[Onthebarricades] KENYA: Pro-democracy protests slip into ethnic pogroms

[Andy]

NOTE:  Few will have missed the current crisis in Kenya.  The unrest was a 
mixture of perfectly legitimate resistance to the state - such as forcing 
police out of slums and breaking through roadblocks - and an overspill into 
ethnic cleansing and score-settling between supporters of rival parties. 
While media coverage has (somewhat understandably) concentrated on the 
latter, the fact that it occurred in the aftermath of legitimate 
socio-political protest should not be ignored - nor the fact that the police 
behaved murderously, arguably initiating the killing, and murdering people 
for "looting" and violating curfews (i.e. exercising the basic right to free 
movement).  Reports also show police violence during the election itself 
(lobbing teargas in the vote counting hall) and after the clashes had 
calmed.  Police are now behaving very despotically, banning all 
demonstrations however peaceful and attacking protesters willy-nilly.  The 
in-depth analysis from both Kenyan and British media sources shows the 
fallacy of simplistic "tribal" explanations.  The state system operates to 
turn otherwise affinity-based social networks into divided patronage 
networks which are easily turned against each other by political leaders. 
This kind of problem is minimised when networks operate reciprocally and by 
affinity, and maximised when they are manipulated in hierarchic, statist 
institutions.

*  Indymedia:  the current crisis, analysis on the ground and ten things to 
do
*  Avaaz.org appeal for mediation
*  130 killed in Kenyan elections violence
*  Death toll reaches 150 as police open fire
*  Unrest as Kibaki declared winner
*  Ten police among those killed in election unrest [far fewer than THEY 
killed though]
*  IRIN:  slum dwellers hit hard by post-election crisis
*  Clashes in Nyanza - protesters fight police
*  Death stalks the slums
*  Youths fight back against the police in Mombasa - police start clashes
*  Fires of protest greet election announcement
*  Civilians massacred in church as clashes between groups escalate
*  ANALYSIS:  Karl Lyimo, The East African (Nairobi) - it's not tribalism, 
it's a bitter fight for top dog
*  ANALYSIS:  Mark Doyle, BBC World Affairs Correspondent - politicians 
exploit normally peaceful differences; land grabs behind much "tribal" 
unrest

http://www.phillyimc.org/or/2008/01/43958.shtml

Update from Kenyan Post-Election Crisis: Ten Things You Can Do
By John Bwakali | 01.02.2008
Five days ago, on the 27th of December, I stood in a queue for six hours - 
from 5.30 AM to 11.30 AM, waiting for my turn to cast a vote in my country 
Kenya's presidential, parliamentary and civic elections. When the votes were 
counted later that night, Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, began taking 
a near-unassailable lead. At one point, he led with almost one million 
votes. But somehow, Mwai Kibaki the incumbent president squeezed through a 
disputed victory. I can live with that. What I can't live with, is that in 
the last three days, more than 200 Kenyans have lost their lives because of 
this disputed election results.
Listen to John's Audio Report for Free Speech Radio News

When the tension escalated, I had to move to my brother's house because I 
stay in a neighborhood dominated by the Kikuyu, the biggest tribe in Kenya 
and also one that President Mwai Kibaki comes from. Tragically, Kikuyus 
around the country are bearing the brunt of an angry people and they are 
also beginning to retaliate.
After two days of a house arrest of sorts, it was extremely important that I 
leave the house. But when I tried to do so, I could not pass a human 
roadblock of more than fifty people who were sitting by the roadside in a 
tense and excited mood. But I had to proceed because I needed to call my 
friend in Eldoret town. She is from the Kikuyu community while most of her 
neighbors are from the Kalenjin community. Due to know fault of hers, the 
president happens to be from her community. Due to his own fault, the 
president has greatly angered the Kalenjin community together with thirty 
eight other communities. Even the supposedly official results show that he 
only led in two provinces out of eight. Consequently, members of all other 
communities generally feel that the president has robbed them. 
Unfortunately, they are taking it out on innocent members of the three 
communities that voted overwhelmingly for the president - Kikuyu, Embu and 
Meru. It is becoming a ping-pong game of violence as members of these three 
communities are also starting to hit out.
I blame the people who commissioned and condoned the rigging of these 
elections. While I realize that most losers usually blame rigging for their 
losses, these particular rigging claims are not mere speculation. Samuel 
Kivuitu, the chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya has already 
admitted that he announced the presidential results under pressure from the 
President's Party of National Unity. He also conceded that there were 
widespread irregularities which resulted in extended delays in announcing 
results from some forty eight constituencies. Both local and international 
observers have explicitly reported that while the actual voting process was 
beyond fault, the tallying of the votes was riddled with faults. Raila 
Odinga has refused to accept these results. Millions of Kenyans have refused 
to accept these results. Business has been paralyzed across the country and 
it is not business as usual. Lives have been lost and life cannot go on like 
this.
Kenya is now in a state of panic. Just yesterday when the rest of the world 
was celebrating the New Year thirty women and children were burnt alive in a 
church that they had sought refuge. They have died because someone found it 
fit to rig an electoral process and someone else found it fit to either 
facilitate or condone that rigging. They have died because there has been no 
concerted high level effort to quell a fire that is now consuming highways, 
byways and villages of this great nation. They have died because a 
subjective mass intolerance has been borne from massive political deception.
I hold all the aforementioned persons responsible for these deaths and any 
other deaths that may result from this tragic situation. The blood of these 
fellow Kenyans is primarily on the hands of the politicians whose legs have 
trampled on the fundamental voting rights of Kenyans. This innocent blood is 
also on the guilty hands of those whose acts of violence inflicted 
irreversible death blows. No injustice, however heinous, warrants murder of 
the innocents. As we learnt from the Rwanda genocide, this blood will also 
be on the hands of all those who will turn a blind eye on this simmering 
conflict. Which is why we cannot, and must not turn a blind eye on this 
violence and other violent situations around the world.
But what can you and I do to stop this violent, raging fire that is razing 
down innocent Kenyan lives?
1. Share this information far and wide: Send this piece to your local 
newsrooms and radio stations. When more and more people are informed, more 
possibilities avail themselves.
2. Volunteer as a web designer for the Kenya Independent Media (Indymedia) 
website: The Kenya Indymedia website can and should act as a platform for 
accurate and widespread expression. We need to publish dozens of first 
account stories that may not make it to the mainstream media. We also need 
to publish photos, audio and video. We therefore need volunteer web 
designers and programmers to work on it consistently for a period of 2 - 3 
months as the Kenya Indymedia team builds its web designing and programming 
capability. As Kenya Indymedia, we now need to communicate to the world what 
is really happening and a vibrant website will be one way of doing this. We 
are liaising with national movement known as Million Youth Action to call 
and text people from across the country, moreso the worst hit areas of 
western Kenya and Rift Valley, so that we can in turn share their stories. 
This way, statistics will cease to be cold figures and they will take on a 
personal, human angle.
3. Host the Kenya Independent media website: In order to enable a download 
of videos, images and audio of this conflict, the website needs to have 
sufficient space. We would like to use this site to keep track of all the 
Kenyans who are needlessly losing their lives, getting injured, robbed and 
displaced in this post-electoral violence. We would also like to use it to 
keep track of who is instigating, undertaking and condoning this violence. 
Even more important, we would like to know the victims of this violence so 
that we can reach out to them one way or another, in our own small way.
4. Mobile phone communication: The only way that most endangered people can 
communicate and be communicated to, is through mobile phones. We would like 
to distribute mobile phone air time to as many people as possible so that we 
can enable them to communicate about what happened, is happening or may be 
about to happen. As already mentioned we will file all this communication on 
the website and pass it on to relevant authorities. One dollar will provide 
four minutes air time. These four minutes may make a difference between life 
and death.
5. Help relocate someone from a danger zone: This violence has taken on 
ethnic dimensions, which means that people from certain communities are now 
no longer safe in certain places in which they are the minorities. Property 
belonging to such individuals is being looted and destroyed. Even worse, 
their lives are in grave danger. Many of them are however not able to flee 
since many public means of transport have suspended their services due to 
rampant insecurity on the roads. We intend to relocate such people through 
any means possible. This includes tipping food delivery trucks, cargo 
trains, newspaper vans and any other vehicles that are moving from one point 
to another for whatever reason.
6. Help feed a relocated person: we have identified and are continuing to 
identify families in Nairobi and other parts of the country that can 
temporarily host relocated persons. As this is a grassroots movement with an 
emphasis on grassroots solutions, we intend to temporarily host displaced 
persons in host families. These families will greatly appreciate whatever 
food supplements we can give them.
7. Diplomatic missions: Contact your respective embassies in Kenya and seek 
to know what they are doing about the deteriorating situation in Kenya. Give 
them our contacts and forward this paper to them. Embassies can do more than 
issue blanket statements for people to 'keep the peace' as if don't already 
know that!
8. Tend to a child: More than 75,000 Kenyans are now internally displaced. 
Most of them are women and children. What a tragedy when young children are 
caught up in such a mess. There is no perfect formula for reaching out to 
such innocent ones. We intend take to them toys, clothes, chocolate, drinks, 
books and more gifts that can cheer them up. We will particularly target 
children who have been displaced or those whose parents have died in this 
conflict.
9. Pray: For those of you, who like, believe in God, do whisper a prayer 
that peace will eventually prevail in Kenya.
10. Share your ideas: it will greatly help if you share any concrete ideas 
that you may be having. Most politicians are just telling Kenyans to keep 
the peace and not really taking any concrete action to address this 
situation. People power and solutions can make a BIG difference.
You can do any of the above by donating any of the mentioned things or what 
you would consider to be their monetary equivalent. Just go with your gut 
feeling and thanks for your thoughts.

