Amnesty International has called for an International Day of Action for Kenya on Wednesday, February 27. (See http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/kenya-action). Around the world, Amnesty groups will demonstrate solidarity with the people of Kenya and call on the Kenyan government to protect people from politically-motivated and ethnic violence. Kenyan leaders must end the cycle of impunity that perpetuates the politically motivated violence in Kenya.

In Washington, D.C., we’ll be holding a vigil from 4:30-6:30 outside the Kenyan Embassy, which is located in Dupont Circle at 2249 R St. NW. We’re also in the process of planning events in other cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, and Houston. We are looking for Amnesty members and others to help organize and attend events around the country. (Click the title for more information)

Arthur Dobrin writes:
What prompts this email is the situation in Kenya. There is the immediate situation and the long-term one. Regarding the immediate: Elkana Omweri Onge’sa, a Kisii sculpture, is our friend of ours. We created a webpage to display the work of his that is now in our house and is for sale.

I can assure anyone who buys one of his pieces that all the money goes to him (and Sema Academy) and this means that it will be distributed amongst his extended family in Tabaka. You can see his work as well as find information about the school (and a photo of Arthur and Lyn) at the website: http://www.semaacademy.org/.

Sema Academy is the long-term issue. If the school survives—and it is on the Kisii/Kipsigis border—then this is still one of the best investments in the country. Education is still key.

Click here for an article Arthur wrote about Kenya and the school.

As an organization founded by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Kenya, we note with sadness the temporary suspension of Peace Corps operations in Kenya and the withdrawal of all remaining volunteers from the country.

We continue to support the Kenyan people at this time of crisis, and to call for the cessation of the senseless hostility that divides Kenyans from each other. We fervently hope that peace will be restored soon in the nation so dear to us.

Click here to read the news release from Peace Corps.

The board of Friends of Kenya and, as we well know, many members of our organization have followed events in Kenya over the past month with a great sense of sadness, concern, and apprehension. We send our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and our pole to those who have been displaced. We hope that peace will be restored soon in Kenya.

Andrew Mwavua sent an email with an article and his views. Your comments are invited.

This is the most authoritative article on the laws, regulations and constitutional provisions that were violated by the ECK. My comments are below the article.

Story by DONALD B. KIPKORIR
Publication Date: 1/5/2008
About 5.30pm on December 30, Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu and two other commissioners huddled in a tiny room and, exclusively through state-funded Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, announced President Kibaki re-elected. Within an hour, the President was sworn in at State House at a function in which the national anthem was not played and in the absence of the diplomatic corps. Then the country was thrown into chaos.