KENYA: More than ten thousand people have fled the tea growing area of Kericho in post elections violence

Record ID: 361200

  • Title: KENYA: More than ten thousand people have fled the tea growing area of Kericho in post elections violence
  • Date: 6th January 2008
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (JANUARY 6, 2008) (REUTERS) WIDE OF PRAYER SERVICE WITH PEOPLE SINGING ODM MEMBERS L-R ANYANG NYONG'O, JOSEPH NYAGAH AND WILLIAM RUTO PASTOR ADDRESSING CONGREGATION VARIOUS OF ODM LEADERS PRAYING WITH WILLIAM RUTO WITH RAISED HANDS VARIOUS OF CONGREGATION
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACZCLK410N1FGIDRVMLT3UDNDD
  • Story Text: Kenyans across the political divide prayed for peace on Sunday while aid workers sought to bring relief to an estimated 250,000 refugees from post-election violence that has also killed hundreds.
    In the tea growing area of Kericho thousands were still trying to leave and find safe haven elsewhere.

    "We are really suffering, I have a family and four children who depend on me. When this tribal war started we were attacked and very many people have been killed and we are appealing for help. We want the government to assist us so that we can get transport so that we can go home," said one local.
    One week after the announcement of President Mwai Kibaki's re-election ignited protests, riots and looting around the east African nation, there was little sign of him meeting opposition rival Raila Odinga to sort out the crisis directly.
    Would-be mediators, including Washington's top Africa diplomat Jendayi Frazer and South Africa's Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, shuttled between both camps.
    And Ghanaian President John Kufuor was due to visit in coming days in his capacity as chairman of the African Union.
    But a statement from Kibaki that he was ready to form "a government of national unity" was met with scepticism by the opposition.
    It says he stole the Dec. 27 vote by fraud and is now occupying the president's seat illegitimately.
    Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) wants Kibaki, 76, to quit and an international mediator to broker talks prior to a fresh election in three to six months. ODM was also accused of vote-rigging in its stronghold areas.
    On the street, most Kenyans were preoccupied with getting their lives back to normal, amid scepticism about politicians whom they see as viewing power as a means of acquiring wealth rather than improving the lot of ordinary people.
    At least 300 people have died, some in battles between police and protesters, others in ethnic violence.
    Looting and criminality have also flared during the chaos, claiming yet more lives in a nation that had been seen as a relatively stable democracy and flourishing economy.
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