The peaceful transition
The ceremony was as flavorful and varied as Kenya itself. Native chieftains in python-skin and ostrich-feather robes, Indian women hi flowing, pastel-shaded saris, black and white Kenyans in khaki safari outfits or pinstripe suits crowded around the dais in Nairobi's Uhuru (freedom in Swahili) Park. Hundreds of tribal dancers in monkey-skin skirts and black feather headdresses swayed rhythmically, rattling anklets made of Coca-Cola bottletops and ululating cries of praise. Naval battalions boomed out a 21-gun salute, and there was an ear-cracking, low-flying aeronautics display by fighters of the Kenya...