Kenya urged to end violence as clashes continue
International pressure mounted on Kenya today to end the election-fuelled violence that has claimed more than 300 victims.
The killing of up to 50 members of the Kikuyu tribe as they sheltered in a church fuelled fears of deepening ethnic conflict in what has been one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
The Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest tribe, are accused of profiting from their dominance of politics and business. President Mwai Kibaki, who won a second term in the disputed elections, is a Kikuyu, while his rival Rail Odinga is from the Luo tribe, a smaller but still major group.
Much of Nairobi was quiet and deserted today, although clashes continued in the city’s giant Mathare slum and Mr Odinga has said he will go ahead with plans to lead a “million man” protest march in the capital tomorrow even though the government has banned it.
A government spokesman attempted to play down the violence, saying it had only affected a few per cent of the country’s 34 million people. “Kenya is not burning and not at the throes of any division,” he said.
The UN said 70,000 people had been displaced in five days of violence. Around 5,400 people also have fled to neighbouring Uganda.
The violence has cost the country an estimated $31m US a day, many businesses have closed and some foreign governments have advised their citizens against travel to usually tourist-friendly nation.
The conflict has begun to affect regional trade. Many petrol stations in Uganda have temporarily closed due to shortages ,most fuel is imported by road from Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast.
In a joint statement, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there were “independent reports of serious irregularities in the counting process.”
Both welcomed news the African Union would send its chief, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, to mediate the conflict.
In Nairobi’s slums, which are often divided along tribal lines, rival groups have been fighting each other with machetes and sticks as police used tear gas and bullets to keep them from pouring into the city centre. The capital has been a ghost town for days, with residents stocking up on food and water and staying in their homes.
In Mathare, mothers clutching babies and suitcases were evacuated by riot police while youths armed with machetes and axes heaped abuse on the police as the slum burned.
The church mass murder happened on Monday in Eldoret, about 185 miles north-west of Nairobi, after people fled to the Assemblies of God Church, seeking refuge after mobs torched homes.
Yesterday a mob of about 2,000 arrived and set fire to the church.
