Kenya in Crisis Day 21: Rallies, Protest, and Violence...

The opposition held several large rallies as planned today. The rallies were not without incident.

Police lobbed tear gas into crowds in cities around Kenya Wednesday and at least one person was reported dead at the start of three planned days of protests over presidential elections.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of the presidency in the Dec. 27 election because of vote rigging, called for the nationwide protests despite a government ban on the demonstrations, reported the Associated Press.

Police called for a ban on the three planned days of protests. As a result, shopkeepers boarded windows, traffic came to a standstill in parts of Nairobi, and many Kenyans stayed at home, Reuters reported.

It is hard to predict this very complicated dynamic. The police are controlled by the government of course. That government is currently controlled by Mwai Kibuki. It is the opinion of most observers, including U.S., that his election victory was corrupted. While Kibuki belongs to the most well represented Kenyan tribe, the Kikuyu, they make up on 22% of all Kenyans. The Kikuyu are now the subject of the violence as that tribe is being blamed by all others for the malfeasance in the election.

Now the government that Kibuki controls will try and control the mass demonstrations from the majority of the population. This appears to be a recipe for chaos.