** EMAIL FROM AVAAZ.ORG **

http://www.avaaz.org/en/kenya_free_and_fair/5.php

Dear friends,

Kenya still teeters on the brink of disaster - today bullets are flying on 
the streets, with over 600 killed and 250,000 made homeless as government 
and opposition dispute the presidency. There's hope yet, as Kenyan civil 
society groups stand up for peace and justice -- but only dialogue and an 
independent review of the tainted election can end this crisis and prevent 
escalating violence.

The world can play a crucial role: by reinforcing the efforts of mediators 
like Kofi Annan, and refusing to recognize any government until it is 
legitimately established. 50,000 Avaaz members have already sent this 
message to our foreign ministers, and almost all have listened so far. But 
inside Kenya, hardline leaders are sowing conflict.

President Kibaki and opposition leader Odinga need to hear that 
international legitimacy will only come after a mediated resolution. To send 
this message, we're taking out a full page ad in The East African Standard, 
an influential Kenyan newspaper. The ad will list the number of messages 
we've sent to our governments - can we double its strength by sending 
100,000 messages this week before the ad runs? Click below to see the ad, 
send your message and spread the word:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/kenya_free_and_fair/5.php

Kenya depends on international tourism, aid and trade. With both Odinga and 
Kibaki accepting Kofi Annan's mediation mission, there may be light at the 
end of the tunnel. It's not too late to help Kenya back from the brink --  
send your message, spread the word today.

With hope,

Paul, Pascal, Galit, Ricken, Ben, Esra'a and the whole Avaaz team

PS - Here are some links to the latest news on Kenya -

Marches, violence:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/kenya/story/0,,2242178,00.html

Disputes over mediation:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801141777.html

Tainted elections:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801141360.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/kenya/story/0,,2233659,00.html

130 killed in Kenyan election violence

Xan Rice in Nairobi and Haroon Siddique
Monday December 31, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The death toll from violent clashes in Kenya has today risen to more than 
130.

Violence erupted after the ruling president, Mwai Kibaki, declared himself 
victorious in disputed elections and was sworn back into office almost 
immediately.

Some of the worst clashed took place in Kisumu, the country's third-largest 
city and a stronghold of the opposition.

A morgue attendant told the AFP news agency that police had brought in 46 
bodies, including three women and two children, overnight. He said more than 
20 of the dead had multiple bullet wounds.

Reporters were shown seven other bodies in Kisumu's main hospital before 
they were transferred to the morgue.

Police, who have imposed a 6am to 6pm curfew in Kisumu, admitted opening 
fire on looters but would not comment on any deaths.

A police official in the capital, Nairobi, told AFP that 40 people had been 
killed overnight.

Protesters clashed with hundreds of riot police in the city's slums, and 
witness told reporters that 15 bodies were today scattered in different 
parts of the Korogocho area.

Three police told the Associated Press they had orders to shoot to kill. 
They said the orders had split the force, with many officers sympathising 
with protesters.

The opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, has dismissed the presidential vote 
as rigged.

Kibaki, who today vowed to "deal decisively" with voters, was sworn in for a 
second five-year term after the results were announced last night.

