Mob Scene

Last Friday before we went to Kakamega, George and I were walking to town to pick up his wedding suit when we came across a huge crowd of people in the street. In the distance we could see someone talking to the crowd. George found out it was Tuju, a man running for president of Kenya next year. George met him when he was in high school and said he was a good guy. I wanted to get closer to see if I could meet him. If he wins, I thought it would be cool to say I met the president. As I tried to get closer, George held me back.

Tuju is a Luo, the same tribe as George. Kisumu is known as Luo land since most of the population is Luo. In Kenya, there are huge divisions between the tribes and people are very loyal to their own tribes. After the 2007 presidential election, there was a lot of violence in Kenya after they declared the winner to be Kibaki, a Kikuyu. Most people thought Odinga, a Luo, should have won. There were lots of talk about the election being fixed. As a result, there were riots and people died. As the next election approaches, many are worried about a repeat of violence.

Odinga was made Prime Minister, a post that previously didn't exist, to satisfy the people after the last elections. Odinga is HUGELY popular in Luo land and is running for president. Most consider him a front runner for the position. Luos love Odinga and dislike anyone that opposes him. Although Tuju is a Luo, he is opposing Odinga, which makes him generally unsupported by Luos. Tuju was testing the waters when he came to Kisumu last week. What he found was an unwelcome reception.

What I saw as an exciting political rally, George saw a potentially dangerous situation. While I was laughing and enjoying the excitement, George was nervous and wanted us to get away from the crowd. His intuition was correct. Tuju wasn't there for very long when he had to leave quickly. The situation got out of control when a handful of youths started trouble. People began shouting Odinga's name and telling Tuju to leave. Tuju's life was in danger and he was whisked away. Rocks were thrown and windows on his campaign bus were broken.

That evening we saw a report about it on the news and I understood the scope of the situation. George was right to get us out of there. (Side note: I tried to look for George and I in the crowd, but we didn't make it on air.) Odinga's opposition tried to use this situation to say ODM (Odinga's political party) endorses violence. That's not the case. Most people in Kisumu, although they support Odinga, agree Tuju should have a fair chance to speak and campaign, in safety.

I guess no matter what country you are in, politics can get ugly.