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KENYA: Tensions high as
Annan-brokered talks begin
NAIROBI, 29 January 2008 (IRIN) - The "official dialogue process"
began on 29 January between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and the
opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), even as violence that
has ravaged the country since late December continued to spread,
with the latest casualty a Member of Parliament who was shot dead
outside his home in Nairobi, the capital.
Pledging his commitment to the process of national healing and
reconciliation, Kibaki announced that 32 fully-equipped police
stations would be built in parts of the country affected by the
violence. He said Ksh700 million (US$1 million) had already been
committed to this project.
ODM leader Raila Odinga also committed himself to the dialogue
process but maintained that the most urgent issue facing the
country was the resolution of the "deeply flawed" presidential
elections that have resulted in violence in many parts of the
country.
Both leaders condemned the killing of the MP for Embakasi
constituency in Nairobi, Mellitus Mugabe Were.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told IRIN the police was treating
the case as murder, "but this man was a politician and you can
never rule out anything".
The MP's killing fuelled the already high political tension across
the country. Hundreds of people have been killed and at least
255,000 displaced since the violence started soon after an
announcement by the Electoral Commission of Kenya declaring Kibaki
winner of the 27 December 2007 presidential elections.
Were, who won the seat on an ODM ticket, was shot dead as he
returned home in the early hours of 29 January.
"We have put together a very competent [investigations] team,"
Kiraithe said, adding that the police were not ruling out a
political motive for the murder.
He said ODM was free to send an investigator of its choice to join
the police inquiry team to avoid any suspicions of a cover-up.
However, ODM leader Raila Odinga said the killing was nothing less
than an assassination.
"This was an assassination; planned and executed by ODM's enemies,"
he said on local television. "How can the police spokesman dismiss
it as a common murder yet no investigation has been carried out?"
When the news of the MP's killing spread, trouble started in
various areas of the city, with reports that four people were
killed in chaos that erupted in the Kibera slum, in the
constituency represented by Odinga.
A local journalist, who requested anonymity, said rowdy youths had
created boundaries in sections of the slums, depending on their
ethnicity.
"The gangs, armed with machetes and all sorts of crude weapons,
have created borders that members of the different ethnic groups
dare not cross," the journalist said.
Earlier, Kiraithe said the police had prevented youths from Kibera
slum and Umoja residential area from taking to the streets to
protest at Were's murder.
"Right now the situation is under control," he said. "People out
to destroy lives and property will not be treated with kid gloves."
However, tension remained high across the country as an African
Union-mandated team, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, held its first national reconciliation meeting with Kibaki
and Odinga, who have nominated three members each to lead their
parties in the negotiations.
Annan arrived in the country last week and has already held
meetings with the two groups as well as other stakeholders. He has
also visited camps for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Education crisis in Samburu
Meanwhile, in the far-flung northern district of Samburu, school
has yet to start as teachers and parents continue to avoid the
area due to fear caused by the post-election violence.
Education officials said on 28 January that a number of teachers
from outside the district had already secured transfers to their
home district or to other areas they considered safe.
The Samburu executive secretary of the Kenya National Union of
Teachers, Raphael Lesaloit, said the district was experiencing a
shortage of teachers and appealed to the government to consider
recruiting local graduates to replace teachers who had moved out
of the district.
"We already had a shortage of teachers in the district; the
situation is worse now because more teachers have left out of fear
and some have secured transfers to other areas," Lesaloit said.
Some parents who fled the area following attacks soon after the
election results had yet to return.
Moreover, local schools have yet to receive teaching materials and
funds for free primary education. A teacher at a school in Maralal,
the district's headquarters, said they would have to send home
children who had reported to school or demand money from their
parents because the government had not sent any money.
Government services in the district have also been affected as
several public servants have left, with the worst affected offices
the ministry of health, veterinary and livestock services.
At the same time, workers at hotels in Samburu and Isiolo
districts have been sent home after tourist cancellations.
Fabian Lolosoli, a member of the Samburu Tourism Cultural Group,
said the cancellations and difficulties getting livestock to
market had deprived many families of income.
"The government and donors are focusing their attention on the
internally displaced in areas affected by conflict whilst we are
suffering in silence,” Lolosoli said.
"Intervention measures to help Kenyans affected by the chaos
should also take our plight into consideration," he said.
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