|
Death toll nears 800 as
post-election violence spirals out of control in Kenya
Xan Rice in Nairobi
Monday January 28, 2008
The Guardian
Ethnic clashes were spreading across Kenya's Rift valley last
night with at least 19 people burned in their homes or hacked to
death in the popular tourist town of Naivasha, 65 miles from
Nairobi.
The month-long violence, in which nearly 800 people have died, was
sparked by the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, has
now changed into a raw ethnic conflict pitting mainly Kalenjins
and Luos, who supported the opposition, against Kibaki's Kikuyu
community.
There are fears that the cycle of attack and retribution is
already beyond the control of the security forces - and may soon
be beyond that of political leaders too. Despite the effort of
Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, who brought Kibaki
and opposition leader Raila Odinga, a Luo, together on Thursday
for the first time since the election, the violence, rooted in
decades-old tension over land and access to resources and
political power, has escalated dramatically.
Until late last week, the southern Rift valley escaped serious
clashes. But yesterday Katee Mwanza, the district commissioner for
Naivasha, told Reuters eight people were burned and 11 others
hacked to death as rival tribal gangs fought running battles.
In Naivasha, the hub of Kenya's huge flower industry, gangs of
young Kikuyus armed with bows and arrows, clubs and machetes
yesterday set alight homes and cars belonging to Luos in the
poorest estates, as well as the city centre. Looters used iron
bars to smash the windows of shops belonging to non-Kikuyu
businesspeople, and made off with television sets, groceries and
clothing.
Police escorted a convoy of nine vehicles of tourists trapped
outside Naivasha through the town and on to Nairobi.
In Nakuru, the lakeside town that hosts the country's most popular
national park, more than 60 people have been killed since Friday.
The Mungiki, a feared Kikuyu criminal gang, is widely reported to
have been deployed in Nakuru and other towns to lead revenge
attacks on communities suspected of supporting the opposition.
Some 55 bodies were counted yesterday at the morgue in Nakuru,
said an official.
Bodies were still arriving although the running battles had
largely cooled off. A local newspaper reporter saw another five
bodies yesterday in two slums on the outskirts of Nakuru.
And in the northern Rift valley, which saw the worst of the ethnic
violence immediately after the election, gangs of Kalenjin
warriors continue to cause havoc.
On Saturday, for the second time in a week, hundreds of youths
attacked a monastery in Kipkelion where more than 600 Kikuyus and
Kisiis are sheltering. The 10 policemen guarding the compound
managed to repel them, but Father Dominic Nkoyoyo, the Catholic
priest running the monastery, told the Guardian that another
attempt may be imminent, despite efforts by the local opposition
MP to calm tensions. "I have received information that there could
be an attack tonight or tomorrow morning," he said.
About 20 miles north, in the mainly Kikuyu town of Timboroa,
nearly two-thirds of the buildings in the town, including a school,
were burned down between 1am and 4am on Sunday by Kalenjin gangs
approaching from four sides.
Okong'o Omogeni, chairman of the Law Society of Kenya, said that
what had started as an outburst of rage at the verdict of the
presidential election - described as lacking credibility by all
the local and foreign observer groups - had mutated into an ethnic
conflict far wider than the simplistic "Luo versus Kikuyu"
explanation. He warned that the anarchy could easily escalate, "leaving
Kenya in a state of disintegration", if the security forces failed
to take control and a political solution was not found immediately.
"Protection is the government's responsibility but at the moment
it seems incapable or unwilling to protect citizens and their
property from militia attacks," Omogeni said. The police spokesman
was not available for comment.
After touring some of the worst-hit areas of the Rift valley,
Annan met Odinga yesterday and was due to deliver his agenda for
peace talks. Odinga insists that the flawed election must be one
of the main points of dialogue, but since Annan's arrival the
government has placed advertisements in local newspapers insisting
that Kenyans must accept that Kibaki is the rightful president.
Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, Britain's minister for Africa, Asia and
the UN, arrives in Nairobi today and will meet political leaders.
|
