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Kenyan opposition leader
threatens to call general strike
Friday, January 18, 2008
By Steve Bloomfield in Nairobi
Kenya is bracing itself for another week of protests and unrest
after the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, vowed to increase the
pressure on Mwai Kibaki's embattled government with a general
strike and boycott of some of Kenya's largest companies.
The death toll from the country's post-election violence rose
yesterday after a second day of opposition-organised protests. Mr
Odinga accused police of killing seven people in Kasarani,
Nairobi. More than 600 people have so far died, many by police
bullets, others during clashes between opposition supporters and
tribes which supported Mr Kibaki in December's election.
Police have fired teargas and live rounds to disperse crowds in
towns and cities across Kenya. In the western city of Kisumu, a
local television station filmed a young protester pulling faces at
a police officer. The man was shot in the chest, then the officer
kicked him as he lay bleeding. The man died. Mr Odinga accused
police of being "on a killing spree". The government, he said, has
"turned this country into a killing fields of the innocent".
A third and final day of nationwide demonstrations is expected
today. Then, Mr Odinga said, the protests would move into "phase
two". Kenya's major trade unions, in particular hotel workers and
security guards, are to go on strike to further disrupt the
country's economy. Mr Odinga also urged Kenyans to boycott
companies owned by key Kibaki ministers and allies.
Transport companies such as Citi Hoppa and Kenya Bus Services,
Kenya's largest milk company, Brookside, and one of the country's
most successful banks, Equity, will all be targeted. Equity Bank
is called the "poor man's bank" because it recruits customers
normally shunned by the main banks. "Our supporters are their
biggest customers," said Mr Odinga. "We will tell them to withdraw
their savings."
But despite dismissing the government as "killers and thieves", he
said he was still prepared to negotiate a settlement which would
result in power-sharing. Mr Odinga said that he was willing to
serve as vice-president under Mr Kibaki, provided there were "clearly
defined power-sharing arrangements".
Such an arrangement would be only on an interim basis, he said,
part of a broader agreement which ideally led to fresh elections.
If the agreement was satisfactory, he said, he would be willing to
stay in opposition.
He cited the political situation in Germany, where the Christian
Democrats and Social Democrats have joined together in a "grand
coalition" as an example to follow. But Mr Odinga added: "The
world has become very hypocritical. Thieves don't belong at the
negotiating table. Thieves belong in jail. When someone blatantly
steals an election you should not have to negotiate with them."
Attempts at bringing the two sides together have stalled. Kofi
Annan, the former UN secretary general, was to arrive on Tuesday
to mediate but had to postpone his trip after catching flu.
European and Kenyan election officials described the election
result, when Mr Kibaki crept home by 230,000 votes, as deeply
flawed. Mr Odinga had won in six of the eight provinces, with Mr
Kibaki coming first only in his home province, Central.
In some Central constituencies, EU observers recorded far lower
tallies for Mr Kibaki than those announced by the electoral
commission. The chair of the commission, Samuel Kivuitu, has since
claimed he does not know who won the election and has accused "outside
forces" of putting pressure on him to release the results.
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