrating. BIG TIME. Even as I'm sitting here in Nairobi, drums are being pounded on Ngong Rd, not far from where I am. People stayed up all night last night to listen for the outcome. Tomorrow's been declared a national holiday. On national radio, people are saying that they'll just take Friday off, too. And today. 'Cause "a Kenyan son" is now president of America.

This morning, Obama's step-grandmother was waiting to hold a press conference. His step-brother had already had his...

Kisumu (where the said relatives live) are expanding their airport, making it big enough for Air Force One to land. They're hoping to have it ready by January. It's not a joke. Kisumu's mayor also announced today that the town has to prepare for a large influx of tourism. I'm not sure from where they hope the tourists will come. And for what. To visit "Mama Sarah?" (the step-grandmother)? I guess it goes back to the fact that they want to hold on to hope. Because in January, Kisumu was one of the worst-hit cities when their own presidential candidate was robbed of his victory.

Said one colleague of mine, "If Obama becomes President of America, it will show that America is truly democratic." We explained that the true test of democracy is if the person with the most votes actually becomes President.

For months now, matatus have been driving around with Obama's picture plastered on the back windows. Kenyan radio stations have been playing a local song declaring, "Vote for Obama. Vote for the red, white and blue." Except, Kenyans cannot vote in the US elections.

One guy interviewed in Kisumu this morning declared that "We are all African Americans." Maybe they're hoping to vote in the US elections in 2012. (Some Kenyans have been telling friends of mine that they believe Kenya will now become a state of the US, just like Alaska and Hawaii that's not attached, yet are states...)

I don't get it.

I don't think they do, either.

Some Europeans definitely don't get it. I was sitting at the airport this morning watching the news, when two people from Italy asked a British lady, "So, will Hillary now be vice president?" The Brit thought she would. I explained to them that Biden's the vice president. When his wife walked on stage, they all said, "Ah! There's Hillary!" I didn't correct them the second time around.

(I do understand that Kenyans are proud that someone who has relatives in this country is now the president-elect of the mightiest nation in the world. I don't understand that they think it's going to help them much. Except, of course, if they really believe they'll become a state. Or even a territory, for that matter.)

Anyway. I'm not going to get into political jabbering. Not here. Not now. I just think the national holiday(s) are over the top.

I was supposed to have an appointment at a seminary tomorrow. It'll have to wait till next week.

Speaking of which: My job search continues. I've had some very positive talks with one group, but due to the current economic situation, they've announced a hiring freeze. So the search continues. God knows I'm trusting HIM, and not any president of any nation or ministry, to open the right door to the right place...

I'm going to go to visit another ministry this weekend to see what they are doing. And to spend time in prayer. Going to a desert to do so. Praying that God will continue to guide my steps...

Walking in faith.

One third

One third of the South African Cabinet resigned yesterday. Eleven ministers. Plus some deputies.

A very good blog to read to get a legal view of what's happening (and that which has lead up the things this far), is Constitutionally Speaking, which is maintained by a South African law professor who addresses issues surrounding South African politics in very clear terms.

It is disturbing to watch what is happening to my country. I respect Mr. Mbeki's example, however, to other African leaders in stepping down when his party asked him to, even though I don't agree with their reasoning for asking him to resign.

I have no idea what is lying ahead for my country. No-one knows. We can only speculate. And the speculations aren't good right now.

I pray that good will somehow come forth from this political crisis.

Impasse

This morning's news is the same as yesterday. Kenya's opposition has withdrawn from talks as the government isn't sticking to the 50-50 power sharing agreement mediated by Kofi Annan earlier this year.

This far, there has been no news of protests from Eldoret area. For that, I praise God! This is the essence of the issue right now according to AFP.

Kenyan newspapers urged the leaders to end the stalemate that touched off fresh protests in the capital's slums and western city of Kisumu in the past two days.

"There are legitimate fears that if the impasse is not speedily resolved, Kenya will slide back to the kind of violence unleashed in the wake of the disputed presidential elections," top selling Daily Nation said an editorial, which appealed to Kenyans to remain calm.

"Tensions are already running high. President Kibaki and Mr Odinga are squarely responsible for leading Kenya out of a possible quagmire. They cannot afford to wait until there is another explosion before moving frantically to put out the fires.

"The two leaders must meet immediately, without preconditions and without threats, and live up to the expectations of their people by forming the unity government in line with the accord they signed," it added.

Canada joined the United States, the European Union and Britain in calling for a quick resolution of the problem that has scarred the country's image as a tranquil zone at the heart of a tough, conflict-ridden region.

