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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

KENYA - UNREST

Kenya factions denounce 'genocide'

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Kenyan government ministers and opposition supporters accused each other of committing 'genocide' as post-election violence has threatened to escalate into tribal war, with over 300 people murdered.(Report: B. Harris)

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

By  Tahar Hani/FRANCE 24 with news agencies

President Mwai Kibaki's government accused rival Raila Odinga's party of unleashing "genocide" in Kenya and Odinga's supporters have made similar charges against Kibaki as the death toll from tribal violence over a disputed election passed 300.
 
A violent mob set fire to a church near the western Kenyan city of Eldoret on Tuesday, killing at least 35 people, including women and children, as post-election violence in Kenya took a disturbing ethnic turn.
 
The victims of the church massacre were members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe who had taken refuge from the escalating violence.
 
Following Kibaki’s re-election to Kenya’s presidency on December 27, the country has been sinking deeper into chaos. The death toll from post-election violence has already reached over 300 and at least 70,000 people have been displaced in western Kenya, according to the Red Cross in Kenya.
 
Kibaki’s re-election has been contested by opposition challenger, Raila Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe.
 
While Kenyan society is split between about 40 ethnic groups, the Kikuyu tribe has dominated politics since the country gained independence in 1963. The Luo, one of the country’s largest tribes, has traditionally felt sidelined from power.
 
Tuesday’s violence has exposed the ethnic divides in a country that is generally considered one of Africa’s most stable nations, with a steady growth rate that reached 6.1% in 2006. 
 
Kibaki tries to stave off crisis
 
The violence has affected Kenya’s major cities, such as Nairobi, Mombassa, and Kisumu – an Odinga stronghold. The president has reacted by requesting that opposition leaders “meet immediately to make a public appeal for peace and restraint.”
 
Kibaki also urged the government to “intensify security operations to protect the citizenry, and put an end to the violence.” But his requests had no effect on the angry populace. As a result, violence continues to unabated in the streets of Kenya’s major cities.
 
Several hundred Kenyans have already sought refuge in neighbouring Uganda, say local border guards, to “escape either police operations or acts of vengeance committed by other parties loyal to the opposition head.” “Since the first day, we have received 450 refugees, but the number continues to rise. There is a similar migration on the border at Busia,” confirmed a Ugandan border official.
 
Rice and Miliband issue joint statement urging calm
 
The situation in Kenya has caused alarm among the international community, which fears that the violence will turn into civil war. 
 
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued a joint statement urging Kenya's political leaders to call for a halt to the violence and engage in a political and legal process to resolve the crisis.
 
The African Union, after expressing its “concern and preoccupation” with the matter, has called upon the political parties to “exercise restraint and engage in dialogue.”
 
On Tuesday, German Foreign Affairs Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made public his fears of “a new escalation and rise in interethnic tension in Kenya.”  In addition to emphasising a “strong turnout and peacefully conducted elections,” Steinmeier called upon “the government and the opposition to find a peaceful solution to avoid new violence.”
 
While the number of victims and refugees are set to increase in the coming hours, according to an AFP correspondent on the ground, Odinga told the BBC news network that he “will not accept negotiations with the President unless the latter concedes his defeat;” a request that will no doubt guarantee a continuation of the current state of affairs.
 
 
[7] reactions :

  • Thursday, January 3, 2008

    NOT A RIBAL WAR?

    By  Dar' Lene

    did someone say that it is not a tribal war? if it isnt then why is it that only the kikuyus are being killed? those who fled to the church, majority of them were kikuyus. and only the luos are killing them.

    on what platform did Raila enter his election campaigns? didnt he make anti-kikuyu sentiments? if his people looked up to him to "phase out" the kikuyu "domain" and he failed to get the presidency, on whom do you think the luos are going to take out their frustrations?

    and what is Raila saying about all these "didnt he say yesterday that "stop saying Raila do something. injustice has been done, and as long as there is unjustice, there will be no peace. let the people continue with the peace demonstrations."

    peace demonstrations? killing more than 250 people is peaceful?

    true, Kibaki has made his own grave mistakes that are gonna have great impact on the country..

    i think we should all stop thinking in terms of tribes. at the end of this, it may be irrelevant as to which of the two becomes the president. the luos may not mind having Raila as the president, but will he rule the kikuyus? Kibaki may not even be accepted by the kikuyu because he is not doing anything now to stop teh blood-shed..it still will be terrible despite who takes over eventually.

