Retired political science professor and the head of the political science department at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Anand, Prof Harbans Patel, said, “The large scale violence may hit the tourism industry hard, as it can only flourish if there is peace and security. Tourists will not visit the country in its absence.”

Prof Patel, who taught at Kisumu—the worst affected area in Kenya— for three years from 1978, added, “Gujaratis have played a key role in Kenya’s development. Even after Europeans left post-independence, they remained there, and built schools and infrastructures. Around 90 per cent schools are in the hands of Gujaratis. Both the former Kenyan president and the incumbent have studied under Gujarati teachers.”

Patel said the main cause of the prevailing trouble lies in the power struggle between major ethnic tribes there. “The trouble, which erupted after claims of vote rigging in the December 27 presidential elections by Raila Odinga, the opposition leader from Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), poses threat to the unity of Kenya,” he said.

Patel said the supporters of President Kibaki (a member of Kenya’s Kikuyu tribe) and Odinga (of the Luo community) are the two predominant tribes in Kenya. He pointed out that Luo are away from power since decades and Odinga’s defeat by a narrow margin has made them desperate.