Not good

So, things seem to be heating up in Kenya again. Not good. Not good at all.

Here's the Deal

Below are the details of the power-sharing deal signed by the government and opposition last week. It's hard to believe that getting both parties to agree to these eight points cost the country so dearly.

• The post of prime minister will be created, with the holder having the authority to co-ordinate and supervise the execution of government functions.
• The prime minister will be an elected member of parliament and the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, or of a coalition if the largest party does not command a majority in parliament.
• Two deputy prime ministers to be appointed, one to be nominated by each member of the coalition.
• The prime minister and deputy prime ministers can only be removed if the National Assembly passes a motion of no-confidence with a majority vote.
• A cabinet to consist of a president, vice-president, prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and other ministers.
• The removal of a minister of the coalition will be subject to consultation and agreement in writing by the leaders.
• The composition of the coalition government will at all times take into account the principle of portfolio balance, and reflect the parties' relative parliamentary strengths.
• The coalition will be dissolved if the current parliament is dissolved; or if the parties agree in writing; or if one coalition partner withdraws from the coalition.

"Tell them!"

I learned a new concept the past few weeks. It's called "load shedding," and it's what Eskom does to most everyone in South Africa. Eskom's our country's "electricity supply commission," but they're not able to currently supply the country with enough electricity. (What's crazy, though, is that they're allegedly exporting power to neighboring countries!)

So what does your supplier do when they don't have the goods to supply? They cut the power. Which would've perhaps been understandable if they announced when they're cutting the power. They say they do on their Web site. However, they don't stick to that schedule. They also say that they won't cut the power for more than two hours in any area. However, over the past 2 weeks, I've personally experienced several days of no power in Pretoria from around 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. (Several in this case would be about 6 days.) What baffles me is that friends in Johannesburg have had no power outages in months.

So what? you may wonder. Imagine the impact on your economy when
a) shops, filling stations, offices have no power for days in a row;
b) you don't know when your power will be out, so you cannot plan work activities accordingly;
c) you don't know how long power will be out, so you don't know if you should simply send your entire staff home, or hope the power comes back on in 2 hours;
d) supplies in homes and shops go bad because of lack of power;
e) banks have to close immediately, movie theaters have to give people refunds, and only a handful of big businesses can afford expensive generators for backup power.

Losses are currently estimated in the "hundreds of millions of Rands" (one dollar = around seven rand).

Imagine the impact on traffic when all the traffic lights simply go out and there aren't cops at intersections to direct traffic. All intersections simply become 4-way stops, causing crazy traffic delays. And you can go on and on and on...

It's been very frustrating not being able to plan activities. You simply don't know if there'll be power tomorrow. Would I be able to e-mail? Don't know. Work on my computer? Not sure. Go to a library and study? Not if there aren't lights.

Ugh. It's really no good!

It seems trivial to complain about something like this when my friends in Kenya are facing a major humanitarian crisis...

News from Kenya today is far from good. The past two days have brought more deaths and more clashes.

It breaks my heart to hear stories of friends who are personally affected by deaths, of division among families and neighbors, of children traumatized by the violence, of a child from my neighborhood in Ilula having been kidnapped and barely escaping death... (Please note: It's not a kid from our orphanage.)

In so many ways, I feel powerless when it comes to what is unfolding in Kenya. I want to be there to pray with my neighbors, to encourage them. But I'm still waiting for an OK from my directors. I know, however, that I am NOT powerless, that I can pray. And I have been.

This morning, I had a very vivid dream. In my dream, a person was urgently and emphatically saying to me,

"Ephesians 4. Tell them!"

That was all. I woke up and immediately read the chapter and prayed accordingly. Wow. God's amazing. If only we would follow His directions.

Please join me in praying this passage for Kenya. Please pray that people would be willing to surrender to God's statutes, regardless of politics, tribe or beliefs. And He, my friends, never fails us (unlike politicians or Eskom.)

What's happening in Kenya?

Please note that this entry does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Empowering Lives International. This is a personal blog reflecting the writer's personal opinion.

Some people have been asking me why things are falling apart in Kenya. Here's how I understand it:

The former president, Mwai Kibaki, is from the Kikuyu tribe. They're the biggest tribe in Kenya. Often, people from other tribes don't like the Kikuyus, possibly because they're the most successful and most prominent in Kenya's business world.

Leading up to the elections (truly only the second democratic election in Kenya), things were getting tense. Most of the tension was along tribal lines. Though support for PNU (Kibaki's party) and ODM (the opposition party of Raila) wasn't strictly tribal, there was definitely some tribal division.

