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"It was painful! The scenario was painful! As a family we did not anticipate that there could be vio­lence after the elections. It caught us unawares. It spread so fast. It was painful"That was the description the Prime Minister's wife, Ida Odinga, gave when asked about how the family handled post election violence.

"We did not know how to stop it im­mediately. We thought that by talking to people we could save the situation, but,it kept escalating",Ida says.

She says the violence was so sudden that one minute they could hear Eldoret, was up in flames, and while pondering who to reach, news would come in that Kericho was burning and before they could even respond, in comes another call from Migori.

"We could not tell what was happen­ing. From Western to Mombasa, the situation was bad. Even nearer home Kibera, Mathare, Dandora, Tigoni and Nyeri were up in flames. It was like a bush fire. Even places we thought were safe turned out not to be", she explained.

She confesses that they failed to un­derstand how it was happening but the outcome was devastating."It happened at a time when we did not know exactiy who was in charge of what," she narrates as pain could be seen clearly though her eyes trying to hold back tears.

But how did the PM take it?

"He was shocked beyond words. But, he remained very calm. He tried to bring in a solution and his efforts bore fruits. He said they needed to talk. They went into dialogue until the peace ac­cord was signed", she says.

But she is quick to add that Kenyans have learnt a lesson from what hap­pened. "I don't think there is any Ken­yan who would like a repeat of what we saw in January and February. In future one thing the Kenyans have to realize is that we are one people. We belong to this nation ... Nobody is superior to the other. We are all brothers",she says.

She adds: "Nobody,in my opinion,thought Kenyans would do what they did. Nobody expected violent reactions. We used to hear of this kind of violence in the neighboring countries. And for a long time we thought it was reserved for those places", Ida says.

She blames it all on ethnicity which she say's should be shunned."I don't know where it sprung from,In our lives there is a lot of mingling be-

tween the various ethnic groups. I have lived in Nairobi for nearly 40 years but I have never heard a member of my tribe, so to speak, as my next door neighbour," Ida says.

She expressed concern that it was al­most spiraling to the workplace.

"I am running a factory with over 100 employees. They are drawn from all tribes. These people are employees of Specter but back in the village, they belonge to this or that tribe.The follow­ing day when they came, they created tension allover. They started sabotag­ing each other until I had to step in and direct them to leave that tension at the gate. I encouraged them to live as family even at home",she explained.

But she poses a challenge to Kenyans:"When you enter a matatu, do you de­termine who sits next to you? In school, do you determine who becomes your child's desk mate or classmate? As Kenyans we must rise above ethnicity. We must teach our children to embrace one an­other. We must lead as an example,"