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Kenyan opposition calls for
fresh protests
01-19-2008, 10h59
NAIROBI (AFP)
Kenya's opposition called Saturday for another day of peaceful
protest next week after a violent police crackdown on three days
of demonstrations against President Mwai Kibaki's re-election left
33 people dead.
Residents of the Kibera slum react
to seeing the bodies of a girl and a man who were shot dead by
police, January 18. Kenya's opposition has called for another
day of peaceful protest next week after a violent police
crackdown during three days of demonstrations against
President Mwai Kibaki's re-election left 33 people dead. (AFP) |
"On Thursday, we will stage
our next set of peaceful rallies throughout the country,"
Henry Kosgey, chairman of opposition leader Raila Odinga's
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), told a news conference.
Other days of the week would be devoted to prayers, he said.
Odinga says he was robbed of the presidency by Kibaki in
December 27 elections that fell short of international
standards. Ensuing violence left at least 700 people dead as
international mediation efforts failed.
Opposition protests Wednesday, Thursday and Friday provoked
a fierce crackdown by anti-riot and paramilitary police in
which at least 33 people lost their lives.
Police said Saturday that they had shot dead three people in
the Nairobi slums of Baba Dogo and Kibera. Five others were
killed in Kisumu in the west of the coutry.
"We will restore law and
order no matter the case," a top police official, who
requested anonymity, told AFP, adding that the killings in
Kisumu were being investigated.
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A medical official at Nairobi's
Masaba hospital told AFP that 40 people were brought in Friday
with gunshot wounds.
The ODM had said Friday it was ending the protests because
civilians were paying too heavy a price, saying it was switching
to a "new phase" including a boycott of large companies owned by
Kibaki's cronies.
The situation in the main trouble spots appeared calmer Saturday,
with inhabitants of the Kibera slum -- where on Friday police with
AK-47 assault rifles clashed with stone-throwing locals -- going
about their daily business.
But police were on high alert in Nairobi and several western
opposition strongholds, amid fears of fresh protests and violent
action by ODM supporters against companies owned by members of
Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.
Calm had returned to the western town of Eldoret after several
days of unrest, with streets busy and shops open again, though
police vehicles were still visible in the city centre.
The killing of two demonstrators by a police officer was caught on
film by a local television station, it emerged on Saturday,
prompting the police to launch an enquiry.
"Following complaints aired in the media that a police officer in
Kisumu unjustifiably used his firearm, occasioning the death of
two demonstrators, the Commissioner of Police has constituted a
new independent team of investigators to proceed to Kisumu and
conduct a fresh inquiry into the matter," a statement said.
Nine Western governments, including Australia, Britain and Canada,
said security forces should "exercise their duties strictly within
the boundaries of law and desist from any extraordinary or
disproportionate use of force and, in particular, the killing of
unarmed protestors."
The United States called for negotiations to start in earnest and
condemned the violence which has killed more than 700 people in
ethnic and political clashes since the disputed December 27
election.
"We've already seen too much of it already and the two parties
need to act with haste and seriousness in seeking a solution
between them," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told
reporters.
International efforts were due to resume next week, meanwhile,
with former UN head Kofi Annan due to arrive in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Louis Michel, European development commissioner, arrived on
Saturday and was due to hold separate meetings with Odinga and
Kibaki. On Thursday members of the European Parliament called for
a freeze in EU aid to Kenya until the current political crisis is
resolved.
Britain on Saturday toned down its travel advice for Kenya, but
warned nationals against all but essential travel to certain parts
of the east African country.
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