Status: 09.08.2022 13:16
Kenya is electing a new president today – and that is politically explosive. Because the outgoing incumbent does not support his vice president, but the opposition candidate. Many Kenyans now fear confrontation.
By Antje Diekhans, ARD Studio East and Central Africa
From the back of a pickup truck, young people try to raise awareness of their candidate in the upcoming elections. It’s not so easy when the fragile car goes through the potholes and you have to hold on again and again. Election campaigning in the slum is hard work, especially around Dandora – Kenya’s biggest garbage dump.
WDR logo Antje Diekhan’s ARD studio Nairobi
For most people, living here means surviving above all else. Even more so because food prices have soared because of the war in Ukraine and a long drought in Kenya, says activist Stephen Aduda.
“Life is hard. Buying groceries has gotten so expensive. But we don’t make more money. So we have no choice but to spend less. We only have enough to pay for food and rent. Nothing more.”
Your little crew takes a break at a gas station. The stench of garbage is in the air here more than the smell of gasoline and diesel. The neighborhoods around the dump are among the poorest in the capital, Nairobi. Crime is high; many use drugs.
Kenyans are afraid of violence – as in 2007
When violence broke out in Kenya after the 2007 elections, dozens of people were killed here. When it comes to what they saw back then – some when they were kids – everyone on the campaign team speaks at the same time. They speak of women being raped and neighbors attacking each other. The houses were set on fire.
Many Kenyans will not let go of these memories. They fear before every vote that there may be conflicts again. Especially as politicians suspected of instigating the violence are now back in contention.
In 2007, Raila Odinga and William Ruto were still officially on one side. This time, they compete with each other. Stephen Aduda and his team promote Odinga. “I’ve always supported him. He’s very open and honest,” says Aduda.
Long-time opposition leader Odinga is supported in his candidacy by former incumbent Kenyatta. Image: Portal
Vice President Ruto was accused of involvement in violence after the 2007 presidential election. Image: Portal
Largest ethnic group has no candidate
Raila Odinga belongs to the Luo ethnic group, who mainly live around Lake Victoria in western Kenya. He tried several times to be president, but was always defeated by the candidate from the Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group. In this election, for the first time in 30 years, they have no representative in the running. That can be problematic, says Aduda: “There’s this fear of the future. Because they didn’t run out of power in Kenya for a long time.”
Current President Uhuru Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, now supports his perennial adversary Raila Odinga. The relationship with his former vice president William Ruto, on the other hand, is completely broken. In any case, the two were always just an alliance of convenience that had nothing in common other than that they both had to answer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the violence that followed the 2007 elections.
It’s always about money
Alliances change rapidly in Kenyan politics. Always in line with the motto that one of the activists summed up like this: “One hand washes the other”, says Robert Njihia.
Ultimately, it’s always about money. Ethnic groups support their candidate because they hope it will improve their own lives – more schools and roads in their region. In most cases, however, it is only the politicians themselves who benefit.
The Kenyatta family is one of the wealthiest in Kenya. The outgoing president’s father was the country’s first post-independence head of state. Raila Odinga is also the second member of her family in politics and doesn’t have to worry about her finances.
People’s reality has nothing to do with their dreams
Sometimes even election activists wonder: where are we really? Stephen Aduda, who, like so many around Dandora, dreams of a music career, wrote a song about it together with a friend. The other musician is called Ramsizo and explains that he is a citizen who demands a fresh start from politicians.
I also want a better education and better medical care. I also want my dreams to come true.
But it doesn’t matter who wins the candidates – the reality of the people around the dump will have nothing to do with their dreams.
Kenya’s presidential and parliamentary elections began
Antje Diekhans, ARD Nairobi, 09/08/2022 12:28