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Feature: Kenyans Usher in New Year Amid Hopes for Economic Upturn
Cheers of "Happy New Year" broke silence of the East Africa plateau as some 20,000 revelers, who packed a restaurant in the suburb of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, greeted the new century at the stroke of midnight.
In the hours leading up to the year 2001, the barbecue of zebra, gazelle, eland, ostrich and crocodile was being served for more customers than usual at Carnivore restaurant, one of the best tourist attractions in Kenya.
The festivities to welcome the new year were largely concentrated in pubs, bars, discos and hotels in the biggest city of East Africa. However, due to the limited space of public places and insecurity in the city, most Nairobi residents celebrated the new year at their homes, eating, chatting, reviewing the past and looking forward to the future.
Although a holiday meal for the slum dwellers, who account for half of the city's total population of about 3 million, was no more than meager amount of chicken or beef, the optimistic atmosphere still pervaded the whole city.
"I wish the new year would bring Kenya an economic recovery since the past year was very hard for us when economic growth stood at 0.4 percent and the drought pushed 3.3 million Kenyans to the brink of starvation," businessman George Mwangi told Xinhua as the fireworks lit up the night sky.
A black high school girl hoped that in 2001 she could see peace prevail on the turbulent continent, where conflicts and wars ravaged quite a few countries like Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Sierra Leone.
In a street near the Twentieth Century Cinema in downtown Nairobi, a peddler wished out loud prosperity for Kenya and himself.
On eve of the new year, some internet cafes were still open. In a cafe called "Communications Center", a woman was sending a new year electronic greeting card to her friend in South Africa.
"It is quick and convenient and more and more Kenyans are using it," said Rose Mulinya, who is working with an insurance company.
With the Christmas exodus of more than 70 percent of Nairobi residents for their home villages, the city became quite quiet Monday, with most shops closed and traffic lessened.
Most Kenyans interviewed on the New Year's Day wished their country a better future, saying they are Kenyans instead of tribesmen of Luo, Kikuyu, Lyhya or Swahili.
However, they identified themselves as Luo or Kikuyu when talking to some American journalists exactly 20 years ago, they said.
"It is a great achievement in terms of national unity and national identity," said John Buliva, an official with Kenyan Foreign Ministry.
In his new year message, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi called on his country fellows, regardless of their different political affiliation or tribes, to uphold the unity in order to overcome economic difficulties as they forge ahead in the new year.
Because the New Year's Day on Gregorian calendar was introduced into Kenya just at beginning of the 20th century with the arrival of European missionaries, there are few unique African customs to celebrate it.
But Africans still welcomed the new year in a way colored by their tradition. It was very eye-catching when three boys, with ochre paints on their faces, waved the signal of victory to foreign tourists.
Children's faces often became color palettes in the past when they went through the circumcision rite, one of the oldest tradition in Africa.
Meanwhile, the National Museum of Kenya on New Year's Day was still open, despite of virtual standstill of the city.
Kenyan children, accompanied by their parents, were learning about the fossils of the oldest human ancestor and their country's glorious past, a special way to walk into the new century.
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