Are Obama's relatives in Kenya okay? Please send good thoughts to the people of Kenya.

[beachmom]

I found a couple threads on Obama's statement on Kenya, but other than that, there has been next to no coverage on this subject. The thing is Obama has family in Kenya (if I am not mistaken, some half siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles -- please correct, if I am wrong), and the situation there is worsening. Andrew Sullivan has linked to bloggers in Kenya, and some of these quotes are really quite awful:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/01/kenya-rwanda.html

"They started cutting the church door with a panga . They were from around here, and even knew some of our names. We kneeled down and surrendered. It was quiet, as we were all praying. We knew this was the end," - Grace Githuthwa, a Kenyan in the Eldoret church.

Some more accounts here:

Approximately 40-50K people are holded up at the compounds of ST. PATRICKS CATHOLIC CHURCH and ARNESENS HIGH SCHOOLl, both in Burnt Forest. There is no running water, food and ELECTRICITY has been cut. THIS MEANS THAT PEOPLE CANNOT RECHARGE THIER CELL PHONES and soon we’ll not be able to contact them. Also, due to the chaos/anarchy in these compounds, means that people, especially women are not any safer than if they were out in the chaos. There has been reports of rapes and molestations.

30 hours after I send a frantic SOS: "Are you ok?" Finally, a phone call. The line is unclear, my family sound as though they are underwater. Suddenly, the idea of being “drowned” in violence sounds more than metaphorical.

I realize today is the Iowa caucus, and emotions are running high, but I honestly do not think that Obama's sending a message to Kenya was a campaign posture. He is, after all, half Kenyan, and he has traveled there more than once, being a bit of a rock star when he went there following his senatorial victory. I remember at the time, that he had run into corruption, and spoke up on it. Now the place is blowing up.

Via Flpoljunkie, here is Obama's statement which was broadcast on Voice of America, and will be broadcast in Swahili today:

"I have been deeply troubled by the recent news out of Kenya. The instability and tragic violence pose an urgent and dangerous threat to the people of Kenya, and to Kenyan democracy. My family’s thoughts and prayers go out to all who have suffered, and to the families of the victims.

"The Kenyan people have a proud history of supporting the growth of democracy in their country. Their thirst for democracy was on display in this most recent election, when they turned out to vote in record numbers, and in a peaceful and orderly way.

"Despite irregularities in the vote tabulation, now is not the time to throw that strong democracy away. Now is a time for President Kibaki, opposition leader Odinga, and all of Kenya’s leaders to call for calm, to come together, and to start a political process to address peacefully the controversies that divide them. Now is the time for this terrible violence to end.

"Kenya’s long democratic journey has at times been difficult. But at critical moments, Kenyans have chosen unity and progress over division and disaster. The way forward is not through violence – it is through democracy, and the rule of law. To all of Kenya’s people, I ask you to renew Kenya’s democratic tradition, and to seek your dreams in peace."

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/obama_calls_for_kenyans_to_sto.html#more

Here is the latest from Reuters Africa:

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL03681511.html

At a flaming road block manned by drunken youths wielding machetes, arrows and nailed-studded sticks, two overturned metal containers block the route out of town.

One reads: "Kibaki must go" and the other "No Raila, No Peace."

As Kenya enters a fifth day of protests and ethnic violence that have killed more than 300 people following the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, many of Eldoret's disaffected youth are furious at what they say was a stolen vote.

Opposition leaders says the count was rigged and have called for peaceful demonstrations, but their adherents have rarely paid attention.

Angry pro-opposition mobs from the Kalenjin tribe that populates most of this part of Kenya's Rift Valley want blood.

"If there must be war, there shall be war," said a man in a torn sweater giving his name only as Dixon, after scraping his machete against the tarmac until sparks flew off it.

...

Thousands of Kikuyus have been forced to flee as murderous gangs go on the rampage and loot, and strike at a tribe that has dominated political and economic life in the country since 1963's independence.

In the worst such attack, a mob on Tuesday besieged a church in Kiambaa just outside of town. They locked scores of people inside then set it alight, burning about 30 people to death.

To me, this must be personal for Obama, and I really hope that readers don't immediately make a snide remark -- people are dying in Kenya as we speak. I hope the situation improves soon.