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Hugh Potter
UKSG Member
Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 5768
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 Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject: Kenyan troubles.. |
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i have a lot of family in Kenya (since the old imperial days!), dad lived there til he was 18,
the news has been showing some pretty graphic scenes. i wouldn't want to be there right now.
here's a couple of emails i received via my mum. doesn't look good.
| Quote: | First things first, thank you all for your e mails, sms's and phone calls. We really are very lucky to have such a good bunch of family & friends who care about us. Its greatly appreciated.
Secondly, please excuse the rudeness of sending out a "Round Robin" news letter, but at this stage, that's all my brain can cope ith. We're in a bit of a tizz here to say the least.
Yesterday was very bad for us as some of our watu (workers) were badly beaten and we are not sure of the whereabouts of two of them todate. There were horrific riots in Likoni Ukunda & Diani (all near us) but the worst being the hottest spot of Likoni. They burnt all the Kikuyu kiosks (little shops, for those who are not familiar with these Kenyan terms) & in turn the Kikuyus burnt the Luo's shops. Tyres were burnt in the roads & they looted & killed. We are not sure how many were killed. The rioters then made their way down Shelly Beach road to Kwetu Beach Resort where a dear friend of ours, Freda (88 years of age and all alone, because she refused to move in with us. She's extremely independent & proud, which causes us a great deal of agro especially in times like this, as we worry dreadfully for her safety). They jumped her gate & she phoned us to say "flee whilst we had the time" thank the Lord they were pushed out by the locals on Freda's property saying that she was innocent, a mazungu (white) and had no quarrel with them, so they went to the kikuyu place next-door to Freda's and took every last item from the resort & burnt it. They were on their way to us (500m down the road) when the GSU (our special riot army in Kenya) came and dispersed the 100 or so rioters. They flew into the bundu (bush) around us & others into the sea and caves.
At this point we had closed the house up, thrown our few legal docs, passports etc into the car together with the dogs and our staff. We couldn't catch the cats. I'm not sure how many of you guys have ever been in a situation like this & I pray that you will never ever have to. Its the most daunting experience and heart breaking as you drive away from all your memories, knowing that in few moments they will be burnt or looted & you too if you don't get out. Sounds dramatic, but it happens often in Africa. Our Guardian Angel was working over time, as the GSU managed to disperse the whole frenzied riot & came to Pungu Villas to guard us all.
We employ a good mix of tribes here in Pungu, so were fair game for the next "hit". At this point we were at our friends house (also in Pungu Villas) & waiting for them whilst we made the next moves. We were told that the rioters were all around us in the quarry, on the roads etc., & so the next move would have been to go over the cliff into the caves below Pungu. A friend of ours had been through this in the 1997 Likoni Riots and had leather lengths as long as a rope that they used to escape down to the beach from their houses. So we were about to scale the cliffs & let them pillage, so long as we are untouched. We had all the watu (locals) from Pungu with us too & one other family. It was the most terrifying situation. Then we got a call from a mutual friend who lived down Shelly Beach road and who knows one of the top people in the GSU in our area, and he told us to stay put as all was being controlled. Its extremely difficult to be calm in a situation where you just want to stand on the cliff side & scream like Tarzan & just loose it!!!! You can't coz the kids and the watu are all terrified & look to you to be calm.....
Its going to get worse as the Orange lot refuse to recognise Kibaki as the President & the President can't just back down either. ODM have arranged a march of a million people on Thursday, but rumour has it that that's been cancelled & that they are in "talks" together. Please God they come to a peaceful agreement because Kenya was doing SO well. All that progress up in smoke!!! We had a media black out yesterday as well as no electricity & our generator has a leaking radiator,,,,, tell me things will get better??? They burnt a whole load of people seeking refuge in a church today, kids, women & children. Mans inhumanity to man!!! As I type I can hear the tear gas canisters being fired & gun shots (that's just started again). I'll be off now & see what the local network of friends have to say about the blasts.
Could do with a good nights sleep really. Have eye bags that a plastic surgeon would pay me to remove!!!! There's always someone worse off than us, so we have to be thankful that we are okay & that the GSU are still with us (Bless them). Please God they look after Geoff tomorrow, because he has an auction to attend to. Surreal really, blowing each other up & we bid for the best price of tea !???
Take care. Stay safe. |
| Quote: | It was calmer yest but they are at it again full scale today because the huge demonstration of yest was cancelled and they said they march on Tuesday now they say its this afternoon in Nairobi. The Muslim community is joining in in Mombasa after 12h30 prayers,
Geoffs caught up in all this as he had to get to the office (in convoy, but the convoys gone now so he'll be alone coming back) to give his watu money, help, water etc., and make the office area safe. Hes in a Q to get me some petrol for the car & then said he'd come home. I HATE it when he does this, but he has a company to run & has to see to its safety & his staff as well. Please God he shifts his behind & gets home.