He had trailed in all opinion polls and all but the final count yesterday.

The UK Foreign Office advised Britons against all but essential travel to 
several parts of Kenya, including Nairobi city centre and some districts of 
Mombasa.

Ten people died in the Rift Valley provincial capital, Nakuru, and clashes 
between rival supporters in a village near Kapsabet left four dead, police 
said.

Two people were killed in Molo, and doctors in Kakamega, western Kenya's 
regional capital, said six had died from gunshot wounds.

The violence also spread to Mombasa, the eastern port which is Kenya's 
second largest city and had been previously been relatively free of unrest.

Six members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were hacked to death with machetes by 
members of rival tribes who were looting their businesses, police said.
There were also clashes in Kibera - the capital and Kenya's biggest slum - 
today.

Police tried to stop Odinga's supporters leaving the area, and the 
protesters attempted to keep officers out. Thousands of young men on the 
streets chanted: "No Raila, no peace."

Supporters of Odinga burned cars, barricaded the slum and torched the Poi 
market, in which most stalls are owned by people from the Kikuyu ethnic 
group, of which Kibaki is a member.

Police used teargas and fired bullets into the air as Odinga supporters 
tried to leave the area for a planned parallel swearing-in ceremony at which 
the opposition leader was to adopt the title of "people's president".

The planned rally was later postponed until Thursday, when the opposition 
leader predicts that 1 million people will attend. "We are calling for mass 
action, peaceful mass action," he told reporters.

Kibaki was given 4,584,721 votes to the 4,352,993 tally for Odinga.

Odinga, a fiery former political prisoner, rejected the result, claiming 
rigging by the government and comparing Kibaki to the notorious Ugandan 
dictator Idi Amin.

"There is no difference between him and Idi Amin and other military 
dictators who have seized power through the barrel of the gun," he said.

A joint statement by the British Foreign Office and the Department for 
International Development cited "real concerns" over irregularities, while 
international observers refused to declare the election free and fair.

The EU's chief observer, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, said that, in one 
constituency, his monitors had seen official results for Kibaki that were 
25,000 votes lower than the figure subsequently announced by the electoral 
commission.

"Because of this and other observed irregularities, doubt remains as to the 
accuracy of the result of the presidential election as announced today," he 
added.

The US, which cooperates closely with the Kibaki government on 
anti-terrorism matters, initially congratulated the president on his 
re-election but today withdrew its acclaim.

"We do have serious concerns, as I know others do, about irregularities in 
the vote count, and we think it's important that those concerns ... be 
resolved through constitutional and legal means," the US state department 
spokesman, Tom Casey, said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22993839-2703,00.html

Kenya riot toll hits 150

January 01, 2008

BRUTAL unrest across Kenya over President Mwai Kibaki's re-election has left 
about 150 people dead - some hacked to death - taking the overall toll to at 
least 185 killed in four days.

An opposition supporter begs police for mercy during protests in Nairobi. 
Picture: Reuters

Police opened fire on some protesters and looters and many people were 
killed with machetes as ethnic tensions mounted.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga renewed his accusations that the presidential 
election was rigged and the US withdrew its endorsement of the result.

Kibaki vowed to clamp down on the unrest.

"We have put enough police officers in the specific areas where the 
incidences of violence have occurred to ensure everyone is secure," he said 
in a New Year message in which he appealed for "national healing" and 
reconciliation.

Odinga again rejected Kibaki's victory and urged his supporters to turn out 
for an alternative "inauguration" rally in Nairobi on Thursday. Police 
banned his plan for a rival swearing in on Monday and threatened Odinga with 
arrest if it went ahead.

The 76-year-old Kibaki overtook Odinga's early lead to win the election and 
his swearing-in on Sunday sparked a new round of violence.

Riots broke out almost immediately and police and mortuary officials said at 
least 75 people were killed in cities in western Kenya overnight and a 
further 48 in Nairobi's slum areas.

At least 24 people have died in election-related violence in the western 
town of Eldoret since Saturday, a hospital official said. Around 53 people 
were killed in Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold in the west, hospital officials 
said.

Ethnic rivalries have flared in the political tensions.

Six members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were hacked to death on Monday in the 
port of Mombasa, residents said.

"Whatever has happened to us, because Raila was not sworn in as president, 
we will avenge and start moving from house to house to kill the Kikuyus," 
one Mombasa resident said, before running amok with a gang of looters.

The Kikuyus, the country's largest tribe, responded to the deaths in Mobasa, 
killing three Luo, the second largest group, to which Odinga belongs. 
Another 10 people were killed in Mombasa in separate incidents, police said.

Foreign governments warned their nationals to avoid non-essential travel to 
the east African nation, while tour operators called off excursions for 
tourists already there.

In Eldoret, an official at the Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital said most 
of the people killed there had bullet and machete wounds.

The credibility of the election has been questioned by Britain, Canada, the 
US and the European Union's election observers.

Washington initially congratulated Kibaki on his re-election but the US 
State Department on Monday withdrew the endorsement of the vote count made 
24 hours earlier.

"We do have serious concerns, as I know others do, about irregularities in 
the vote count, and we think it's important that those concerns ... be 
resolved through constitutional and legal means," State Department spokesman 
Tom Casey said.

"I'm not offering congratulations to anybody," he added.

The government has enforced a ban on live television broadcasts related to 
the election in what it says is an effort to contain the violence.

"We know there are skirmishes in many parts of the country. We are fully 
cracking down and fully responding to every situation," police spokesman 
Eric Kiraithe told AFP.

Kisumu police chief Grace Kaindi declined to comment on the death toll, but 
acknowledged that officers had opened fire on "looters" during the night.

The UN's top human rights official, Louise Barbour, called Monday on the 
Kenyan authorities to root out security force excesses.

Police clamped a day-time curfew on the Kisumu, with an order to shoot 
violators.

According to police, hundreds of houses have already been torched in the 
western Rift Valley province and fresh riots and looting broke out Monday in 
Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum.

Odinga had planned to hold his alternative swearing-in ceremony on Monday, 
but was threatened with arrest if the rally went ahead. He predicted one 
million supporters would turn up for the new event on Thursday.

"We are calling for mass action, peaceful mass action," he told reporters.

The rage in the Odinga camp was in stark contrast to the celebrations that 
filled the streets of pro-Kibaki towns in central Kenya on Sunday, where 
revellers flooded local bars.

AFP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/kenya/story/0,,2233612,00.html

Kenyans riot as Kibaki declared poll winner

Xan Rice in Nairobi
Monday December 31, 2007
The Guardian

A bible-toting woman preaches to a crowd of protesters as she stands by riot 
police in the Mathare slum in Nairobi. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Kenya was plunged into crisis yesterday after President Mwai Kibaki was 
declared the winner of a presidential election, amid allegations of fraud 
and vote rigging. Violence erupted in various parts of the country as 
opposition supporters took to the streets at the news that Kibaki had been 
sworn in for a second five-year term.

In Nairobi's slums, protesters clashed with hundreds of riot police who had 
sealed off the election commission headquarters ahead of the result 
announcement, evicting party agents, observers and the media.

As unrest spread, television and radio stations were instructed to stop all 
live broadcasts.

Kibaki, who had trailed in all the opinion polls and all but the final count 
yesterday, was given 4,584,721 votes to the 4,352,993 tally of the 
opposition leader Raila Odinga. Odinga, a fiery former political prisoner, 
rejected the result, claiming massive rigging by the government.

A joint statement by the British Foreign Office and Department for 
International Development cited "real concerns" over irregularities, while 
international observers refused to declare the election free and fair. The 
European Union chief observer, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, cited one 
constituency where his monitors saw official results for Kibaki that were 
25,000 votes lower than the figure subsequently announced by the electoral 
commission.

"Because of this and other observed irregularities, doubt remains as to the 
accuracy of the result of the presidential election as announced today," he 
said.

The US, however, which enjoyed close cooperation with the Kibaki government 
on anti-terrorism matters, congratulated the president on his reelection and 
said it supported the electoral commission's decision.

State Department spokesman Robert McInturff said: "The United States 
congratulates the winners and is calling for calm, and for Kenyans to abide 
by the results declared by the election commission"

Kibaki, who was sworn in less than an hour after the result was declared, 
said: "I call upon all candidates, all Kenyans, to accept the verdict of the 
people. With the election now behind us, it's time for healing and 
reconciliation."

But outside the president's home province, where he officially secured 97% 
of the vote, that message went unheeded. There are fears that the perceived 
stolen election will greatly inflame ethnic tensions. Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic 
group has remained close to power since independence, while Odinga's Luo 
constituency has been sidelined. Odinga's promise to end the Kikuyu 
dominance had attracted support from across Kenya's 43 ethnic groups. Some 
of last night's violence, which had already claimed 10 lives by the time 
Kibaki took his oath, was directed at Kikuyus.

Odinga called for the president to step down. "It is a shame that a few 
people are robbing Kenyans of the democratic progress they have achieved," 
he said. "The train of democracy in Kenya is unstoppable, like the flow of 
the Nile."

His campaign team sent out text messages last night to supporters announcing 
that a mass rally to inaugurate "The People's President" would be staged in 
downtown Nairobi this afternoon.

Police declared the meeting illegal, and said people trying to attend "will 
face the full force of the law". But aides to Odinga, who was imprisoned for 
eight years under Daniel arap Moi, said he would not be intimidated.

Odinga, who had helped Kibaki win the presidency in a historic election in 
2002, won the popular vote in six of Kenya's eight provinces in the 
presidential election. His Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party is 
believed to have won nearly three times as many seats as the ruling Party of 
National Unity in the parallel parliamentary vote, which means it will be 
extremely difficult for Kibaki to govern.

The ODM maintains that Kibaki was only able to win the presidential vote 
because corrupt electoral officials significantly inflated the results in 
areas where there was little opposition support. The EU observer mission 
cited the example of Molo constituency, where its monitors saw the official 
tally for Kibaki in the presidential poll marked at 50,145. But when the 
national election commission announced the results on television yesterday 
Kibaki was given 75,621 votes.

Unrest across the country continued to grow last night. Police shot dead 
five men in western Kenya, where youths set petrol stations on fire and were 
reported to have vandalised the power and water supply in Kisumu, on the 
shores of Lake Victoria. In Nairobi, where more than a million people, 
mostly Odinga supporters, live in densely packed slums, shops and shacks 
were torched while protestors waved clubs and machetes, chanting anti-Kibaki 
slogans as a police helicopter hovered overhead.

A blackout plunged the city's Kibera slum into darkness as police fired live 
rounds and teargas to disperse demonstrators. In the eastern port city of 
Mombasa, bonfires were lit as demonstrators clashed with police. And in the 
central town of Naivasha, pro-Kibaki youths torched an ODM office, witnesses 
said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801100787.html

Kenya: Ten Officers Killed in Election Violence

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

10 January 2008
Posted to the web 10 January 2008

Cyrus Ombati And Vitalis Kimutai
Nairobi

Ten police officers, including an OCS, have been killed in post-election 
violence.

Three other officers are undergoing treatment at various hospitals.

Nairobi's Muthangari OCS, Chief Inspector Daniel Njuguna Mbugua, succumbed 
to bullet wounds on Monday at a Nairobi hospital.

Mbugua was shot in Kawangware during a confrontation with protesters opposed 
to the presidential election results.

Witnesses and police said Mbugua was shot in the stomach as he led an 
anti-riot squad.

Kilimani OCPD, Mr Herbert Khaemba, described the slain officer as 
hardworking and added that a suspect was being interrogated following the 
shooting.

"It is unfortunate he died while in the line of duty. He was one of my best 
and most dependable officer," said Khaemba.

Three other officers were killed in different parts of the city during the 
skirmishes. Two others were stoned to death in Bomet after their vehicle 
rolled into a ditch as they escaped from rowdy youths.

In western Kenya, two officers died in the post-election clashes.

Three police vehicles were burnt in Burnt Forest. Fourteen officers in the 
vehicles escaped unhurt. The team was headed for Eldoret when they were 
attacked at an illegal roadblock.

More than 400 people were killed and 250,000 others displaced in the 
skirmishes. Police say close to 1,000 houses were burnt in the violence.

Elsewhere, more than 3,000 victims of post-election violence have camped in 
Kericho town. The affected are staying at the Kericho Africa Inland Church 
and the Moi Gardens in the town.

Women, children and the elderly are the majority and they are yet to get 
transport to their ancestral homes.

Hundreds of others have nowhere to go after their homes were torched and 
property destroyed or looted.

Mr Edward Ongeri, a victim of the violence, said: "I have nowhere to go as 
my house and other property were burned at Nyagachu estate, the only home I 
have known since I was born 53 years ago."

Another victim, Ms Ann Waithera, said she had lost her savings in a fire 
that gutted her business premises.Relevant Links

"I have no home to go to and I have no one to turn to. I now survive on 
handouts and food rations from wellwishers," she lamented.

The Government continues to help victims with transport to their rural 
homes.

"Armed policemen are escorting the victims to their rural homes and we hope 
no one will still be camping in the town in the next few days," a senior 
provincial administrator, who declined to be named, said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801060010.html

Kenya: Slum-Dwellers Hit Hard By Post-Election Crisis

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

5 January 2008
Posted to the web 6 January 2008

Nairobi

Almost a week into its current crisis, humanitarian attention in Kenya began 
this weekend to focus on people living in slums, especially those in the 
capital, Nairobi.

The majority of the city's inhabitants live in its sprawling slums and it is 
this impoverished population, together with tens of thousands of displaced 
people in western Kenya, that has borne the brunt of the violence and 
disruption unleashed in the wake of the 27 December presidential and 
parliamentary elections.

On 5 January, numerous UN agencies, NGOs and church groups met to plan how 
best to tackle the humanitarian problems in these slums, where, even at the 
best of times, most residents live from day to day, surviving thanks to 
casual labour or the smallest of retail businesses.

"More than two million people live in slums in Nairobi. All have been 
affected in one way or another," Ingrid Munro, the managing trustee of 
JamiiBora Trust, a microfinance organisation with 175,000 members across 
Kenya, told IRIN on the fringes of the meeting.

Urgent need for food

"The most immediate need is food. Even those with money can't buy it because 
all the stalls are closed or burnt," she added.

The 30 December declaration - under circumstances that led the opposition to 
cry fraud and the international community to express grave concern about 
vote-count irregularities - that incumbent Mwai Kibaki had been re-elected 
ignited long-standing ethnic tensions and led to the targetting of specific 
ethnic groups.

There have been widespread physical attacks and even killings, and countless 
cases of arson and looting. Gangs of young men roam the slums and their 
peripheries demanding to see people's identity papers so as to identify 
their ethnicity.

"There have been serious losses in small businesses. Also taking into 
account this holiday season, many poor families have had no business for two 
weeks. That is a huge loss. It's a loss of daily livelihood," said Munro.

"It's heartbreaking to see businesspeople turned into beggars. What they 
have spent years building up has been wiped out in a week," she added.

Another aid worker with many years' experience in Kenya who asked not to be 
named, estimated the number of "desperate" slum-dwellers in Nairobi at 
hundreds of thousands. "It's not only food they need, but also shelter and 
clothes." Before this crisis, "they got by thanks to casual work and social 
programmes. These are not operating now," he said, warning that unless food 
was supplied very soon, a major law and order problem would arise. "When 
people get desperate, they'll do anything. There are plenty of people ready 
to sell weapons," he said.

The World Food Programme has considerable supplies in Kenya because it 
serves as hub for humanitarian operations in other countries in the region 
and for refugees from these countries living in camps in Kenya. The 
challenge is getting it to where it's needed.

There was consensus, aid workers said, that simply delivering large 
quantities of food in the middle of slums such as Kibera, Mathare, Kangemi 
or Karangware was not an option. Access remains problematic because of 
insecurity. UN personnel are required to comply with security procedures 
which complicate and in some cases prevent their entering the slums.

And with so many people hungry in so many different parts of the city, 
taking a truckload of food into, say, Kibera, would very likely cause a 
riot.

According to Michael Morrison, emergency relief coordinator and programme 
manager with Feed the Children (FTC), at the level of the individual 
beneficiary, only small quantities of food should be provided.

"You can't give people two months' worth of food in such places. They will 
have nowhere to store it and it's likely to get looted," he told IRIN. He 
added that it was important to exert impartiality in food distribution, 
since problems would arise if certain groups felt they were being ignored in 
favour of others. Before the current crisis, FTC fed some 120,000 children 
through schools, a programme that is now suspended.

Health centres closed

Amid the looting and violence, most health centres in the slums are closed. 
As well as offering primary health care, such centres also distribute 
antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for people living with HIV as well as 
medication for those with tuberculosis.

If health centres remain closed for much longer, some of these patients may 
default, or interrupt their treatment. Even if clinics reopen soon, there is 
concern for those who are displaced or belong to an ethnic group whose 
members are afraid to be seen moving around.

Kenya: Slum-Dwellers Hit Hard By Post-Election Crisis
 (Page 2 of 2)

Ian Van Engelgem, medical coordinator for MSF-Belgium, told IRIN that 
halting ARV treatment for a week was less worrying than defaulting on TB 
medication. "That's much more dangerous. It can lead to increased resistance 
of the bacillus, reinfection and the infection of other people."

Health facilities for slum-dwellers have also been compromised because many 
of the doctors working in Nairobi's main hospitals who left the city for 
Christmas holidays have been unable to return to the capital.

Helping the displaced

While the majority of slum-dwellers have stayed put, for want of anywhere 
else to go, fear of moving into uncertain territory or desire to protect 
their property, thousands have made their way to makeshift camps around the 
capital. Around three thousand residents of Kibera, half of them children, 
are now staying in the neighbouring Jamhuri Show Grounds, the venue for 
Nairobi's annual international trade fair.

"Our key needs now are charcoal, soap, toilet paper, jerry cans, pots and 
cooking stoves," explained Helena Van der Roest, who is working with the 
site's coordination team.Relevant Links

But she added "we don't want a massive influx of food in Jamhuri because it 
will just serve as a magnet.

"Yesterday houses were being burnt. Our documents were burnt. Now how do we 
get jobs? We don't know where to run to," one of the displaced, Lillian 
Khayere, told IRIN.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712270012.html

Kenya: Calm Restored in Nyanza After Mayhem

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

27 December 2007
Posted to the web 27 December 2007

Standard Team
Nairobi

Police moved to restore peace in some parts of Nyanza and North Rift where 
three people, two of them Administration Policemen, were killed in election 
related attacks.

Calm was quickly restored on Wednesday after riot police used teargas to 
battle unruly mobs.

In Nyanza, one of those killed was a civilian, identified as Wilson Ouma, 
who was shot by police at Sindo.

Two vehicles, a bus and a matatu, were burnt at Awasi and Oyugis during the 
protests. The two APs were killed in Mbita and Sindo towns. Documents 
recovered from the victims showed they were Administration Police officers.

One of them, booked at the Tausi hotel, was identified as corporal Peter 
Gitau Mwangi from Embu.

In Homa Bay, another officer identified as Antony Njoroge was admitted at 
the local District Hospital in serious condition.

Police had to evacuate ten seriously injured APs. The officers were found 
with letters signed by President Kibaki appointing them PNU election agents. 
They were also found with PNU posters.

Nyanza PPO, Ms Grace Kaindi, confirmed the deaths of the two APs, but said 
she had not been briefed on the civilian shot dead by the police.

In North Rift, thousands of ODM supporters kept vigil at Eldoret police 
station for the whole day, following reports that a bus had delivered marked 
ballot papers allegedly to be used in rigging today's election.

They chanted ODM slogans and waved placards, blocking the main road.

They also forced some drivers to flash the ODM salute before being allowed 
to proceed.Relevant Links

Elsewhere, one of the City Hoppa buses that were captured ferrying police 
from the Administration Police Training College in Nairobi was spotted in 
Nyeri town, on Wednesday.

The bus, registration number KBA 034N, was parked near the Nyeri Police 
Divisional headquarters.

Witnesses said the vehicle, which appeared on the front page of The Standard 
on Wednesday, arrived at dawn with over ten occupants.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801021287.html

Kenya: Death Stalks the Slums of Nairobi

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

3 January 2008
Posted to the web 2 January 2008

Alex Ndegwa
Nairobi

Thick smoke from the smoldering shanties below billows into the clear blue 
skies. The atmosphere is deathly.

>From a vantage point at Huruma corner, one can see the destruction at 
Kiamaiko slums, which borders the notorious Mathare North.

"Please, ask the Red Cross to bring us food, water and blankets. We have 
young children who are starving in the house," a woman who identified 
herself as Mama Chege pleaded. "We have locked ourselves in the houses for 
days, but it seems we are no longer safe with arsonists on the prowl," she 
added.

The mother of three stared blankly at the burning houses and, after a brief 
pause, cried out aloud: "Can someone stop these killings and destruction? We 
cannot take it any longer."

But her passionate plea was cut short by a crack of gunfire, which drowned 
out her voice and provoked a stampede. A contingent of armed policemen 
descended on the slums. More General Service Unit (GSU) personnel are 
stationed at various locations along Juja road, which traverses that most 
dangerous spot in the city.

Shortly after, a man in a blue tracksuit casually emerged from the 
battlefield in Kiamaiko, heading towards Mother Theresa road. Within 
minutes, a mob that had converged at the junction descended on the hapless 
man with pangas and other crude weapons.

Armed policemen prevented the bloodthirsty mob from hacking him to death. 
They chased away the crowd and put the badly injured man in an ambulance. 
His attackers said he belonged to a community that was targeting their own 
in the raging violence.

These are the violent scenes that have gripped city slums since 
post-election violence broke out. Here danger lurks everywhere and at 
anytime. Humanity has been replaced by a reign of terror.

Like other slum dwellers, Mama Chege has been living in fear for the last 
five days. Her face contorted in anguish, she said: "I only cast a single 
vote. Why do the downtrodden like ourselves have to pay with our lives while 
our leaders are holed up in the safety of their mansions?"

Food shortage

Following incidents of arson and widespread looting witnessed in the area, 
there is an acute shortage of foodstuffs. The makeshift groceries found by 
the roadside that provided vegetables for the residents have been torched.

"Schools are opening next week and we don't know the fate of our children," 
Mama Chege noted.

"Tell the Government to end these chaos because we did not vote for 
anarchy," she added as her voice trailed off in bitterness.

Another resident, Joseph Kimunya, said he had gone without food for days. He 
begged one of the journalists for Sh20. He, however, was not sure the money 
would be of much help since he would have to walk for a long distance to get 
something to eat.

Yet another woman claimed she had received news that her cousin had been 
hacked to death in the slums. There are fears that the death toll in the 
slums could rise once all areas are opened up.

A mob, some armed with crude weapons, emerged from the battle zone and 
everyone scurried for safety. Reinforcement arrived as a lorry load of 
anti-riot policemen drove downhill into the burning slums.Relevant Links

A few kilometres away, families that have fled the skirmishes in Mathare 
have camped outside the Moi Airbase barracks at Eastleigh. The victims 
include Mrs Mary Njeri who has sought refuge with six of her children.

She told The Standard crew that they fled the day after elections when 
attackers went on the prowl. "The thugs break into people's houses and 
demand money and mobile phones. Then they rape women regardless of their 
age," she said.

In Kibera, an uneasy calm was apparent but residents in the violence-scarred 
area are faced with shortages of water and food.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801040663.html

Kenya: Post-Election Violence At the Coast

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

4 January 2008
Posted to the web 4 January 2008

Omwa Ombara And Khadija Yusuf
Nairobi

Violence rocked most parts of Mombasa as rowdy youths engaged riot police in 
running battles.

In the chaotic scenes on Thursday, one man was shot in the head and scores 
were injured. Gunshots were heard in the town on Thursday.

The smell of burning tyres filled parts of Maweni, Kisauni, Bombolulu and 
Changamwe as police officers tried to contain crowds headed for Makadara 
grounds for an ODM rally.

Though the town centre was a hive of activity in the better part of the 
morning, parts of the mainland were chaotic as youths threw stones and 
barricaded roads, shouting pro-ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga's slogans.

By 1pm, most shops in Mombasa were closed, turning the coastal resort into a 
ghost town.

At Maweni village in Bombolulu, armed police dispersed youths who had taken 
to the streets to protest against the Government for banning an ODM rally at 
Uhuru Park in Nairobi.

The youths stoned policemen and accused them of starting the violence.

Kiosks were destroyed and used to block traffic.

Mr George Oduor was shot on the head while allegedly trying to stop his 
colleagues from stoning the police. Lying in a pool of blood, he said the 
residents wanted to hold a peaceful rally, but the police allegedly sped to 
the venue and started shooting in the air.

"We had no intention of looting or killing anyone. We were only exercising 
our democratic rights," said Oduor.

However, Inspector Said Mwijirani, who was in charge of the operation, 
denied shooting demonstrators. He said they were keeping peace and 
protecting business premises from looters.

"The information we have is that the youths are armed and there is a 
possibility that they shot their own," said Mwijirani.

The youths said they were ready to die in pursuit of truth and justice, 
adding that not even a thousand bullets would stop them from demonstrating 
against Kibaki's re-election.

The situation was no different at Bamburi. The place was under siege for the 
better part of the day as youths engaged police in running battles.Relevant 
Links

At Changamwe, officers blocked the youths who were marching to the town 
centre to protest against presidential election results.

At Kibarani, police thwarted their efforts, shot several times in the air 
and dispersed them.

Residents in nearby homes watched the unfolding events from their homes. 
Public transport services were also paralysed.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL30100615.html

Fires of protest greet Kenyan leader's second term
Sun 30 Dec 2007, 22:41 GMT
By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Shanty-towns blazed, ethnic gangs fought and the 
opposition planned protests as President Mwai Kibaki began a second term in 
office on Monday after a disputed election that has convulsed Kenya.

The gentlemanly Kibaki, 76, showed a steely core by swearing himself in 
within an hour of being pronounced victor in an election denounced as 
fraudulent by opposition challenger Raila Odinga and questioned by 
international and Kenyan observers.

Odinga's supporters said he would be declared president at a rival ceremony 
on Monday, but police banned the event.

"This is the saddest day in the history of democracy in this country. It is 
a coup d'etat," said Koki Muli, head of respected local watchdog, the 
Institute of Education in Democracy.

Kibaki now faces the momentous task of reuniting a country split pretty much 
down the middle by an election that has brought several dozen deaths, first 
during campaign rallies and then in an explosion of violence over the 
results.

The turmoil threatens to deter investors from east Africa's largest economy 
and damage Kenya's reputation as an oasis of relative stability in a 
volatile and war-scarred region.

"With the elections behind us now ... I urge all of us to set aside the 
passions that were excited by the election process," Kibaki pleaded.

Jubilant supporters danced in the streets and burned tyres in celebration in 
his highland hometown of Othaya -- a sharp contrast to the angry fires in 
his rival's strongholds.

"We have been blessed!" said 60-year-old teacher Kiruki Wanjima in Nyamari 
village where Kibaki has a tea farm.

And while Britain and the European Union expressed concerns, Washington sent 
its congratulations to Kibaki.

Few expect the situation to calm quickly.

"We are in for a period of violence and turbulence, without doubt," said 
Nairobi-based businessman and analyst Robert Shaw.

So controversial was the final result that the head of the electoral board, 
Samuel Kivuitu, had to abandon his public announcement, escorted by military 
police, after the podium was stormed by heckling opposition supporters.

Within the hour, he was joking at Kibaki's side during a swearing-in on the 
lawn of Nairobi's State House.

"NO PEACE"

>From there, smoke could be seen rising from protests in the Mathare, Kibera 
and Kawangware slums, where pro-opposition ethnic Luos and Luhyas went on 
the rampage in fury at what they perceived to be a stolen election.

About a dozen people died during the day, witnesses and reporters said, as 
rioting spread across the country, particularly in the western town of 
Kisumu, which is in the opposition heartland of Nyanza province.

Having led every opinion poll bar one since September, then taken a strong 
lead in early results, the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) was 
dismayed to see Kibaki pip it right towards the end of the tally.

Kibaki took 4.58 million votes to Odinga's 4.35 million -- but the results 
were marred by accusations from both sides of multiple voting, disappeared 
returning officers and "doctoring".

Opposition supporters saw the result as a plot by Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, 
Kenya's largest, to keep power by any means.

ODM leader and presidential candidate Odinga, hoping to fulfil the dream 
that eluded his father -- nationalist hero Jaramogi Oginga Odinga -- wiped 
tears away at a post-results news conference. But his party had a defiant 
message.

"We are inviting Kenyans to Uhuru Park, Monday the 31st of December, 2007, 
at 2 p.m., for the presentation to the nation of the People's President, 
elected Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga," it said in a statement.

But police issued a statement saying such a gathering, in a Nairobi park 
named for 'Freedom' in Swahili, would be illegal and anyone seeking to 
attend would "face the full force of the law". Truckloads of paramilitary 
police patrolled the streets.

"It is laughable," Ngari Gituku, spokesman for Kibaki's Party of National 
Unity (PNU), told Reuters of ODM's plan.

"Odinga is trampling on democracy and has exposed himself for what he really 
is. We have a whole nation to protect from one nefarious individual."

As night fell, sketchy reports came from across Kenya of vicious attacks on 
Kikuyus. But with local TV stations banned from broadcasting live, and most 
journalists staying indoors to keep safe, it was hard to assess the extent 
of the violence.

In Nairobi's pro-opposition Kibera slum -- one of Africa's largest -- police 
fired teargas and shot into the air to disperse crowds during the night.

"They have cut all the electricity and families are out of their houses as 
teargas is everywhere," said resident Joshua Odutu. "There is no peace 
without Raila." (Additional reporting by Nicolo Gnecchi, Bryson Hull and 
Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/world/story/2A7A2E6CC052CE29862573C40013FD1C?OpenDocument

At Least 35 Die in Post-Election Church Riot
By Robyn Dixon
LOS ANGELES TIMES
02/01/2008

NAIROBI, Kenya - Post-election riots in Kenya descended into savage tribal 
killings Tuesday as a mob burned a church where families had taken shelter 
from the violence, leaving at least 35 people dead, witnesses reported. Many 
of the victims were children.

The torching of the church in Eldoret followed the killings overnight of 18 
other people in the town about 150 miles northwest of Nairobi. Some of the 
people slain reportedly had their heads hacked off. A police officer also 
was killed Tuesday.

Witnesses reported revenge killings and battles between mobs from rival 
tribes armed with machetes called "pangas" or with bows and arrows.

"When one group kills three people, the other group also kills three 
people," Ken Wafula, a local human rights activist, said. "When one burns 
three houses, the other burns three houses. The situation has really 
deteriorated." Advertisement

"There is violence in all parts of town," said Kikechi Biketi, Eldoret 
correspondent for the Standard daily newspaper. "Houses have been burned 
indiscriminately in most parts of Eldoret. They're burning tires in the 
roads. There's no transport. You can't move. The situation is very bad."

Eldoret police estimated about 100 had died in the town in the past four 
days, as opposition supporters rampaged there and elsewhere in Kenya, 
furious over allegations of ballot rigging in last week's presidential 
elections. Police reported 170 dead across Kenya, but news agencies put the 
number at between 200 and 270.

Tens of thousands of civilians in Eldoret fled from their homes to police 
compounds and church yards. Some houses sheltered dozens of terrified 
people.

Although the presidential candidates in Thursday's elections avoided overt 
tribal campaigning, which is taboo in Kenyan society, ethnic violence 
exploded immediately after President Mwai Kibaki was announced the winner 
and hastily sworn in Sunday evening.

