THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WAR

Kenya Next?

Although the cultural, tribal, and colonial wars (communist-inspired and otherwise) of mid, eastern and southern Africa have kept generations of mercenaries if not rolling in dough, certainly rolling in bloodshed, it looks like one of the countries most synonymous with both African wars AND peace, Kenya, may be again a target of Islamic thugs, but for a different reason this time.

Once home to Jomo Kenyata’s Russian-financed Mau Mau uprising against the British, the East African country’s insurrection gained independence from Britain in 1963, eventually going on to become one of the most stable areas on the continent.

Last Tuesday, the predominantly Christian country overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to lend legitimacy to Islamic courts by having them be considered “lower courts,” as they applied to judicial questions relating to followers of Islam. This was a blip in Kenya’s laws that was a remnant of its 1963 constitution. Some 57 percent of the populace voted against the proposal.

This vote came on top of the country’s recent vote of “no confidence” in President Mwai Kibaki’s government and rule.

Islamic murderers blew up the US Embassy in Nairobi in August 2001, but there has been little or no noise from that faction in that country since.

Watch for a change now.