They predict the 1997 Likoni riots of ethnic cleansing now. It will not bypass us again as the whole of Pungu Villas come from upcountry. We have been promised one truck load of GSU that will be on the dirt road leading to our home, but we are unprotected on the 3 other walls. We are in deep deep sh1t. Excuse my terms but its literally sh1t. We cannot get out as they've lit fires and are looting since the 28th. If we had any idea that it would be violent we would have got out, but the prior voting campaigning etc were really calm.
We have packed the house into two rooms. Our house is makuti. The cats are in ready to be loaded into the boxes, dogs in, watu packed & huddled waiting for the carnage. It really is very very bad & Geoff & I have been through hell in Africa, but nothing like this before. We really are sitting ducks and dreadfully frightened as we have so many watu here & we have our children to think of & I cannot show them that we are panicking. So forgive me for pouring my fears out on you.
In haste as I fear they'll turn the power off again & I cant e mail without power.We will try & keep you informed but they could black out the media again.
Pray for Kenya & us wont you. Your Mum is safe in Kilulu. They've had no problems there at all. Thank God & I pray it continues. I'm sure it will.
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not good eh ? |
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Marcella Ross
UKSG Member
Joined: 22 Jul 2002
Posts: 8550
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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that's a sad and frightening read Hugh.  |
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Harry Cleary
UKSG Member
Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 5547
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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| That brings it home more graphically than any news stories Hugh, I hope that sanity prevails, time for the politicians to act or it could escalate to tragedy on a huge scale. Made a donation to the Red Cross as a result of this. |
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Hugh Potter
UKSG Member
Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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thank you both,
Harry, thats a very good thing to have done, i think i'll do the same, did you do it online ? link ?
to be honest, i don't really know this side of my family, they're my dad's cousins mainly, but it still hit's home hard, more so i think because of some of the more graphic scenes of people being attacked, that i saw yesterday,
t's not until you read a personal account of things that i think you can appreciate how frightening it must be. |
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Harry Cleary
UKSG Member
Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 5547
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Lynn
UKSG Member
Joined: 21 Apr 2005
Posts: 6001
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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Hugh that is so awful 
Lynn |
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Hugh Potter
UKSG Member
Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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thanks Harry,
just done it through there, couldn't find a uk equivelent. |
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Shane Drew
Gold Plus Member
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 11017
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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| thats a sad read mate, makes you appreciate how 'good' we have it. I have associates in Kenya.... interested to find out how they are fairing. I know they wouldn't be involved, but could get caught up in the genocide that is ethnic cleansing.... |
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Hugh Potter
UKSG Member
Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:10 am Post subject: |
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| Shane Drew wrote: | | thats a sad read mate, makes you appreciate how 'good' we have it. I have associates in Kenya.... interested to find out how they are fairing. I know they wouldn't be involved, but could get caught up in the genocide that is ethnic cleansing.... |
i guess when something like this happens, that that is the worry mate, i would imagine there's a whole lot of people involved, who otherwise would have nothing to do with it, other than having voted.
the sad truth about africa, is that it will never, ever, be at total peace, there will always be one tribes dictatorship running things, oppressing the other tribes while fattening it's own, it's always been the way in africa, just about all of their problems in the last 25yrs have been avoidable,
ethiopia's famine ? ethipoia wasn't broke, it just spent it's money elsewhere instead of helping it's own people. i read somewhere that enough money / aid went missing, to have built half a dozen desalination water plants, if that was done, it could've been different, instead of fat governments pinching the money.
same goes for the current famine's and troubles in dafur, the sudan, and so on. then there's zimbabwe, another dictator hell bent on sapping every last penny from his peoples country (be it stolen or taxed) while we do nothing. then South Africa, where's Bono now??? him and his cronies, single handed, save the country from apartheid, but there's no sign of him 20yrs on, now the country has the highest crime, murder, rape and hijacking rates in the world, good job Bono!
ps... i'm not condoning apartheid in that statement, some of it's policies were barbaric in the least. BUT, hang on.... But, hmm, nearly... BUT (it's a big but) it was run by people who understood Africa, and the way it works, crime was a lot lower, shanty towns were smaller than they are now. just another case of the world poking it's nose in and completely removing a system to suit their own consciences, rather than forcing it's modification to a more "globally accepted" method, and in a way which retains the basic's of africa ie... one tribe is always dominant, even in a democracy, other tribes below are kept in line by the ruling tribe, never does any one leadership last very long, neither will it in the future, by controlling the country in the way they did -ok, segregation was wrong- it put stop to all the tribal fighting that would have seen the country no better than any other tin pot dictatorship out there.
ps2, i'm not condoning Bono either. i know where the sun shine comes from!
morning all  |
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John Singh
UKSG Member
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Posts: 3313
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| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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Terrifying news Hugh
I have close friends who are missionaries out in Zimbabwe
Fortunately they email to say they are well cared for in a land that has inflation running completely out of control
But it is still worrying when they live in such a volatile environment |
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