|
CHRONOLOGY-Kenya in crisis after
disputed elections
Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:16am EST
Jan 28 (Reuters) - Protests erupted in west Kenya and
machete-wielding mobs faced off in the Rift Valley on Monday after
dozens were killed in ethnic violence that complicated mediation
efforts by former U.N. boss Kofi Annan.
Here is a chronology of the crisis:
Dec 27 - Voters elect a new president and parliament.
Dec 30 - The Electoral Commission declares Kibaki winner of the
presidential election, he is hurriedly sworn in.
- Raila Odinga's opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) wins
the biggest number of seats in the parliamentary election.
Dec 31 - Streets are flooded with security forces and a ban on
live TV broadcasts after riots convulse the nation is maintained.
Jan 1 - A mob sets fire to a church, killing about 30 villagers
from Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.
Jan 2 - The government accuses Odinga's backers of "ethnic
cleansing" as the death toll from tribal violence rises.
Jan 4 - Kibaki says he will accept a re-run of the disputed
election if a court orders it.
- The United Nations says the unrest has uprooted 250,000 people.
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 will begin.
Jan 8 - Kibaki announces 17 ministers for his new cabinet.
Protesters respond by building and burning barricades in Odinga's
western stronghold, Kisumu.
- John Kufuor, African Union chairman and president of Ghana,
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. Kibaki and Odinga, amid
recriminations, have not met or agreed how to end the crisis.
Jan 11 - The ODM calls for international sanctions against Kibaki.
Jan 15 - Parliament is convened and the opposition gets a boost by
winning the post of speaker.
Jan 16 - Police fight hundreds of protesters throughout the
country, as the opposition defies 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.
Jan 19 - The opposition says it will resume protests next week,
having completed three days of demonstrations in which at least 23
people died.
Jan 22 - Ex-U.N. chief Kofi Annan arrives in Kenya to attempt
mediation. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni also flies into
Nairobi to try to mediate.
Jan 24 - Kibaki and Odinga meet in a breakthrough brokered by
Annan.
Jan 25 - Annan denounces "gross and systematic" human rights
abuses in Kenya after continuing post-election violence and the
next day calls for an investigation.
Jan 27 - Annan meets Odinga as ethnic clashes continue.
- Negotiators led by Annan tell the rival camps of Kibaki, and
Odinga to select four officials each and for further talks in the
next 24 hours.
Jan 28 - At least 64 people are killed in four days of ethnic
fighting in the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and Naivasha pushing
up the death toll up to around 800 people.
|
