KENYA: Thousands of men gather with crude weapons, prepared to fight, in Kenyan town of Sotik

Record ID: 346232

  • Title: KENYA: Thousands of men gather with crude weapons, prepared to fight, in Kenyan town of Sotik
  • Date: 3rd February 2008
  • Summary: (W3) KISUMU, KENYA (FEBRUARY 1, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEN REMOVING ROCKS FROM ROAD MAN CYCLING PAST ON BICYCLE, TRANSPORTING COFFIN
  • Embargoed: 18th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1QUS2YQHYPRNVCTM5YH104V0O
  • Story Text: A steady stream of displaced Kenyans arrive at camps for internally displaced people as thousands of men gather with crude weapons in the small town of Sotik, prepared to fight opponents. Oppositions leader Raila Odingo denies charges that his party has been involved in any organised violence.
    In the wake of ethnic violence in Kenya's Rift Valley following disputed presidential elections, aid workers are facing huge difficulties in accommodating people displaced by the unrest.
    At a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north western town of Nakuru Red Cross counsellor Tabitha Mwaniki said:
    "The numbers are so overwhelming. We still have so many people that have not received tents. There are so many people that have not received the non-food items and even when it comes to the rationing of the food items, we still have a lot of people who have not been reached by this help."
    Youths burned hundreds of homes in a town in Kenya's Rift Valley on Saturday (February 2), sending residents fleeing with all they could carry, despite an agreement between feuding politicians to end weeks of bloodshed.
    Gangs with machetes, bows and arrows, spears and clubs took to the streets of the small town of Sotik, some 40 km (25 miles) south-west of Kericho. Plumes of smoke rose from smouldering homesteads and patches of burning tea plantations around the town.
    Some Kenyans fear that even if the politicians strike a power-sharing deal, they will struggle to control ethnic tensions which have taken on a momentum of their own.
    The party leaders at the heart of the crisis -- President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga -- remain at loggerheads, with Kibaki repeating that he had been elected by a majority of Kenyans in a Dec. 27 poll and saying the dispute must be settled by Kenya's courts.
    Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Saturday (February 2) accused President Mwai Kibaki of
    "antics and theatrics" on the international stage.

    "Mister Mwai Kibaki blamed ODM for the violence and mayhem that is going on and he went on to make a very serious charge that this was premeditated and that he has got evidence of premeditation. The question is that if he has evidence and he is legally in charge of the government, why has he not taken any action against those responsible for this premeditated violence," Odinga told a news conference in Nairobi.
    Speakers on the first day of the African Union (AU) summit on Thursday (January 31) called for urgent action to stop the violence in Kenya, stepping up pressure on Kibaki and Odinga to find a negotiated solution.
    But in two speeches on Friday, to the summit and a separate meeting of the East African regional grouping IGAD, Kibaki repeatedly attacked the opposition and stuck to positions already rejected by Odinga.

    "The world should not be misled by Kibaki's antics and theatrics to say that he won elections, he knows he did not win these elections. We are prepared to walk the extra mile, as I said when we launched peace talks. We are doing this for the sake of Kenya, not for the sake of Kibaki. We would like the suffering of people to stop," he added.
    Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan brokered a deal between Kenya's feuding politicians on Friday to take immediate steps to end the post-election violence which has killed at least 850 people and displaced more than a quarter of a million.
    The unrest, which has often pitted Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe against Odinga's Luo tribe, has tarnished the image of a country long seen as one of east Africa's most stable and prosperous.
    Violence in Kisumu on Friday (February 1) showed no sign of ebbing despite the continued mediation efforts.
    Twelve year-old Godfrey Opiyo was shot in the head while he was trying to avoid chaos in a nearby slum on Friday, witnesses said.
    Opiyo, an orphan was accompanied by his visibly distraught brother to Kisumu General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
    Police fired tear gas to disperse youths who were blocking roads and burning tyres.
    The conflict, which has often pitted Kibaki's Kikuyu against other tribes supporting Odinga, has tarnished the image of a nation long seen as one of Africa's more stable and with one of the continent's most promising economies.
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