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Unrest in Kenya

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Unrest in Kenya Empty Unrest in Kenya

Post by Sassy Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:15 pm

Unrest in Kenya Capt.sge.pen62.030108132134.photo00.photo.default-512x415
Residents of the Mathare slum in Nairobi point to a crowd of demonstrators during clashes between two rival groups, 01 January 2008. Major travel operators joined firms in other countries who have suspended trips to Kenya because of unrest there.
(AFP/File/Tony Karumba)



Opposition protest blocked in Kenya
By Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers
Thu Jan 3, 11:51 AM ET

NAIROBI, Kenya — Protesters hurled stones, overturned kiosks and set them ablaze, and came face to face with riot police in Kenya's edgy capital Thursday. The police beat back thousands with tear gas and water cannons, blocking a major demonstration and deepening the crisis over Kenya's disputed presidential election.

Opposition supporters' plans for a "million-man march" were stymied, but their case that last week's election was a fraud gained ground. Kenya's attorney general called for an independent review of the results, which have touched off the worst ethnic bloodletting in decades in this once-stable African nation.

In a statement, Attorney General Amos Wako said, "a proper tally . . . should be undertaken immediately on a priority basis by an agreed and independent person or body."

The statement appeared to put pressure on President Mwai Kibaki , who claimed a narrow victory in the vote Dec. 27 despite credible reports of fraud in the counting of ballots.

The head of the country's election commission has said Kibaki's party pressured him to release the results by before they could be verified, and he admitted this week that he didn't know for sure who'd won.

Human rights groups say that supporters of Kibaki's challenger, Raila Odinga , are assassinating members of Kibaki's tribe, the Kikuyu. The post-election violence has left more than 300 dead, according to rights groups, and has forced 200,000 Kenyans to flee their homes, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society .

"The situation is grim and getting serious," said Abbas Gullet, the secretary general of the Kenya Red Cross . "This is the worst-case scenario. God forbid it does not continue."

The crisis was beginning to squeeze neighboring countries, which rely on Kenya's roads to transport fuel and other important commodities from Mombasa, the most important port in East Africa . Fuel supplies are dangerously low in Uganda and Burundi , and neighboring Rwanda has begun rationing, officials said.

Western diplomats, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , were urging Kibaki and Odinga to begin negotiating to resolve the crisis. But Kibaki, in his first televised address since the tribal clashes began, appeared to rule out meeting with Odinga until the violence stopped.

"I am ready to have dialogue with the concerned parties once the nation is calm and the political temperatures are lowered enough for constructive and productive engagement," Kibaki said.

Odinga said he believed that Kibaki had stolen the election and demanded that he step down.

"You want me to share power with a thief?" Odinga said outside the city mortuary, where he saw several bodies that had been hacked to death with machetes. He blamed Kibaki supporters for the murders.

The opposition rally— which the government has promised to block for security reasons— was rescheduled for Tuesday, Odinga's aides said.
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Unrest in Kenya Empty Re: Unrest in Kenya

Post by Sassy Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:16 pm

Sassy wrote:Opposition supporters' plans for a "million-man march" were stymied, but their case that last week's election was a fraud gained ground. Kenya's attorney general called for an independent review of the results, which have touched off the worst ethnic bloodletting in decades in this once-stable African nation.
I don't know about this being a once stable nation. My 2nd husband was from Kenya and he had worked in the government offices.. from some of the stories he told me about, it was anything but stable.. he did anything to get out of there.

It must be really bad now..
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Unrest in Kenya Empty Kenya election violence spreads in west

Post by Sassy Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:34 pm

Kenya election violence spreads in west

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago

Unrest in Kenya Capt.sge.daq43.280108163053.photo00.photo.default-512x350

NAIVASHA, Kenya - Some 2,000 people from rival tribes faced off on a main road on Monday in this previously quiet tourist town, divided only by a handful of police who fired into the air to force their retreat.

Some 130 miles away from the violence in Naivasha, in the city of Kisumu on the shore of Lake Victoria, rioting mobs torched houses and buses and blocked blood-spattered roadways.

Ethnic clashes sparked by a disputed presidential election a month ago have claimed the lives of 800 people, spreading into the fertile Rift Valley. The fighting began after President Mwai Kibaki's Dec. 27 re-election, which international and local observers say was rigged. About 255,000 people have been forced from their homes.

"This is Kikuyu land!" was the cry in Naivasha from one side, which called for revenge against the rival Luo tribe.

"We want peace, but we (also) want to fight them," said Peter Mwangi, a 20-year-old acrobat. "We don't want Luos here."

EU foreign ministers threatened to suspend development aid unless Kenya's rival political factions agree to a power-sharing pact and restore stability, saying the bloc "cannot conduct business as usual with Kenya."

In a declaration, the ministers backed warnings by EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel, who has said that long-term development aid to Kenya — about $563 million over five years — could be at risk.

Only about 6 percent of Kenya's budget comes from foreign aid and the government has said it will not be blackmailed over it. The United States has said it would not threaten to cut aid.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Kenya has "gone from bad to worse, in terms of the violence. That underscores the urgent need for these two political leaders to come to a political agreement. The root cause of the violence is political tension."

In Kisumu on Monday, young men blocked roads out of the town with burning tires and rocks.

"Kikuyus must go!" "No Raila, no peace!" they yelled, referring to the tribe of Kibaki, and to his chief rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga. Members of Odinga's Luo tribe are among those challenging the official election results, and in Kisumu some of them took out their rage on Kikuyus, including a bus driver who was burned to death inside his minibus, according to Lillian Ocho, who saw the destruction.

"The road is covered in blood. It's chaos. Luos are hunting Kikuyus for revenge," said Baraka Karama, a journalist for independent broadcaster Kenya Television.


More to this story Click here
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Unrest in Kenya Empty Tribal resentment at core of Kenya's 'slow-burning civil war

Post by Sassy Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:11 pm

How Kenya came undone

By Scott Baldauf
Tue Jan 29, 3:00 AM ET



Nakuru, Kenya - They came at night by the hundreds, shooting villagers with arrows and attacking them with knives, hatchets, and farm tools. The killings were a warning to the rest of the village: Leave now, or die.

"These people were our neighbors, I knew them, but what I have seen is something that I cannot explain," says Julia Muthoni, an elderly widow who found refuge in the city of Nakuru. "The problem is that we Kikuyus are being targeted because we voted for the reelection of President Mwai Kibaki. Even before the election, they were threatening us saying that whether Kibaki wins or not, Kikuyus are going to be evicted."

Just a few weeks ago, Kenya remained an oasis of stability surrounded by nations at war. The tourist-friendly country is East Africa's economic engine, a hub for global trade, and a base for international humanitarian work. It has been a been a model of what other African countries could achieve if they worked hard, developed their economies, and embraced free democracy. So the explosion of violence that has left more than 750 people dead – including more than 100 in the past few days – and forced a quarter-million to flee their homes since the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election came as a shock to many. But under the placid surface, Kenya boils with deep ethnic resentment that some observers say has been ignored for too long.

"The matchbox was lit [by the vote], but the fuel was already there," says Njeri Kabeberi, a political analyst and head of the Center for Multiparty Democracy in Nairobi. "There has always been ethnic tension within Kenyan society that has never truly been removed or dealt with."

While the most recent spark for the violence was the deeply flawed elections in which Mr. Kibaki was declared president, the underlying source of the country's tension is a perception that one ethnic group – Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe – has unfairly benefited from the nation's wealth solely because of its proximity to people in power. Resentment between Kenya's ethnic communities is chronic, observers say, but mistrust of Kikuyus has been building ever since Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, took power after independence from Britain in 1963.

Under Mr. Kenyatta – himself a Kikuyu – Kikuyus rose to high positions in government, took over major firms, and bought much of the farm land sold off by departing white settlers in the fertile Rift Valley. But it took a sense of betrayal to produce the violence of today, experts say. In 2002, a remarkably broad coalition of opposition leaders from different ethnic groups overthrew the 24-year dictatorship of President Daniel arap Moi. The new government signed a memorandum of understanding to share power.

But in 2003, Kibaki revoked that agreement and went back to the old habit of filling government positions – including, crucially, the Electoral Commission of Kenya – with personal allies and members of his own ethnic group, the Kikuyus. Furious at what they considered a betrayal, and cut off from access to power, former allies such as populist opposition leader Raila Odinga – a member of the Luo ethnic group who claims that he won the Dec. 27 vote – broke from the government and started a campaign for "majimbo," Swahili for self-rule, and resistance to Kikuyu domination.

"The fact that this violence was going to happen wasn't a surprise," says Waiganjo Kamotho, an attorney and political observer in Nairobi. "For months out in the Rift Valley, we've been hearing people saying "nyorosha," which means, 'We're going to straighten you up, put you in your place.' "

In the election, voters cast ballots along ethnic lines. Kibaki's support came from Kikuyus. Mr. Odinga, a Luo, drew mainly from his Luo tribe, but a coalition of politicians from smaller ethnic groups added to his base.

For most Kenyans, this tribal fight is not just about the presidency, but land – the ultimate source of wealth in a mainly agricultural society. And the Rift Valley – Kenya's bread basket – is the main battlefield, as small "indigenous" armies with bows, arrows, and machetes march to expel the Kikuyu "newcomers."

"In Kenya, the state has a lot of ability to allocate land, which is a major source of wealth," says Jacqueline Klopp, an Africa expert at Columbia University in New York. Referring to past presidents Kenyatta, a Kikuyu; Mr. Moi, a Kalenjin; and Kibaki, a Kikuyu; she adds, "Kenyatta and Moi did it. Kibaki was a little better, but all allocate land and use it for political patronage."

Under strong-arm leaders such as Kenyatta and Moi – both of whom controlled all branches of government and stifled the media – this cozy relationship between presidents and their tribes caused little violence. Kikuyus bought land in the ancestral areas of the Kalenjins, the Maasais, the Luos, and other tribes, set up trading businesses and prospered. But when Moi bowed to pressure to allow a multiparty system, opposition politicians used the success of the Kikuyu "settlers" against them. In Kalenjin areas, Kalenjin politicians built up their own base of support by feeding resentment toward Kikuyus, calling them "settlers" who had used their connections to the government to "steal" their ancestral lands.

Some politicians used radio broadcasts to spread hatred against Kikuyus, and proclaimed that the time had come to remove the "weeds" from their lands.

Stoked with hate, the ethnic clashes began in earnest, particularly in the areas where Kikuyus had settled in the Rift Valley. Between the elections of 1992 and 1997, more than 2,000 Kenyans were killed and more than 300,000 Kenyans were displaced, most of them Kikuyus.

"Kikuyus are the business community and they are happy when things are not shaken," says Ms. Kabeberi, herself a Kikuyu. "The Luos are like the Zulu community in South Africa. They will go to war for any reason. So you have to be sure you don't give them a reason."

The 'haves' against the 'have-nots'
Politicians have used the belief that Kikuyus control the economy as a battle cry, pitting Kikuyus as the perpetual "haves" against the Luos, Kalenjins, and other tribes as the perpetual "have-nots." Odinga has primed those feelings with a call for majimbo which, for many non-Kikuyus, means each tribe should return to its own ancestral land.

"The Kikuyus are greedy," says a Luo security guard named Innocent. "Who owns all the big businesses? Kikuyus. Who owns all the big farms? Kikuyus. And who are all the top leaders in Kibaki's government? Kikuyus. So when they go into our land and take our property, people are going to push back. It's our turn."

Kikuyus view majimbo as a danger to the future of the country. "The Luos are lazy," says one Kikuyu taxi driver named Johnson. "They don't invest. They don't create. They don't know how to run a business. And now look at the violence they are creating. Do you think these people should be running this country?"

This year, the violence has spread far beyond the Rift Valley into almost every urban center, tearing the social fabric of a cosmopolitan society that had made Kenya a regional economic force. Most foreign tourists have canceled vacations this winter, Kenya's peak season. The Central Organization of Trade Unions estimates that nearly 500,000 workers will lose their jobs.

"They have basically destroyed the local trade, and now that they can't buy food in the market, they are discovering to their shock and horror that they need each other," says Richard Cornwell, a senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa.

Kenya's current movement into a society of ethnic enclaves is a form of apartheid, Mr. Cornwell says. "In 20 or 30 years' time, this will be a powder keg. It's like what we saw in Northern Ireland between Protestants and Catholics; like Burundi and Rwanda. Unless this is handled, this will be a slow civil war that doesn't really break out, but it's insidious. It's always there."

A slow-burning civil war?
In the town of Nakuru, Keffa Magenyi Karuoya already feels the effects of that slow civil war. Since 1991, he has been displaced three times, including by this year's election violence. A Kikuyu himself, he has been working with a network of community activists from different tribes in the Rift Valley to advocate for peace, and to seek food aid and shelter for newly displaced victims.

"It is very frustrating," says Mr. Karuoya. The people coming from Eldoret now, they can't go back." Eldoret is the mainly Kalenjin town where a church full of Kikuyus was burned two weeks ago, killing at least 30 people. But Kikuyus are not the only victims, he adds. "Just down the road, there are 3,000 Luo families camping out. The long-term issue, where this is going, that is my main concern."

A phone call disrupts Karuoya's train of thought. An activist in a nearby town warns of armed groups moving in to surround three small camps of Kikuyus. One of the camps is in a monastery, surrounded by 1,500 people armed with bows, arrows, and spears. Local police are nowhere to be found.

"There's an impending massacre," Karuoya says after ending the call. He leaves the room to call up the district commissioner, the provincial police officer – anyone who can give orders to send troops and stop a massacre.

An activist in Kuresoi tells the Monitor by cellphone that the government must move fast to evacuate the Kikuyus. "The youth here seem decided to start invading the camps," she says, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't even sleep at night. I keep trying to harmonize the two communities." Her voice breaks. "I am trying to see the way forward."

By next morning, the death tolls from Kuresoi district start to come in. In one camp, where 600 individuals are sheltered in a monastery, six people have been killed by arrows and machetes. More than a dozen are injured.

Kikuyus are now carrying out reprisal killings. On Jan. 20, members of the Mungiki sect – a militia formed to protect Kikuyu interests – swept through the Nairobi slum of Mathare attacking non-Kikuyus.

Musalia Mudavadi, an opposition parliamentarian, blamed the police for failing to control the Mungikis. "Today, some of our leaders have been appealing for calm, but the government has not withdrawn the ban on the right to assemble, the right to talk, and they have not withdrawn the shoot-to-kill order."

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Unrest in Kenya Empty Re: Unrest in Kenya

Post by Sassy Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:13 pm

I have to admit, while I pay attention to what is going on in Kenya... I'm wondering where my ex husband is.. Did they deport him back to Kenya as i had written the INS recommending? I think I saw him once long after the letter was written about a yr ago.. I'm sure it was him. If it wasn't, he was his twin..

so I would think that would mean that he is still in the US..

but if they did deport him after I reported him.. I have to wonder how he is with all that is going on right now over there.
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