Ruare, Kenya

How long will it take for Kenya to repair the damage of the last month ?

It's a terrible shame for the people of Kenya that their country has suffered so much. My wife and I are very sad that we won't be able to visit Kenya this year but hope that we will next year. Our best wishes go out to the people of this wonderful country.

Public Comments

1. Based on the media reports and a friend that just came back from Kenya it will be at least a decade or longer before the country is anywhere stable enough for people to feel comfortable about being there. My friend says that most of the people she knew are afraid that the tribal factions will continue to make war until one or the other is killed off. There is very little belief that the rest of the world can stop what is becoming a war of genocide and that for the most part the leaders of the warring tribes want no interference from NATO or any other outside organization.
2. my husband is from there, and he is planning on going back for a visit in april....they say it has calmed down. he was origanilly going to go this month, but when he heard how bad things were there he was like forget that... but you should be ok to go next year since there is no elections
3. Seriously ignorant fools like Tristan shouldn't even be allowed to answer this question. Infact anyone who isnt currently living in Kenya shouldn't even be answering this question because obviously none of them have any idea about whats going on here. First of all, we dont have a genocide. a genocide is too strong of a word to describe the death of 650 people. Second. It will be a couple of months before everything truly goes back to normal. Right now, we have relative peace even in Nairobi. I havent seen any sort of violence since this whole thing erupted because the violence is exclusively in the slums and western Kenya. Third. The people doing the killing are low lives. They are uneducated, uncivilized, and just plain out stupid. I mean seriously, If you have a problem with the government, why go around killing? If you are truly pro democrasy, why go around killing people who voted against your party? Fourth. Most kenyans are back to normal, we are in school, work, recreation, we are not sitting home depressed or scared, we are doing things just as we were before the elections. foreigners are in no danger whatsover. I have seen a lot of Israeli tourists as of recently and alot of them are taking advantage of the lower prices, the empty beaches, safaris, e.t.c. The ethnic violence is not targeting westerners or even other Kenyan tribes. For ex. I'm neither Kikuyu or Luo. My tribe didnt vote for either Raila or Kibaki and I can feel safe walking in Kisumu or eldoret because my tribe is not being targeted. _____________________________________ Please dont listen to western media. Even the Kenyan media here has been hijacked by the opposition tribe so they are printing out propaganda to fuel more killings.
4. Adding on to other comments, another big concern will be who remains in power. If it's Kibaki, then a massive part of the population will resent a leader who stole the election (i.e. Pres. Bush). Also, Parliament is dominated by the opposition so the chance for Kibaki to pass anything is slim. If Odinga is put into power, many people will hold him responsible for the protests and violence. Power sharing may be the best possible outcome but as this point both Kibaki and Odinga have Kenya's blood on their hands.
5. According to my friends (both Kenyan and Westerners, both black and white and a lot of shades in between), things have almost completely settled down in most parts of Kenya already, and you should be totally safe going back there this year, or whenever you want to go. Most poeple say that despite opposition attemps to keep the protests against stolen elections going, it's still cooling down. A bit unfortunate, but if anything, Kenyans are really gentle people who are incredibly forgiving. My best guess is that in a few months, things will be 95% back to normal except in a few places in the Rift Valley and maybe Kisumu and some of the slums of Nairobi - places tourists are pretty unlikely to go. Keep going back - if anything, the decrease in tourism revenue is going to hurt the country more than anything!