KENYA: At least three killed in fresh Kenya clashes, opposition calls for dialogue

Record ID: 360703

  • Title: KENYA: At least three killed in fresh Kenya clashes, opposition calls for dialogue
  • Date: 21st January 2008
  • Summary: (W3) MATHARE, NAIROBI, KENYA (JANUARY 20, 2008) (REUTERS) YOUTHS ON TOP OF A BUILDING THROWING STONES POLICE STANDING BY A CLOUD OF TEARGAS VARIOUS OF YOUNG MEN WITH MACHETES POLICE FIRING TEARGAS AT A GROUP OF PEOPLE VARIOUS OF POLICE WALKING DOWN THE STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST A POLICEMAN
  • Embargoed: 5th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5632OEMJ9E6BC6A48UFRC196S
  • Story Text: Clashes between rival tribes in the Kenyan capital killed at least three people on Sunday (January 20) in a fresh flare-up of ethnically-motivated violence after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election last month, witnesses said.
    All of the bodies bore scars of machete attacks.
    Other witnesses confirmed the death toll in clashes between youths from Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group and the Luo tribe of opposition challenger Raila Odinga.
    They bring to at least 31 dead the toll from days of violence since the opposition launched a three-day anti-government demonstration on Wednesday.
    Many were killed by police opening fire on protesters, others by ethnic gangs.
    Police were heavily deployed on Sunday in the Huruma slum, whose name means "mercy" in Swahili, in an effort to contain further post-poll violence that has tarnished Kenya's image as a stable country in a troubled region, hurt its democratic credentials and damaged investor confidence.
    More ethnic clashes are expected, and many Kikuyus are leaving their homes to safety.

    "My name is Mama Shiro, I am 55 years old. They have said, the Luos have said, that Mathare North area 1 will never belong to a Kikuyu,"
    said a visibly shaken Mama Shiro, who lives in the Huruma neighbourhood of the Mathare slum.
    Ethnically motivated attacks have often targeted people seen to support Kibaki, mostly from his Kikuyu ethnic group, but there have also been vicious reprisals.
    In Mathare, some Kikuyus have banded up to hit back at the Luos who they have shared the slum with for years.

    "When I got there they asked me my tribe even before I could tell them, they took my bag and even wanted to cut me with a machete. I was just saved by the grace of God, they have taken everything I had," said one Luo woman, who had just been attacked.
    About 650 people have been killed since Kibaki won the controversial December 27 election, mostly in police action against banned protests and attacks on tribes seen as backing him, and thousands wounded.
    The aftermath of the violence in Mathare hung heavy, with blood and severed limbs lying on the ground.
    Around 250,000 people have been displaced and with the fresh flare-up of violence here, more are leaving their homes, carrying only what they can.

    "They just took a machete and cut me, I tried to stop him because it's someone I know because he is my neighbour. I tried to tell him stop… God forgive me... God forgive me... but he didn't want to listen to me, he just cut me," said a Kikuyu woman, with luggage on her back.
    In the worst ethnic-based attack since the violence started, around 30 people were locked in a church near Eldoret, in the Rift Valley. A mob then torched it, burning them to death.
    The opposition has called for more demonstrations on Thursday despite the fact that police, under orders to crush rallies, have shot dead scores of their supporters.
    Other parts of the country appeared quiet following sporadic killings and looting in flashpoints such as the western town of Eldoret and the southern town of Narok on Friday and Saturday.
    Opposition leader Raila Odinga urged church leaders to condemn the 'dictatorship' of president Mwai Kibaki who was re-elected in disputed polls last month but called on his supporters not to target anyone because they did not vote for him.
    Odinga was speaking at a church service in Nairobi's Kibera slum, which has been the scene of days of violent protests over three days of mass action called by the opposition.

    "I too also have a dream that one day, the children of this country shall not be judged by their tribal or ethnic backgrounds but by the content of their characters," said Odinga.
    Odinga also said he was ready for dialogue.

    "We therefore embrace dialogue, we have said that nothing can come unless people come and sit together and dialogue together and talk and negotiate, even though you are negotiating with a thief, if that is what will bring peace, we are prepared to negotiate. But we must negotiate with people who are actively looking for a solution, not hypocrites," said Odinga.
    The violence has tarnished Kenya's image as a stable nation in a troubled region, undermined its democratic credentials and laid bare the underlying tribal sentiments behind its politics.
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