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Kenya government turns on
critics, Odinga hailed
Mon Jan 21, 2008
By Andrew Cawthorne and Wangui Kanina
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's government went
on the offensive against critics on Monday, condemning opposition
economic boycott plans as "sabotage" and summoning the British
ambassador for a ticking off.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga returned to
the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, for the first time since the
disputed election of December 27, to a rapturous welcome from
supporters at a memorial for those killed in unrest.
"I'm saddened by the brutal killing of innocent unarmed people
demonstrating peacefully," Odinga told Reuters as thousands sang
his name and six coffins of people said to be shot by police were
laid out in a stadium in the western town.
"Kibaki has proved he has no respect for democracy. I'm the
rightful, elected president."
About 650 people have died in violence since Kibaki's re-election
last month, and 250,000 people have also been displaced in a
country that is more used to receiving refugees from war-torn
neighbors like Sudan and Somalia.
Most foreign and local observers say the poll was flawed, but the
government says the opposition pre-planned violence.
The crisis has damaged one of the continent's most promising
economies, cut off supplies to neighbors, and threatened to taint
Kibaki's reputation as the man who democratized Kenya after the
24-year rule of President Daniel arap Moi.
In an increasingly militant reaction to criticism from abroad,
Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula summoned Britain's High
Commissioner Adam Wood to express displeasure.
Officials are particularly irate at comments by Meg Munn,
parliamentary undersecretary of state for the Foreign Office, that
Britain has "not recognized" Kibaki's government.
"Our elections don't need a stamp of authority from the House of
Commons," Wetangula told reporters. British officials confirmed
the meeting, but offered no more details.
BOYCOTT
The opposition has vowed to continue street rallies from Thursday
and also called for a boycott of companies owned by Kibaki allies.
They include Equity Bank, Brookside Dairies and bus companies
CityHoppa and Kenya Bus.
"Sabotage of companies (is) illegal and an insult to Kenyans," the
government said in a statement, adding that ODM leaders would be
held accountable for any damage.
The boycott call may be more symbolic than real, however, given
that many of Kenya's poor use Equity because of its accessibility
and low charges, while commuters in long queues may not want to
wait even longer by shunning certain buses.
In the latest violence, three people were hacked to death in
ethnic fighting in a Nairobi slum on Sunday, while police said
four people died in violence related to land disputes in the
volatile Rift Valley.
In jittery Kenyan markets, the shilling currency hit a 10-month
low against the U.S. dollar on Monday.
In Kisumu, devastated by riots and protests, residents whistled,
banged drums and marched in ceremonies both honoring the dead and
celebrating Odinga.
"We have come both to mourn and to happily welcome our president
back home," Rose Akinyi, 35, a tailor, while dancing to a dirge
from the local Luo culture.
In the latest international mediation attempt, former U.N.
secretary-general Kofi Annan was due to fly into Kenya to start
talks with both sides on Tuesday. Diplomats hope he can bring
Kibaki and Odinga into some sort of power-sharing arrangement,
possibly before a fresh vote in the east African nation.
Kenyans, however, are skeptical of such a solution.
"It seems every time we vote, we bring a bloodbath upon ourselves,"
said a Nairobi housewife, Joy, who asked for her surname not to be
used. "Why would we want another election?"
(Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed in Kisumu, Kate Kelland and
Katherine Baldwin in London; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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