Politics and Football

I decided to make a post on two topics I found interesting.

The Katiba

So Kenya has a very big political event coming up in August. They have a new constitution (katiba) that has to be passed by referendum, a direct vote by the people. It has created interesting divisions and alliances. The Kenyan prime minister and president who had previously been at odds and their rivalry was the source of the violence in 2007, are now aligned in their support of the proposed constitution. Other mortal political enemies have aligned on the no side. VP Joe Biden was here recently to make a speech on why the constitution should pass and Barry O himself even made a speech on TV about how it should be approved. At the moment it appears that it should pass. It’s interesting to see some of the same issues we deal with at home in the US combined with other ones we don’t in the political forefront. Every newscast has information on the two sides’ campaigns. The yes claim the no campaign is twisting the truth and misinforming the public.

Here are the issues the No side take issue with, the Yes side say the No side is misrepresenting them:

-abortion
-homosexuality (which is illegal in Kenya at the moment, and I think still will be even if the constitution passes)
-Islamic Courts (they are creating a separate set of courts to handle Muslim marriages and issues)
-land issues and rights

Kenyans are very political people and it is interesting to watch how things develop. They are also very tribal and regional, sort of. Either way, it’s an interesting issue to watch.

The World Cup so far

No big surprise the World Cup is a big deal here. Bars and video lounges charge people to watch. At my host family’s house we have satellite TV (it’s like 13 inches, if that) so everyone in the neighborhood comes to watch. And we’ve watched almost every game so far.

Two things struck me in particular; the first being the scope of African unity. I always viewed Africa as a big diverse place that shouldn’t be lumped together. Kenya itself has over 40 different major tribes which often have dozens of sub tribes, and every sub tribe has its own languages and customs. And that’s just one country in Africa. And yet, everyone here roots for every African team. I’m sure you can also see on TV how South Africans are also behind every African team. They really take pride that the tournament is in Africa, and as a continent they feel united. I figured there would be some of that, but not on the scale I’ve seen.

Secondly, my host family that I think normally would root for England (since they all follow English Premier League here), have told me they are rooting for the US. My mama who was up at like 2 in the morning because she went into Nairobi for something yesterday stayed up for the game, it was at 9:30PM here. I could actually see her getting visibly stressed by the game. She kept counting down the time because she, like all of us, could see the US was just holding on (that and I think she didn’t like being so stressed). It was very sweet to see them so invested in a team they normally wouldn’t have cared about.

PS I just killed a cricket-locust hybrid thing in my room. I also spotted a little frog. But he’s hiding behind a wood piece in the wall, maybe he went back outside. I need to see if I can train him to patrol my room for bugs. There have been a lot today for some reason. Thank god for my mosquito net.

UPDATE: Frog showed up after dinner on top of my clothes. Mama heard me chasing it around and came in and used her broom thing to push the frog out.