Raila, who is a Luo, the third-largest tribe, has VERY strong support from the Kalenjin tribe, who mostly live in Western Kenya (where I live).

From what I understand from all the leading news sources, there is evidence that Kibaki rigged the results and thus stole the victory. Time.com reports, "At one stage on Sunday in this nation of 36 million, Odinga was one million votes in the lead. Election officials in Kibaki's strongholds then disappeared with the ballot boxes, only to reappear with dramatically enhanced tallies for the President, who was promptly declared the winner and sworn in less than an hour later."

Officials of the ECK (electoral commission of Kenya) agree that they had been pressured to prematurely announce that Kibaki was the winner and swear him in as the president. Even EU observers have been saying that they saw Kibaki's votes mysteriously go up with tens of thousands of votes. Both the EU and the ECK have called for an independent investigation into the election.

Back to the tribal unrest: In Kenya's 44 years of independence, there has never been a Luo president. The Luo thus believe that their only chance of having one of their own as president has been stolen. Things are worse in Western Kenya (around Eldoret) since both the Kalenjin (the majority tribe of the area) and the Luo are strong supporters of Raila.

Strongholds
I also believe it's of spiritual significance that the West has been a hot spot in terms of tribal clashes. It is reported that thousands were marching to Burnt Forest, a town about 30 km (about 15 miles) outside of Eldoret. We're all watching to see what will be happening there... I am trusting that nothing will come of the march to Burnt Forest, nor of Tuesday's march in Nairobi. (That march was supposed to be held today, but after the police fired tear gas and water bombs, ODM postponed the march till next Tuesday.) One of the challenges of the march to Burnt Forest, though, is that Western Kenya is a very poor region. Many people live on $2 a day which they get for day labor. Most businesses have been closed during the unrest, leaving people with no source of income, and hence, no food. A friend with connections in Burnt Forest wrote me today saying that people have no food in Burnt Forest. Please pray against the tribal strongholds in the west of Kenya!

Effects on ELI's Centers
When I spoke with our director in Kipkaren two nights ago, he asked for prayer for the country, but assured me that they are safe. The town of Kipkaren, about 2 miles from our center, was suffering from divisions between people, and even while we were on the phone, shots were fired nearby. They weren't able to buy bread in town, but had enough maize to keep feeding our children. We also have large vegetable gardens where we can harvest enough vegetables for the children. "If we have to, we will slaughter our (dairy) cows," I was told. "But we'll have enough food."

At our center in Ilula, many people have been coming to seek safety. I do not know how things are in Ilula right now, but will be calling Samuel this weekend to hear.

What now?
Reports vary regarding the number of people who have been killed to date. Most sources agree that it's more than 300 people by now. That's 300 too many. One article quoted a man from Kibera (Africa's largest slum, in Nairobi) saying how he's not sure they've really gained anything by fighting. It was clear that he himself has been fighting in the struggle for true democracy, but he was somewhat disillusioned by the fact that the President has been quiet, many people have lost their lives, they've lost their homes and peace. The article quoted him as saying that he doesn't think the government (whether under Raila 0r Kibaki) will help them get their lives back together, that all the fighting is in vain.

I couldn't agree more. I do understand that the people are upset by the vote rigging. It is sad, however, that lives, homes, and peace has unnecessarily been lost.

There seems to be a stale mate in terms of peace talks. Raila won't talk to the President unless he steps down. Kibaki won't talk to people like Desmond Tutu who has gone to mediate. Nor will he talk to the chairman of the African Union.

To me, it's not clear what the way forward is. What is clear, however, is that millions of people have been hurt by two men's fight for power. Kenya will take a while to recover. Right now, it's not clear when it will be safe enough for the hundreds of thousands of displaced Kenyans to return to their homes.

Please continue to pray for peace and healing for the people of Kenya. This is obviously a watershed event in Kenyan history. I believe it is also such for the church in Kenya. This nation professes to be 80% Christian. I am praying that God will use the events to allow the church in Kenya to take a closer look at the life God calls us to live--including laying down tribalism.

The way forward is long. Kenya needs your prayers.

Cry, my beloved country

Over and over for the past two days, Kenyans were eager to hear what I thought about Zuma, the new leader of the ANC. The man who will most likely become my country's new president. Because in South Africa, you vote for a party, not a candidate. And the leader of the winning party becomes president. So now that Mbeki is no longer leader of the ANC, it's not likely that he'll stay out his term as leader of the country. At least, that's the way I understand it to be.

