the wocha: elections

only a few more days before the world is introduced to the next president of the united states of america. if it were up to me, i'd appoint the next president today and be over with all the campaigning that falls short on the issues. nobody cares how many houses the candidates have, or whether obama stopped dyeing his hair to appear older. i digress; my appointee would be senator barrack obama simply because as senator john mccain reminds us, obama is a celebrity.

america needs a celebrity to rally the electorate behind issues that have gone horribly wrong during the last eight years. issues include education, health care, financial markets, respect for international law especially sovereign states, etc.

how many spoke up when the bush white house started making nice with a couple of countries in the axis of evil? did anyone raise hell given that congress hasn't really done anything for the past several months? what of the number of laws that the republicans have rewritten to accomodate their neoconservative agenda?

i shake my head in disaapointment as i watch the democratic party muddle their presidential asspirations. i often say they are too democratic for their own good. it doesn't help that the democratic party's presumptive nominee is thumbing his nose at corporate america. big business is a staple in the white house and for this reason, 44 will be none other than john mccain.

i was going through joseph karoki's picture blog today and couldn't help notice the pain, suffering and despair documented in most of the pictures. i decided to go through pictures i have taken in the recent past to see if i could find anything that captured life for the common mwananchi (citizen) before the 2007 elections.

this is the first of a four part series that chronicles life in kisumu before the 2007 elections. pictures were taken at random and are presented in no particular order. if you have pictures you'd like to share, contact me at: the dot wocha at gmail dot com. please include a caption with each image. you can also post a link to pictures in the comment section.

help is urgently needed. to help with the current devastation in kenya, please donate to sukuma kenya, mama mikes or the kenyan red cross. if you are in kenya, volunteer within your community and help the less fortunate. for a list of kenyan bloggers covering kenya's 2007 elections and its aftermath, check white african.

caption: vegetable vendors at jubilee market popularly known as chiro mbero

caption: buying onions from my auntie. my family has been her customer for over 20 years

caption: street kids going through trash looking for recyclable plastic bottles at the municipal fish market

caption: street kids playing poker at a stall behind the municipal fish market

caption: boda boda owners waiting for clients at the municipal fish market

caption: billboard at the entrance of the jomo kenyatta grounds which has been reinovated considerably

caption: fruit vendor at oile market. oile market is an open air market in front of jubilee market

caption: fruit vendor at oile market

caption: kisumu municipal market's main entrance

caption: pottery vendor's stall in front for jubilee market

caption: central bank of kenya

caption: western union billboard

caption: midday traffic with imperial hotel in the background

caption: mobile phone vendor, literally. driving around in a van means increased customers and lower permit fees.

caption: "vote for your orange. we all refute the draft". message reminding kisumu residents to vote against the draft constitution in december 2005. orange refers to raila's orange democratic movement (odm)