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Annan: Violence Is Escalating in
Kenya
By Ted Moore
14:19 - January 27th 2008
eNews
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Kenyan
rival leaders to put aside their divergences and end the bloody
conflict.
The Ghanaian diplomat outlined that the fierce conflict has
evolved beyond initial protests and threatens to grip other parts
of the African country.
Annan visited the conflict-ridden Rift Valley province in western
Kenya Saturday, describing the scene there as "heart-wrenching,"
Nairobi's Daily Nation reported Sunday.
"What we saw was heart-wrenching. We saw houses burning,
grandmothers and children being pushed out of their homes, and
people suffering everywhere," he said.
Annan said the conflict is "evolving slowly to assume a life of
its own" as the violence spirals beyond initial protests of the
contested Dec. 27 presidential elections.
Officials say the violence in western Kenya is escalating and
government officials blame the opposition Orange Democratic
Movement, whose Raila Odinga ran in the tight presidential race,
with fomenting the violence.
At least 750 people lost their lives since the unrest broke out
after December's presidential election, more than 200,000 being
left without a roof over their head by inter-ethnic violence.
Meanwhile, mobs armed with machetes continued to attack people in
the tumultuous Rift Valley, setting fire to vehicles and buildings.
Groups of young men blocked several access roads, forcing the
police to fire over their heads in order to clear the streets.
Security forces were patrolling the streets of Nakuru after gangs
applied their own law for three days. Machetes, poison arrows,
stones and fires left at least 27 dead as members of rival tribes
faced off in several areas of the city, The New York Times said.
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