Don't Panic!

Google doodle, 11 March 2013

Google recently paid tribute to Douglas Adams, on what would have been his 61^st birthday. Adams was the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 4 other books filled with that biting humor the British do so well.

The Google doodle features, among other things, the words “don’t panic” – one of the main pieces of advice from the Hitchhiker’s Guide.

Living in Nairobi, and having just come out of the Kenyan elections, those words just brought a big smile to my face. The national elections here were held on 4 March. It took five days for the results to be announced officially, with Uhuru Kenyatta (son of Kenya’s first president) declared the winner in the first round. His main rival Raila Odinga is challenging the results, but saying he will do so in court and not in the streets.

This all comes after many months of anticipation and concern. Because of the violence, deaths, and displacements of people that followed the last elections in December 2007, there was much fear and concern that things would turn ugly once again this time around.

In the international and diplomatic community, the word “panic” is not far from what was happening in the months building up to this election, particularly the final few weeks. Some embassies flatly told their citizens to leave the country. Many offices and organizations made arrangements for staff to work from home or abroad.

We received messages and instructions, not only from Britt’s office but also through all sorts of expat networks, saying that we should ensure we had enough food, water, and fuel to last 2 weeks. We were supposed to stock up on batteries, make extra copies of vital documents, and pack up an “escape bag” in case we needed to be evacuated in a hurry. We were given a satellite radio in case mobile phone services were interrupted. We had all sorts of dire warnings about upping security even more than usual – not to mention the emails from fellow expats warning that the supply of long-life milk was running low, so we’d better GET WITH IT NOW. We were told to make plans for our pets, who wouldn’t get to come if we were evacuated. We were given a map with “red zones” to avoid during the election (which coincided pretty closely with the places you need to avoid anyway). We were invited to numerous security briefings (all of which we missed).

The lines at the supermarket became even longer than usual starting about 10 days before the election. You could see people stocking up on the oddest things (a full crate of bbq sauce, really?). 

We stocked up on water, pesto, red wine, and dark chocolate. I bought some tinned fish and pasta. I also purchased an extra mattress and sheets in case it was too dangerous for any of our guards to leave our compound, and did buy some basic food supplies for them.

But we’re not the panicky types really, so tried not to get pulled into the pre-election panic frenzy. 

And we spoke with locals. We talked to Kenyans who were praying for peace, singing for peace, even fasting for peace.

On election day, we walked to the public school near our house, which serves as a polling center. We saw the long lines and people waiting patiently for hours to cast their votes, lines which were far longer in the shantytowns.

In the end, there was very little violence. Nairobi was instead far quieter than usual. There was very little traffic. The weather was lovely. Most schools were closed for the full week following election day. Shops and supermarkets reopened during the course of the week. For people like us, it was fine. We worked from home. We ate our pesto and drank our wine.

But it was a strain for the poor. The few “matatu” buses that were running doubled their fares. The same was true for the small kiosks selling food and supplies in poor neighborhoods – those that were open jacked up their prices.

I’m not especially optimistic about the election outcomes. There are still hurdles to overcome with regards to the disputed election results and the ICC case against Kenyatta and his vice president to be heard at The Hague in July. Mostly, I’m not convinced that these new leaders will take the country in a positive direction. I think THAT force is more likely to come from civil society, from the dynamic movers and shakers I’ve met across numerous sectors. It will come from those with the drive and opportunity to move things forward, even if only with tiny steps. 

Now, as it happens, we’ve recently been upgrading our home security systems. It wasn't meant to coincide with the elections, but that's how it worked out. Among the improvements is a new set of “panic buttons” spread throughout our house and with our house staff. This is standard stuff around here.

Our goal is to never have to hit the panic buttons in our house. But these new buttons are so sensitive they keep getting set off accidentally. This triggers a call from the security company and truck load of security guards, who show up within minutes at our door.

The first question we get when they respond is, “are you okay”?

To which I’m tempted to respond, “yes, yes, DON’T PANIC!”