KENYA: International mediators seek end to Kenyan crisis in which 250,000 have been displaced

Record ID: 360761

  • Title: KENYA: International mediators seek end to Kenyan crisis in which 250,000 have been displaced
  • Date: 24th January 2008
  • Summary: KOFI ANNAN WALKING OUT OF AIRPORT, ENTERS VEHICLE ANNAN'S CONVOY LEAVES AIRPORT
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1G550UPWZMSFCHVIHFH65EF2L
  • Story Text: As diplomatic emissaries arrive in Kenya for the latest push at ending the political crisis, about 250,000 displaced people are still in living in camps around the country.
    About 250,000 Kenyans have been uprooted by fighting that has tarnished the country's image. The crisis has cost east Africa's biggest economy more than 1 billion US dollars and choked fuel supplies and trade to landlocked neighbours like Uganda.
    Thousands of the displaced are camped in show ground sites near major towns like Nakuru in the Rift Valley province.
    Clashes between supporters of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition challenger Raila Odinga, ethnic unrest and a brutal crackdown by the security forces have killed at least 650 Kenyans over the past month.
    Odinga says a December 27 poll that returned Kibaki to power was fraudulent. His supporters have taken to the streets and mobs mostly targeting Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have hacked people to death and burnt homes.

    "I came here because where I'm from, there is no peace. Houses have been burned there, there is nowhere to get shelter. So I thought I should seek refuge where there is peace," says Kamau Njoroge, a Kikuyu who is camping out at the Nakuru Show Ground.
    There have also been reprisal killings.

    "The government is helping us but even if they are helping us they are not helping us in the best way because when the police come to one side of the village, the attackers move to the other side, so we still need some more help," said Mary Wambui, another displaced person.
    Odinga and Kibaki have so far refused to speak to each other despite pressure from Western powers like the United States, Britain and the European Union.
    Meanwhile, the International Red Cross has made an urgent aid appeal for the 100,000 people the United Nations says could face starvation in the Northern Rift Valley.

    "This post violence is really bad, now we are being called refugees, but we are people just like you," added a young boy, Isaac Macharia, at the Nakuru camp.
    Ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has arrived in Kenya to attempt mediation. He faces a tough challenge especially now that the opposition has clashed with police at a funeral for those who have died in the unrest.
    Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni also arrived on Tuesday (January 22) to join in the mediation efforts, though the opposition distrusts him because he is one of few African leaders to have congratulated Kibaki on his victory.
    Annan's mission follows a similar attempt by African Union head and Ghanaian President John Kufuor. He failed to get Kibaki and Odinga to meet.
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