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The title track from Agwambo (Kanyo), the new album by veteran Kenyan band Bana Kadori, is like a burned-out car left by the side of the road: it’s an optimistic benediction for opposition leader Raila “Agwambo” Odinga, written when he was expected to win the presidential election held in December. Of course, Odinga was edged by incumbent Mwai Kibaki, and widespread suspicion of voting fraud helped plunge what had been one of Africa’s most stable countries into fierce political and ethnic violence that’s left more than a thousand dead, hundreds of thousands driven from their homes, and the nation in shock. Kenya has been battered economically as well, and many formerly integrated neighborhoods have become homogenous ethnic enclaves. Yesterday Kibaki and Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement in Nairobi, brokered by Kofi Annan, that creates a powerful new prime ministerial position for Odinga, but considering that the two men have failed to work together in the past, the future of this new government is uncertain at best.
Today’s playlist:
