Woman mourns outside the ruins of the Kenya Assemblies of God church which was torched on New Year's Day, 2008. (BBC Photo).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Wed Jan 2, 2008 8:13am EST
By C. Bryson Hull and Andrew Cawthorne
NAIROBI (Reuters) - President Mwai Kibaki's government accused rival Raila Odinga's party of unleashing "genocide" in Kenya on Wednesday as the death toll from tribal violence over a disputed election passed 300.
"It is becoming clear that these well-organized acts of genocide and ethnic-cleansing were well-planned, financed and rehearsed by Orange Democratic Movement leaders prior to the general elections," the statement read by Lands Minister Kivutha Kibwana on behalf of his colleagues said.
ODM had no immediate reaction to the accusation. Odinga's supporters, drawn mainly from his Luo tribe, have blamed the violence on Kibaki for "stealing" the December 27 presidential vote. Many clashes have pitted the Luo against Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.
In an apparent olive branch to ODM, Kibaki invited all members of the new opposition-dominated parliament to a meeting at State House in Nairobi on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how many opposition legislators would attend.
The use of the word genocide will horrify Kenyans, used to being viewed by the world as a stable democracy, investment and tourist destination and oasis of peace in an otherwise volatile region scarred by like the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Kenya is an important ally of the West in its counter-terrorism efforts, takes growing money-flows from China, and is used to being the peacemaker -- rather than the conflict focus -- in African hot-spots like Somalia and Sudan.
Since independence from Britain in 1963, the president's Kikuyu tribe has dominated political and business life in what is now East Africa's biggest and fastest-growing economy.
Western powers have called for calm and urged international institutions like the African Union and Commonwealth to try to reconcile Kibaki and Odinga. Both parties accuse the other of vote-rigging and Odinga plans a mass rally for Thursday.
"There are independent reports of serious irregularities in the counting process," said British Foreign Minister David Miliband and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a joint statement. They called for an end to violence and "an intensive political and legal process" to end the crisis.
As young men armed with machetes manned roadblocks in rural areas, a trickle of office workers in the capital Nairobi made it through police cordons to begin the new working year.
"They call this democracy," said a central bank worker, delayed by police as he tried to get to work.
A local and an international rights group gave a death-toll of "more than 300" and accused Kenyan security forces of having "bloodily repressed" protests by opposition supporters.
"As a reaction, some protesters are responsible for the assassination of Kikuyus," added the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the International Federation for Human Rights..
And in a chilling chain reaction, there were growing examples on Wednesday of revenge killings by Kikuyu militants, including the notorious Mungiki gang, on members of pro-opposition tribes.
The turmoil caused confusion in local markets.
Currency trading was delayed then muted, while stocks went lower, and tea and coffee auctions were postponed.
"If some normality comes back, we will resuscitate the business," a tea broker told Reuters.
CHURCH FIRE
On Tuesday, about 30 Kikuyus died when a mob set fire to a church where they had taken sanctuary in the western town of Eldoret -- reviving memories of the slaughter in churches of hundreds of thousands in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
The Eldoret attack was one the worst episodes of violence that has uprooted nearly 100,000 Kenyans, some of them fleeing across the border to Uganda.
Adding to the chaos, Kenya's electoral commission head Samuel Kivuitu said: "I do not know" when asked if Kibaki won the vote. The comment by Kivuitu, who pronounced Kibaki victor on Sunday, stunned Kenya and cast further doubt on the result.
Western powers have warned their citizens against visiting the country, whose tourism sector was its top earner at about $800 million a year.
African Union chairman John Kufuor was planning to fly to Kenya and start mediation, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on the phone to both sides.
"There are elections in other parts of Africa over the next 18 months, in Angola, in Ghana, in Malawi. Kenya is very, very important in itself and is important for what it says about the rest of Africa and its approach to democracy," Miliband said.
A Reuters reporter flying over Eldoret saw plumes of white smoke billowing blazing homesteads. Youths with machetes, rocks and bows and arrows could be seen manning crude checkpoints.
There was early calm in Nairobi slums on Wednesday but residents said Mungiki, a gang with roots in traditional Kikuyu rites including circumcision, dropped leaflets warning of reprisals against Luos.
In Naivasha town in Kenya's Rift Valley, scores of people were injured in revenge attacks for the church killings, and about 300 terrified locals spent the night camped at a police station and prison for safety.
"We had to seek refuge in the only safe place we know," said Agnes Alouch, in the prison hall.
Kibaki was sworn in on Sunday after official election results showed he had narrowly beaten Odinga. The EU's observer mission said the poll had "fallen short of key international and regional standards for democratic elections".
In comments broadcast on local TV, Kivuitu said he was pressured by Odinga and Kibaki's party colleagues to announce the poll results immediately. Four members of Kivuitu's team have said they would call for a judicial review.
(Additional reporting by Nicolo Gnecchi, Helen Nyambura-Mwaura, Katie Nguyen, George Obulutsa, Daniel Wallis, Antony Gitonga, Bryson Hull; editing by Bryson Hull and Philippa Fletcher)
Kenya bleeds from tribal violence
Wed Jan 2, 2008 5:43am EST
By Tim Cocks
ELDORET, Kenya (Reuters) - Thousands of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were fleeing the Rift Valley on Wednesday, running across the wastes of an ethnic battleground few Kenyans can believe is their country.
About 30 Kikuyus died when a mob torched a church near Eldoret on Tuesday, a slaughter evoking memories of ethnic violence usually associated with other states in Africa, not one of its most stable.
Thousands have taken shelter in churches and police stations across Eldoret town, the main city in the fertile Rift Valley about 300 km (190 miles) north of Nairobi, prompting a humanitarian crisis as food and water run short.
"We've been sleeping outside of the airport. Can you imagine how cold they were?" asked children's home operator Patrick Kariuki, gesturing to 23 youths with him.
"I never thought Kenya could be like this. They're killing us because we voted for Kibaki. Maybe the election was rigged. Why don't they go to court instead of inciting?"
Violence has erupted across opposition strongholds in the east African nation over the results of a disputed presidential election that saw Kibaki narrowly defeat challenger Raila Odinga amid accusations of rigging by both sides.
The death toll from four days of clashes has risen to about 250 and the government has accused the opposition of "ethnic cleansing".
In the Rift Valley, gangs of youths have burned homes and crops while chasing away Kikuyus.
Scores of sharply dressed Kenyans with piles of luggage waited to get flights to Nairobi at Eldoret airport after youths blocked the main road to the capital city with tree trunks and rocks.
Police estimate that roughly 75,000 Kenyans have fled their homes. Some have crossed into neighboring states -- a reversal for a nation that for decades has accepted the victims of neighboring conflicts like Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
In Eldoret, a Reuters reporter came across a roadblock manned by youths who fled when they saw police approaching.
"They are asking 'Who are you?' in Kalenjin language. If you don't understand, you are removed and killed with a panga (machete)," said Jane Chepchirchir, one of scores of people at Eldoret airport trying to flee to Nairobi.
Though people from many of Kenya's 42 tribes have been killed, it is Kibaki's tribe -- the nation's biggest, and economically dominant -- that has seen organized targeting.
Some at the roadblocks have ordered people to produce their national identity cards and have killed those whose names are Kikuyu, witnesses said.
The Rift Valley is home primarily to the Kalenjin tribe of former president Daniel arap Moi, but many Kikuyus have moved there to farm and intermarried, as in Chepchirchir's case.
"I feel so bad these are my people killing, but Kikuyus are also my people because of my husband, so I am in the middle. Can't we all just be Kenyans?" Chepchirchir asked.
Under Moi's 24-year reign, which ended when Kibaki was elected in 2002, the Rift repeatedly saw political violence with Kalenjin youth backing Moi's KANU party attacking tribes associated with the opposition.
Some of the politicians now part of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement emerged as leaders of youth movements blamed for ethnic violence at elections in 1992 and 1997 which saw hundreds of mainly Kikuyus killed and thousands displaced.
In Nairobi and other Kikuyu areas, Kenyans say Kikuyu politicians have enlisted the Mungiki criminal gang against supporters of Odinga.
(Writing by Bryson Hull, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Keith Weir)
Turmoil hits shilling despite Kenya govt assurance
Wed Jan 2, 2008 9:59am EST
By George Obulutsa and Helen Nyambura-Mwaura
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya said on Wednesday the shilling currency was "within control" following a disputed presidential election that sparked ethnic clashes and threatens to drive away foreign investment.
"(The central bank) has not raised any alarm. (The shilling) is within control," Kimunya said, urging foreign investors to remain engaged in east Africa's biggest economy.
"People will be on a wait and see attitude so there will be little trading. We still have a good comfort zone, so we are not panicking on that," he told a news conference.
But the turmoil sent the shilling to a 6-week low of 66.60/66.90 to the dollar in thin offshore trade.
One trader in London said the shilling had traded at 67.25 and 67.50 per dollar. "There are not too many trades out there and hardly any liquidity. Not much is happening on screen as the big players are not there. They can't get the liquidity that they need," he said.
"It's a wait-and-see situation as tomorrow is the big (opposition) march in central Nairobi."
Another dealer in Johannesburg said: "There was a lot of panic from local importers. The guys are all squaring out their positions as they don't want to keep (long) positions overnight."
The shilling opened after a two-hour delay to the start of trade at 63.70/80 -- the level it closed at on December 24, before Christmas holidays and the December 27 general election.
The delay was designed to give commercial banks time to talk to clients and determine the level of supply and demand for the U.S. currency. But no trade was reported for hours.
"A few trades have gone through between 66-69. People are digesting what is going on. Normal trade has taken place but with wide spreads," said Bethuel Karanja, a senior dealer at I&M Bank.
Dealers expect the local unit, which strengthened gradually throughout 2007, to further weaken against the dollar due to the post-election violence that has killed some 300 people.
The Nairobi Stock Exchange's main NSE 20-share index fell 5 percent to close at 5,167.18 points.
The index closed at 5,444.83 points on December 24, compared with an all-time high of 6,161.46 points hit on January 12, 2007.
"The index took a thorough beating because of all the uncertainty in the political field," said a broker.
TEA, COFFEE
Elsewhere, Kenya's leading commodities sectors postponed their weekly auctions.
A tea broker said the weekly tea auction, scheduled to resume on Wednesday after the New Year break, had been postponed until some "normality" resumed.
"We are watching the situation: if some normality comes back, we will resuscitate the business," he told Reuters.
The weekly coffee auction, scheduled to resume on January 8, was pushed back by a week, an auction official said.
Business leaders said trade across all sectors would be hurt if the turmoil persisted. The unrest has uprooted tens of thousands of people and squeezed fuel and food supplies.
The country's business community said on Sunday that the government was losing 2 billion shillings ($31.35 million) a day in tax revenues for every day they had to stay closed because of the ethnic clashes and looting.
Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, depends largely on tourism and agriculture to earn its foreign exchange and is also a manufacturing and financial services hub in the region.
Don't Let Kenya Slide Into Chaos
The Monitor (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
31 December 2007
What started out as a normal, well planned general election in Kenya is turning out to be a complicated puzzle for the organisers, a nightmare for the nation and a farce for external observers.
Five years ago, similar elections were organised by the then discredited Kanya African National Union party of President Daniel arap Moi. The votes were cast, the ballots counted and within 48 hours, the results were out.
Though the results were against the ruling KANU party, they were duly announced in time and President Moi gracefully handed over power to the opposition coalition leader, the then wheelchair bound Mwai Kibaki. The Kenyan armed forces, respected internationally for their professionalism, pledged allegiance to the new Commander -in-Chief, as elected by the people.
Five years later, Kenya should have advanced considerably, especially in the vital ICT sector. The Electoral Commission of Kenya should be having more up to date computer system for rapid tallying of results, in addition to more advanced communication facilities to collect certified data from its stations nationwide.
Last week's election results should therefore have been ready within just 24 hours, and at worst, within 48 hours. Failing to announce results for polls that were held on Thursday by Sunday afternoon therefore raises questions over the motives of the ECK and the government.
It cannot be that Kenya has been moving backwards in ICT over the last five years. In any case, billions of shillings have been going into the planning of this exercise over the years and that planning must be reflected in the job Kenyan taxpayers have been paying for.
Failing to announce credible results is a recipe for disaster.
When it happened in Uganda in December 1980, the country was plunged into a five year civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Kenya cannot survive years of turmoil with the same relative ease that Uganda or Congo would, with their climate and soils which can allow a less than competent government mismanage the country without famine setting in.
The highly disciplined Kenya Army would also not remain the same under prolonged civil strife. Top contenders for the Kenyan presidency have been warning of an Ivory Coast situation.
They would do well to consider the words of the third candidate, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, who on Sunday advised that the lives of Kenyans are more important than any of the contenders.
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