|
Kenya protest violence spreads
to south
Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:07pm IST
By Kipchumba Kemei
NAROK, Kenya (Reuters) - One man was killed in ethnic violence on
Friday when Kenyan opposition protests against a disputed election
spread to an area near the famed Maasai Mara game reserve in the
south of the country.
On the last of three days of protests, police said a man from
President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe was shot with an arrow when
he ran into a group of Maasai.
Maasai and Kikuyu had been fighting in the Narok area since
Thursday with homes and shops burned and at least 23 wounded, the
police said.
"The man bumped into a group of armed Maasais who shot him with a
poison arrow," Narok area police chief Patrick Wambani told
Reuters.
The disputed Dec. 27 election unleashed a wave of political and
ethnic violence, in which more than 600 people have died.
Kenya's swift slide into crisis has dented its democratic
credentials, horrified world powers, scared off tourists and hurt
one of Africa's most promising economies.
The Narok death brought to at least nine the number of people who
have died in three days of demonstrations called by Raila Odinga's
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) against what he calls Kibaki's
stolen victory in the election.
Protests also resumed on Friday in the western opposition
stronghold of Kisumu where more than 300 youths set fire to a fuel
tanker to block the road.
"We burned a tanker and blocked the road as a start of on ongoing
demonstrations. Nobody is allowed to work ... we will continue
demonstrations until we paralyse Kibaki's government" said
Crossborne Orina, 19, a bicycle taxi rider.
END OF DEMONSTRATIONS
ODM, which accuses police of shooting peaceful protesters, said
earlier it would call off street protests after Friday and switch
its campaign to small strikes and boycotts of companies run by
Kibaki allies.
"These last three days have been very painful and we have seen a
lot of needless deaths and suffering ... but today is the last day
of the protests and we are now going to move on," ODM spokesman
Salim Lone said.
He said the boycotts would be to "weaken the hardliners and
strengthen the moderates". He mentioned Brookside Dairies, Equity
Bank and CityHoppa Buses as possible targets.
A likely flashpoint on Friday was the mostly Muslim coastal resort
of Mombasa and central Nairobi when worshippers emerged from
mosques.
Odinga's supporters have already fought running battles with
police in Mombasa.
On Thursday, Odinga said officers killed seven people in Nairobi "whose
only crime was jumping up and down excitedly."
Police deny targeting anyone and say the security forces have shot
only looters and rioters who attacked them.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said Odinga's statement ignored
violence caused by his supporters.
"It does not attempt to explain the current state of ruin in
Kisumu city neither does it explain why thousands of citizens have
turned into refugees in their own country," Kiraithe said in a
statement.
The government accuses ODM of organising attacks against tribes
and people seen as backing Kibaki.
The authorities banned the street rallies despite calls from
Western nations, including the United States and Britain, for it
to allow peaceful protests.
The government says it feared rallies would degenerate into
looting and rioting.
Both sides accuse the other of rigging during the election, which
international observers say fell short of democratic standards.
(Additional reporting by Bryson Hull, Nick Tattersall, George
Obulutsa in Nairobi and Sue Pleming in Washington)
|
