Empty

The first thing I noticed back in Nairobi was the lack of traffic. Normally trying to get home from the airport at 7:30 am on a weekday -- in a city which adds about 5,000 cars a month -- is enough to make me nostalgic for the red-eye that got me there. But today it was a breeze.

The post-election unrest in Kenya has stunned the country. And it has kept most drivers off the road. Our office driver, Thomas, left after the Dec. 27 vote to be with his family in rural Kakamega. He hasn't been able to return due to ethnic clashes in Kakamega, and the fact that few buses are running from there to Nairobi (the ones that are often charge double or triple the usual fare). Many people who went home for the holiday are stuck there, and those who want to get out of Nairobi can't.

Kenya is a place that's used to hosting refugees from ethnic violence, not creating them. The front-page editorial in the Daily Nation today began: "This madness cannot be allowed to go on." In the taxi home, the radio was tuned to a popular FM station, Capital. The DJ was reading out dedications sent in via SMS by listeners pleading for an end to the violence and requesting a song to match. Mary J. Blige's cover of U2's "One" was up first. Then came R Kelly with "Now That It's Over," which was either too optimistic or too apocalyptic.

The public mood hasn't been helped by the lack of food. First, a lot of rioters stole food from local markets. The remaining markets across the city boarded up. Today, people told me, was the first day that most shops were open, and with the city center closed to most car traffic, it was easier to get to the checkout line than to work.

In the middle of the day, there was a sea of cars parked at Nakumatt, the local version of Wal-Mart. People stocked up on flour, cooking oil, rice and other staples. In the butchery there were only or three lonely red hunks of beef, and I'd seen healthier vegetable stands in Zimbabwe.

As bitter as the post-poll hangover has been, it was surreal to see campaign posters everywhere, reminders that the election isn't resolved. The opposition is calling its man, Raila Odinga, "the People's President" and plans a major rally tomorrow in a park in the city center, but the government is blocking it for security reasons.

A mile outside the city center this morning, there was the first police roadblock, and as we climbed toward my house along the hill above the park, there were uniformed soldiers every few feet, a human chain-link fence to prevent a mass protest. Just a moment ago, at a quarter to 2 a.m., I got a text message: "The Government of Kenya advises you not to take part in any unlawful assembly that may result in violence."

Tomorrow many people expect a confrontation. It could be the worst outbreak of violence of the post-election period, or it could be another public demonstration quashed by an African regime.

Comments

[Tim Crockett]

Maybe it's a good time for you to go research that "Best Golf Courses of South Africa" article that McClatchy readers are demanding. Seriously, be safe.