US Think-Tank Expresses Confidence in Kenya's Democracy, Warns of Possible Violence

A US monitor group at a Washington think-tank forum on Monday expressed confidence with Kenya's 'young democracy, but warned the country could experience possible violence.

“It's going to get nastier and more intense as we go into election day,” John Tomaszewski of the International Republican Institute said citing heightened political temperatures being caused by both Jubilee and Nasa.

“We will see some serious challenges to the democratic system in Kenya,” added Mr Tomaszewski whose NGO monitored the August 8 election. “Which way it goes, no one knows as of yet.”

However, speakers at the event sponsored by the Brookings Institution expressed confidence that systems in Kenya could help avert the situation. “Kenya is not some banana republic, at all,” Mr Tomaszewski declared.

A US congress researcher, Lauren Ploch Blanchard, who focuses on Kenya lauded the country's reforms in the past decade. “Were such a long way from where we were in 2007,” she said in regard to the post-election violence.

David Gacheru, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Kenyan Embassy in Washington, DC defended President Uhuru's recent attacks on the Supreme Court. “The president is constantly reaching out to the other side and preaching peace,” Mr Gacheru said. “What is the opposition doing? There is no preaching of peace.”

On whether opposition leader Raila Oding would succeed in the repeat poll, Tomaszewski said the former Prime Minister would have to clear “a very, very tall bar.” He was of the opinion that Uhuru had won the August election as a result of making significant inroads in opposition strongholds adding that Raila is facing an uphill task to garner more votes than Uhuru. "Many Kenyans are eager to put the electoral process behind them, he added. “There is a growing sentiment that we can no longer be held captive by these two men,” he said in regard to Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga.