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CHRONOLOGY - Kenya in crisis
after disputed elections
19 Jan 2008 17:43:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
Jan 19 (Reuters) - Five people hiding in a refugee camp in Kenya's
Rift Valley were killed on Saturday by opposition supporters in
the latest flare-up of violence in one of the regions worst hit by
ethnic killings. Kenya's opposition has said it will resume
protests next week over a disputed election, just having finished
three days of demonstrations in which at least 23 died.
Here is a chronology of the crisis:
Dec. 27 - Voters elect a new president and parliament. Most
opinion polls put Kibaki's opposition rival Raila Odinga of the
Orange Democratic Movement in the lead.
Dec. 30 - The Electoral Commission of Kenya declares Kibaki
winner of the election and he is hurriedly sworn in.
Dec. 31 - The government floods the streets with security
forces and maintains a ban on live TV broadcasts after riots
convulse the nation.
Jan. 1 - A mob torches a church, killing about 30 villagers.
Jan. 2 - Kibaki's government accuses Odinga's backers of "ethnic
cleansing" as the death toll from tribal violence rises.
Jan. 3 - Attorney General Amos Wako calls for an
independent investigation into the election. -- South Africa's
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu begins to try
to mediate.
Jan 4 - Kibaki says he would accept a re-run of the
disputed election if a court orders it. -- The United Nations says
the unrest has uprooted 250,000 people, and that about 100,000
displaced people in the Northern Rift Valley could face starvation.
The International Red Cross makes an urgent appeal for aid.
Jan 5 - Kibaki says he is ready to form a government of
national unity to end the turmoil, but the opposition rejects the
offer.
Jan 7 - Odinga calls off planned protests after meeting
U.S. envoy Jendayi Frazer, saying the mediation process is about
to begin.
Jan 8 - Kibaki announces 17 ministers for his new cabinet.
Protesters respond by building burning barricades in Odinga's
western stronghold of Kisumu. -- African Union Chairman and
Ghanaian President John Kufuor arrives in Nairobi to mediate.
Jan 10 - Kufuor leaves Kenya saying both sides have agreed
to work together with an African panel headed by former U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. However Kibaki and Odinga, amid
recriminations, did not meet or agree how to end the crisis.
Jan 11 - The ODM calls for international sanctions against
Kibaki.
Jan 14 - The death toll in unrest rises to 612 according to
aid agencies.
Jan 15 - Parliament is convened and the opposition gets a
boost by winning the post of speaker in the assembly.
Jan 16 - Police fight hundreds of protesters in trouble
spots across the country, killing three, as the opposition defy a
ban on rallies.
Jan 17 - In Nairobi, and the western towns of Kisumu and
Eldoret, police fire teargas and bullets during rallies called by
the opposition but banned by police. The opposition accuse police
of killing seven.
Jan 18 - At least 13 people are killed when police open
fire in a Nairobi slum and ethnic groups clash during protests.
Jan 19 - Five people in a refugee camp in the Rift Valley
are killed by opposition supporters. The opposition movement say
it will resume protests next week over the disputed election, just
having finished three days of demonstrations in which at least 23
died.
(Writing by Jijo Jacob and David Cutler, London Editorial
Reference Unit)
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