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Kenya opposition vows economic
boycott after 'final' protests
18. Jan. 2008
NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenya's opposition said Friday it would launch an
economic boycott after staging a final day of protests as it ramps
up the pressure on President Mwai Kibaki following his disputed
re-election.
Riot and paramilitary police maintained their tight grip on
Nairobi and western opposition strongholds and prepared to face
off with protestors for the third day running.
According to police, 14 people have been killed since the
nationwide rallies kicked off on Wednesday, sparking international
fears the east African nation -- once a beacon of regional
stability -- would further sink into chaos.
But the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of opposition leader
Raila Odinga announced that the protests would end on Friday,
arguing that civilians were paying too heavy a price.
"Today is the last day of demonstrations. We have seen a lot of
suffering caused by reckless police action against peaceful
protestors," ODM spokesman Salim Lone told AFP.
Kenyan police opened fire on crowds, fired tear gas and beat
protestors, drawing accusations from the opposition and rights
group that blind and excessive force was being used.
The police have banned all rallies and vowed to crack down on
anyone attempting to join demonstrations.
"No amount of propaganda will deter the force from executing its
legal mandate with a view to providing a secure environment for
the full resumption of our country's social and economic
activities," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said in a statement.
ODM announced it would seek to undermine a government packed with
Kibaki's closest allies by targeting their sources of funding.
"We are now moving on to a new phase of the struggle and this will
include initiating (an) economic boycott by consumers of large
companies owned by hardliners around Mr Kibaki," Lone told AFP.
Among the brands targeted by ODM, Lone mentioned Brookside Dairies
-- a large company owned by Local Government Minister Uhuru
Kenyatta -- as well as the Citi Hoppa public transport company,
Kenya Bus Services and Equity Bank.
All the companies are owned by leading members of Kibaki's Kikuyu
tribe, which has dominated the country's political and economic
life for years.
Odinga charges Kibaki rigged his re-election in the December 27
polls. His movement described the 76-year-old president as "an
eminent thief" running away with a stolen election.
While no major foreign power has come out strongly against Kibaki,
the international community has voiced concern over flaws in last
month's polls and urged feuding factions to engage in dialogue and
stop the bloodshed.
"Both sides bear equal responsibility for the fact that there is
not a political settlement," said US State Department spokesman
Sean McCormack.
More than 700 people have been killed in riots, police raids and
ethnically-driven clashes since Kibaki was declared the winner of
the presidential election on December 30.
According to the Kenyan government, at least 250,000 people have
also been displaced by the violence, shattering the country's
image as a haven of peace and democracy in a region plagued by
long-running civil strife.
Graca Machel, the wife of South African former president Nelson
Mandela, and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa arrived
Thursday in Nairobi a bid to revive a moribund international
mediation effort.
It was unclear when former UN chief Kofi Annan, who is to head the
mediation team but delayed his departure from Geneva after
contracting a severe dose of flu, would arrive.
"We are ready to work with the two (Mkapa and Machel) and also we
are waiting for Annan to come and join them," ODM spokesman Lone
said.
In the western town of Eldoret, the worst hit by the
three-week-old violence, residents braced for a third day of
unrest but police adopted a lower profile than during the first
two days of protests, an AFP correspondent said.
At least 4,000 protestors staged a rally there on Wednesday and
medics said police fired tear gas inside a hospital on Thursday.
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