    they should compromise, each should give in on one thing or another. and for crying out loud, they should swallow their pride, because our mothers and our fathers and sisters and brothers are being killed because the kikuyu is too proud to face the luo and the luo is too chicken to accept a straight defeat



  • Thursday, January 3, 2008

    Its not about Luos and Kikuyus

    By  Raymond

    The Western media does not get it!!! its not just about just Luos and Kikuyus! Its about Kenyans who are fed up with the corrupt systems. Yes, Kenyans we are peaceful, but it has got to a point where people are fed up with the corruption and authocratic rule that some of our leader are displaying. The church was not burnt by Luos but by another tribe, the Kalenjins. This shows you how intense the situation is. The situation in Kenya is about the have and have nots.People are dying for no good reason. Tribalism is rampant in Kenya, it saddens me to see my fellow Kenyans being killed just because of their tribe. The people who are responsible are the inept leaders that we have and who are trying to deny other Kenyans their democtatic rights. You need to understand the facts on the ground before you reduce this to just a question of two tribes.

  • Thursday, January 3, 2008

    An imbalanced view

    By  Serah

    I am surprised by the kind of stories and reports we are seeing in the international media about this issue. Its sad that kenyans are loosing their lives everyday but i would like to hear reports from a more objective media. the media has chosen to focus on the sole issue of kibaki being sworn in and granted innocence to the loudest shouters. In my opinion we are seeing a much less scale of violence than we would have seen had the opposition won the elections. Before we forget, looting and rioting started in railas strong hold the minute he was leading in the polls as his supporters were ready to kick out other tribes from their area as he had promised them majimbo. to blame the violence on the rigging is to be blinded by the holier than thou attitude adopted by the so called opposition leaders. You are in Kenya as reporters and i want to know which parts of central kenya flared up on saturday when Raila was clearly set out to win, there were none because there was no one to fund the violence.
    as we can all see, the violence is only in the areas headed by the ODM leaders why is that so? who is inciting these people? the president?
    These aresome of the questions that need to be answered and if the media can not get us the answers then who can?
    Onanother issue, everybody agrees the elections were flawed, but why is nobody asking Raila what he wants the electoral commision to in areas that he received more than 100% of the votes, If anyone has the power to stop the violence its not the government, nor is it the AU or the west, Its only raila.
    Lastly, if you readthe ODM manifesto and came across the word majimbo that you didnt understand, this is its meaning to the regular kenyan citizen "simply kick out the minority tribes from your areas and take over their property" and that is what we are seeing in parts of teh Riftvalley.
    HOWEVER I CAN ON ALL KENYANS TO COME TOGETHER AN PRAY FOR PEACE AND EXERCISE RESTRAINT.

  • Wednesday, January 2, 2008

    Kenya: You are getting it all wrong

    By  Carolynne

    International media is getting it all wrong by claiming that this is a Kikuyu Luo war... No it isnt, Mombasa, Eldoret, Rift valley, these are non luo zones, My opinion, the rest of kenya apart from central province feels cheated. Both Odinga and Kibaki need to find a solution to this,innocent lives are being lost, for what??? powr struggle.... God help Kenya

  • Wednesday, January 2, 2008

    IT'S NOT A LUO-KIKUYU WAR

    By  NICHOLAS OGENDO

    THIS IS NOT A TRIBAL WAR BTW THE LUOS AND THE KIKUYUS IT'S ALL OVER THE COUNTRY,ELDORET(WHERE THE CHURCH WAS BURNT)IT'S NOT A LUO DOMINANT AREA IT'S KALENJIN AREA.SO I THING BEFORE YOU MAKE SUCH COMMENTS YOU SHOULD HEAR FROM THE EXPERTS

  • Wednesday, January 2, 2008

    No ethnic cleansing?

    By  Dorothy Maloba

    The leaders are making inflamatory accusations about it but it sure is coming soon if no one does anything positive about the situation. At the moment, the Mungiki have been absorbed into the military and police, and their main purpose is to get rid of everyone else. They are seething with anger, and it's a bad situation since they are now disguised.

  • Tuesday, January 1, 2008

    will you look away?

    By  Beth Ann H.

    This is a request for any who are willing to stand and watch with me in prayer for the nations of the world to come to the knowledge of their Savior while there is yet time.
    Stories like this one are happening throughout the world, and we must band together and pray!

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