ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT - ISSUE/EDITION Nr 334 - 15/11/1997

ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 334 - 15/11/1997

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE


Kenya

After the deluge, a time to count the cost

by By a Correspondent, Kenya, October 1997

THEME = SOCIAL CONDIT.

INTRODUCTION

Kenya's coastal region was, until recently, a favourite holiday spot.
Now it's been declared a disaster area

Mombasa people think of the region's woes as a kind of curse. First came the unprecedented spilling of innocent blood in Likoni, which badly dented Mombasa's image as a tranquil and peaceful city. Then two months later, the heavens opened, and a deluge, the like of which had never before been experienced, descended on the area, causing further suffering.

Flooding

The heavy rains that pounded Mombasa, and which started during the second and third weeks of October, made thousands destitute. In just three days when the rains peaked, one-and-a half times the regular rainfall had drenched this tourist resort city (population: over one million). In rural areas around Mombasa, such as the districts of Kilifi, Kwale and all the way to the ancient town of Lamu, people's homes, cattle and crops were swept away. Nearly fifty people lost their lives in landslides. One of the main fresh-water pipelines serving Mombasa, simply buckled under its own weight, after the earth supporting it was swept away by the flood water.

Similar wash-outs affected large sections of the main railway line out of Mombasa, as well as the Mombasa-Nairobi highway. Mombasa Port serves the whole of Eastern Africa and parts of Congo RDC. More than 300 containers awaiting clearance, were submerged in flood water. Shipping lines issued warnings that they would in no way hold themselves responsible for the massive claims that were sure to follow, because of damaged goods.

At Bombolulu Workshop for the Disabled, more than US $75,000 worth of jewellery and cultural artifacts were lost. After President Moi's flying visit to the area, the whole Coast was declared a disaster zone.

Flood water tunnelled under the chainlink fencing at Bamburi Park, allowing a group of crocodiles to escape from their enclosure. The Park has since been closed as owners ponder how to recapture the animals.

Tourist industry badly hit

Hoteliers were already reporting massive losses after the violence in Mombasa and elsewhere, so the floods could not have come at a worse time. Government radio frequently said that the rains were the result of the EL Nino weather phenomenon occurring globally.

It was important to insist on this, as word was spreading like wildfire, that the storms were a curse sent to punish people for the violence which had begun two months ago, and which is kept simmering, to ensure that those uprooted, do not return until after the elections.

All this, has had a bad effect on people's livelihood and on the tourist industry. A senior tourist consultant says the combined effect of the violence and then the weather, will mean a number of bankruptcies in the Mombasa hotel industry before the end of the season next March.

Before the deluge, charter flights into Mombasa were running at about a 50% capacity. In itself, this is a major drop in tourist arrivals. Hotels in Malindi, the favourite destination of Italians, are now, mostly closed. Bed-occupancy in many hotels is running at about 20%-40% at a time of the year when it should be anything between 80%-90%.

Killings

As the orchestrated killings progressed throughout August, a Kenyan daily had a two-page spread, with coloured pictures of Europeans basking in the sun on Mombasa beaches. The banner said: "Hakuna Matata" (Swahili for "all O.K").

The paper's message was that the killings were targeting Africans, but as weeks wore on, Indian traders and retired Europeans were sucked into the terror, with gangs of youths moving in for the spoils.

President Moi referred to those fleeing the suburbs of Likoni, as "refugees". Their numbers soon swelled to 100,000 and more. This is not an exaggerated figure but is based on the registered electorate of Likoni who voted for the opposition Ford- Kenya party five years ago. Most of Likoni's inhabitants are people whose ancestors originally came from upcountry. But coastal people are living here as well.

Costal people fled as far south as Tanzania, while "upcountry" folk fled for shelter to the Catholic Cathedral and other churches in Mombasa or went back home upcountry.

There are political undertones to the whole "refugee" question. Upcountry people are likely to vote with the Opposition, so if the Coast Province were to go to opposition leader Mrs Charity Ngilu, the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) would be in real trouble. Hence the mass evacuation of upcountry people away from the area!

END

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE


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