The view from Nairobi: Ben Rawlence
At 11am on 1st September the streets of Nairobi were unusually quiet. A stray car or two enjoyed the freedom of all three lanes of the normally clogged roads that bisect the city centre. Nearly everyone had stopped work to gather round the nearest television or radio. In the office where I was, workers shushed each other as the screen showed the six red-robed judges of Kenya’s Supreme Court filing into the courtroom. Fingers gripped chairs. Hearts were in mouths. The nation was braced for more violence.
The presidential election of 8th August had been, as elections usually are in Kenya, controversial. Despite early and sloppilydrafted statements from election observers declaring that the voting process looked fine, the tallying and transmission of results from the polling station was beset with problems. The opposition candidate, the perennial challenger, Raila Odinga, cried foul and when the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta was finally announced as the winner at 11pm on 11th August, riots erupted across opposition strongholds. The ensuing clashes with trigger-happy police left at least 24 people dead and hundreds injured.