Uhuru - Freedom

Hello,

Last Monday we had election here in Kenya. People turned out in a large numbers, an estimated 80% of the registered voters came out to cast their ballot. Many waited for more than 6 hours just to exercise their democratic right and make a difference. The Electoral Commision put everything in place that the result could  be out within just a few days. But unfortunately the technology failed after the first day and the counting had to be done manually. After the voting a long week of waiting followed where the country almost came to a complete standstill. The shops in Nairobi were closed, almost no public transport and it felt like a ghost town.
Even here in the Hospital things were much slower than usual, Patients and staff staring at the TV screens trying to get a glimpse of where the country was headed. Finally, yesterday in the early afternoon the winner was announced with a very small margin. The winner had to come out with 50% plus 1vote and Uhuru Kenyatta ended up having 50,03% whereas his rival Raila Odinga had a little less, 43% of the votes. It was a win nevertheless for Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of the founding father of the nation of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.
Nowhere in the country was a flaring up of violence as quite a number of people were fearing. We are so proud of Kenya the way they have conducted themselves and even the opposition did a good job in accepting the results. The one who didnt accept it, is taking his grievances to the supreme court where it will be heard and ruled according to the rule of law. Raila Odinga told his supporters to stay calm and let the court judge according to the constitution.
People were really praying hard for this nation to go through this period peacefully and come out stronger. And we really thank God for the way he helped this country to accept the outcome of the polls and accept the new government. Now it is even more important to keep praying so that the president elect will be able to form a government that will reflect the diversity of this nation and bring unity to this nation which has been so divided along ethnic lines.
Uhuru was born just two years before Kenya got independence from Great Britain. Uhuru means Freedom and it will be exactly 50 years this year that Kenya is an independent nation. It has come a long way and it still has a long way to go. But it was beautiful to see how Kenya did throughout this very tense time of the election period. We are now again free to go about our business, go to town, arrange meetings, travel here and there. There are a few pictures below, which show the little Freedom Benjamin and I enjoyed by going on a bike ride in the magnificent Rift Valley just below our staion.
I will be back soon, Thomas