The race is on...

Kibaki, Hillary, Raila, Guliani, Obama...politics is heating up all over the world! The beginning of a new era is emerging. Kenya, United States, Zimbabwe (who desperately needs some good leadership)...global politics is fascinating. First things first, what an embarrassment to be corrected by Kenyans in the polls on the American Presidential front runners. Part of their interest stems from Barrack Obama's ties to Kenya, while the rest is due to the US's influence in politics that govern the world. A lot is at stake. Fearful that my opinion may get away of what I really want to share, I am going to shift over to painting a rough sketch of kenyan politics at its finest. First, a few simple observations:
-I would guess that 70% of the televised news has to do with the elections at this point. Another 10% goes to soccer followed by a bit of local news. We joke that the stations will have no news broadcasts after the elections are over.
-Newspapers are sold on the sides of the road at market stands. Every morning, when a new issue comes out, there are 5-15 people gathered around each newspaper to learn or the latest election news. We have not seen any newspapers without election news on the front page. Everyone is interested...young, old, male, female, white collar, no collar-everyone.
-60% of Nairobi's 4.5 million people live in informal settlements (slums). While there are some exceptions, the vast majority of these people are living in financial poverty...I will clarify “financial poverty” at some other point. As you can imagine, $1000/plate fundraising lunches are not the norm in this neck of the woods. No candidate will stand a chance without appealing to the majority of his/her people living in the slums of Nairobi.
-Although there are 150-200 parties running for president, two main parties have emerged...PNU (People's National Unity-which was created about 3 weeks ago built around the current president) and ODM (the Orange Democratic Movement which was developed to encourage change and the formation of democracy in Kenya's political system).
-Rather than red states and blue states in Kenya, there is an issue around tribalism. Because Kenyan culture is rooted in place and community, people vote for leaders based on where they are from, which tribe they are a part of and who they associate with. This issue is evolveing quickly as people continue to move into cities permanently.
-The current president has the final say in when the elections will be held. There is an obligation to hold the elections prior to January 1, 2008 but if it would be advantageous to hold the elections earlier, the current president has the power to do so.
-The poles as of Saturday, October 13: Kibaki (PNU-current president) 37%, Raila (ODM) 53% and Musyoka (Another ODM Candidate) 9%

As of now, the time leading up to the elections has been peaceful. We hope and pray that this will continue as historically this has not the case.