PEACE IN KENYA

An update from UIC SPH Professor of Epidemiology on Situation Following Elections

As most of you will have heard, the two sides of the political dispute in Kenya - PNU (President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity) and ODM (opposition leader Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement) - have come to a power sharing agreement. There is to be a Prime Minister who will run most affairs of government, and all cabinet positions will be shared equally between the two sides.

When Kofi Anan made this announcement around 4:30 PM, Thursday, February 28, wild but peaceful celebrations began immediately in Kisumu. The town became a whistling, screaming, ululating, joyous riot of youth screaming up and down the streets on their bicycles, tuk-tuks, matatus and broken down vehicles.

By 8:00PM a raucous crowd of young people stretching for 100s of meters along the road passed by the compound where I am staying. They were singing the praises of their hero Raila Odinga. I am told that even in Central Province, the stronghold of the PNU, which would seem to have conceded considerable ground, people are celebrating. Peace has broken out in Kenya and we are all relieved and joyously celebrating.

Best,

Bob Bailey

To read more about Bailey’s work in Kenya, please go to: http://www.uic.edu/sph/news/news_136.html.