As a friend recently pointed out Kenya's current political upheaval is reminiscent of Ivory Coast's sudden turnaround in 1998, where another former calm African country suddenly became marred by political instability.  With reports now emerging claiming ethnic violence, death tolls as high 1,000 and counting, and mass exoduses to neighboring countries, this political impasse bears serious consideration before it unravels any further.  What prompted the conflict is a stolen election by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who instead of letting democracy take its course, intervened and disabled Raila Odinga's bid to become Kenya's next elected President. In American terms, imagine if, ironically enough, George Bush were to decide in November that a surging Obama did not deserve to be President and inserted himself for a third term in office.  This is essentially what took place in Kenya.

Conceding that my own reportage on this issue is limited, I hope you will turn your attention to colleague Tavia N'yongo's recently created blog that has been covering the events in Kenya in greater detail.

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