Anyway, as I was explaining to people that it's a sad day when a man who completely lacks integrity is likely to become your country's president, they chuckle. That's what Kenyans do when they expect a simple, polite answer and you give your real opinion. It's nervous laughter. As in, "What on earth am I supposed to say to this response of yours?"

As I was explaining to some about last year's rape case. (Though Zuma was acquitted and supporters branded the victim as simply wanting to slander the politician's name, it was obvious that it was a case where the victim became the accused.) One man dared to tell me, "Oh, he's just human. You should forgive him for the rape." I don't know the victim. But I am sorry for her. And for my country, because it's likely that this man may soon be our President.

After the case, Zuma resumed responsiblilities as a politician, though no longer as VP. And this week, he took over leadership of the ANC. I was delighted to read today that a new case is being brought against Zuma for corruption charges. According to this article, "Zuma's financial adviser is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of soliciting bribes on behalf of Zuma." But the case against the politician himself had been thrown out of court last year for lack of evidence.

Until today. Less than two days after Zuma took over leadership of the ruling party, it was announced that "enough evidence had been gathered to charge him at the end of a marathon corruption investigation."

It is my sincere hope that this case won't be treated like the former one, and that this man can join his financial adviser in prison so that someone more suitable can take over leadership of the country. Someone we can respect.

Who that is, I don't know. I guess I'll have much to learn in the next two weeks at home.

Cry, the Beloved Country

At times, I am faced with the reality of crime in my dear country. I listen to the news, reporting that crime rates are down for the past year. In fact, a recent BBC article reported that murders and violent attacks are down to just 300 a day. [sic]

Only Columbia and Iraq has higher murder rates, BBC pointed out. The same story quoted the South African president, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, saying, "Nobody can show that the overwhelming majority of the 40 or 50 million South Africans think that crime is out of control."

Three hundred violent crimes, every single day. Not out of control. Wow. This is the same president that claims that HIV/AIDS isn't a problem in my country, while statistics show that we are the country with the highest AIDS rates in the world, with more than 30% of all pregnant women are HIV positive. The link between the high rape rates (151 reported cases a day) and high HIV rates seem obvious to me!

As the director of SA Tourism recently pointed out, "The problem of crime can be solved, but until there is general agreement that there is a problem, we cannot move forward."

Why the fuss? I received an e-mail tonight about a specific murder that has sort of shaken things up again at home. A famous historian, David Rattray, was murdered late January. He had done much for battlefield tourism in South Africa. His life revolved around promoting the Zulu culture. Despite that, he was violently killed.

The specific e-mail I received was written by a former teacher of David Rattray. I choose to post excerpts from it on my blog so you can simply be aware of the condition in my country.

I love that people like Oprah is reaching out and making a difference in my country. We need it. Badly.

"I was fortunate enough to teach a great body of [high school] boys at St Alban's College in the 1970's. Among them was David Rattray. It was not difficult to follow his career after school. Amongst many other things he became an academic by gaining an Honours Degree in Entomology and turned out to be a brilliant businessman, a historian of international repute, a friend of the [British] Royals, a fine husband, proud father, a Zulu linguist and [close friend] of many black South Africans.

"David became a raconteur of note and producer of The Day of the Dead Moon, a mind-blowing, stunning account of the Anglo-Zulu Wars. In this collection of CDs he reiterates time and time again how fine the Zulu people are as a nation.

Apart from Nelson Mandela, I can think of no one else who has done as much for reconciliation. David was an icon and an extremely valuable national asset. Imagine my horror and sadness on the morning of Saturday 27 January 2007, to be greeted a newspaper headlines which read "Historian David Rattray Murdered," only to be followed by the headlines of The Saturday Star - "Crime: What's all the Fuss?"

The Article in The Star goes on to quote some sayings by prominent politicians:

"Nobody can show that the overwhelming majority of the 40- to 50- million South Africans feel that crime is not under control, nobody can because it is not true".
- President Thabo Mbeki

"I don't know why there is a frenzy around this 2010 [World Cup Soccer]. I want to say now that 2010 will come and pass..."
- Head of Police Jackie Selebi

"They can continue to whinge until they're blue in the face... be as negative as they want to, or they can simply leave this country..."
- Charles Nqakula, Minister of Safety and Security

***
As I was listening to the above news clip on YouTube, the facts seem overwhelming.

A day in the life of South Africa
51 murders
151 rapes
347 robberies

But my president says it's not a problem.

Cry, my beloved country. Cry hard. We can but cry out to God for the future of South Africa.