As the violence continued Tuesday, foreign diplomats in Nairobi pressed 
Kibaki and his rival in the election, Raila Odinga, to negotiate a political 
solution to stem the killings.

Increasing the pressure on Kibaki, European observers called Tuesday for an 
independent investigation into discrepancies in the tally, reporting that 
the elections failed to meet democratic standards. They called for an end to 
violence. The United Nations also called on Kenyan leaders to show 
restraint.

Kenyans have been shocked by the level of brutality in the country, which 
despite being in a volatile region of Africa, normally is seen as a haven of 
political stability and economic prosperity.

Tribal tensions have simmered in Kenya since multiparty elections were 
reintroduced in 1992 and the country's more than 40 tribes began competing 
at the polls for political power and resources.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801141342.html

Kenya: It's Not Tribalism, But Fierce Competition for Top Dog

The East African (Nairobi)

COLUMN
14 January 2008
Posted to the web 14 January 2008

Karl Lyimo

If truth were told, naked tribalism is the least of Kenya's problems, 
despite popular belief. The belief has been engendered by politicians of 
dubious calibre seeking to make capital out of the concept, and other 
practitioners trying to shape Kenya's destiny for selfish, narrower ends.

THESE INCLUDE HISTORIANS, NOV-elists, colonialists, anthropologists, 
blame-layers, false prophets and others of their ilk. There also are those 
who, by nature or design, are economical with the truth, or are unable, 
unwilling, not ready or too lazy to think laterally and see round corners, 
so to speak.

This came out clearly after the chaos that unfolded in Kenya following the 
December 27, 2007 election. Three days after polling, the Electoral 
Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu declared the incumbent President Mwai 
Kibaki re-elected by around 230,000-majority vote.

THIS TRIGGERED COUNTRYWIDE violence that has left hundreds of Kenyans dead, 
rendered thousands homeless and sent hundreds more into exile.

It seemed preposterous that Kibaki could win the election at the eleventh 
hour when he was already trailing his rival, Raila Odinga, by around a 
million votes!

NOR DID IT MAKE SENSE THAT voters would elect 99 of the 210 MPs from 
Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement compared with 43 MPs for Kibaki's Party 
of National Unity - and, at the same time, fail to elect Mr Odinga 
president!

In any case, Mr Kivuitu later admitted he didn't know who won, and that he 
declared Kibaki "winner" under pressure from Kibaki officials and other 
vested interests. Commissioners Jack Tumwa, Joseph Dena, David Ndambiri, 
Samuel arap Ng'eny and Jeremiah Matagaro also publicly doubted the results.

THE RIOTING INVOLVED SYMPATHISERS of both PNU and ODM. No doubt it also 
involved hooligans. Rioting provides opportunities for looting and settling 
old scores. Both unrelated to elections.

But to say the violence is rooted in tribal differences is being simplistic. 
What is at play here is a highly competitive spirit that, by happenstance, 
largely involves the prominent tribes - Kikuyu and Luo.

THE TWO ARE EACH A VERY PROUD people, always seeking to excel. Their rivalry 
is not tribalistic. It's based on the need to be on top of things and each 
other. Witness reports that elder Luos restrained their fellow tribesmen 
from harming other tribes, Kikuyus included.

Take the example of the 2002 elections, which pitted Kibaki against Uhuru 
Kenyatta, a favourite of incumbent president Daniel arap Moi (Kalenjin). 
Odinga and others from different tribes teamed up with Mr Kibaki and gave 
Uhuru (read Moi) a resounding defeat. If they were that tribalistic, could 
this have happened?

THE TWO - NOT THEIR TRIBES - LATER fell out over a new constitution. ODM 
members were then fired from the government by President Kibaki who went on 
to form what he termed a government of national unity by incorporating the 
opposition Kanu and other parties.Relevant Links

The Coast is not Luoland, yet it overwhelmingly voted for Odinga and 
candidates identified with him, not Coast-oriented candidates. Political 
parties cut across tribal lines. Where is tribalism here?

IF COMMUNITIES STRIVING AGAINST each other to be on top of things are 
tribalistic, then Kenya stands accused of tribalism.

Karl Lyimo is a freelance journalist based in Dar.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7168551.stm

Last Updated: Friday, 4 January 2008, 09:47 GMT
E-mail this to a friend    Printable version

Kenya stokes tribalism debate

By Mark Doyle
BBC world affairs correspondent

World headlines on Kenya appear to say it all.

"Tribal violence spirals in Kenya," screams the front page banner in the 
International Herald Tribune. "Kenya plunges into interethnic violence," 
says Le Monde.

But headlines can be misleading.

It is certainly true that the post-electoral violence in Kenya has taken on 
a tribal character.

Members of the incumbent (and controversially re-installed) President Mwai 
Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have been pitted against other smaller tribes.

Thousands of people have fled their homes

But that is only part of the story.

A more complete headline might be: "Tribal differences in Kenya, normally 
accepted peacefully, are exploited by politicians hungry for power who can 
manipulate poverty-stricken population."

But headlines are not really headlines when they are written like that - and 
few would criticise the international newspapers for their pithy style.

The ethnic and political violence in Kenya has renewed debate about whether 
multi-party democracy can be successful in an African context where ethnic 
loyalties are strong.

See Kenya's ethnic divisions by province

If you ask almost any African this question the answer will be qualified: 
"Yes, democracy can work... if only our leaders allowed it."

It would be naive in the extreme to discount ethnicity in any African 
election.

The reality of life on the world's poorest continent is that most people 
live a marginal economic existence and rely enormously, for survival, on 
those nearest to them.

Rural villagers rely on each other, for example, to bring in the crop, or to 
share food in difficult times.

Urban dwellers often organise themselves to provide common services like 
schools because their governments are either too poor or too incompetent to 
deliver.

In these circumstances the people nearest to you - whom you can trust - are 
first, family, and second, tribe.

African politicians know this formula very well and many of them exploit it 
ruthlessly.

"Vote for me," they say, "because I'm from your tribe and you can trust me."

Unemployed young men

The most dramatic recent illustration of this kind of manipulation was the 
Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Much of Kenya's tribalism is fuelled by land disputes

Hutus were persuaded by an extremist Hutu power bloc that all Tutsis were 
their enemies.

There are many other less catastrophic examples.

Politics in Nigeria, for example, is a complex chessboard of ethnicity and 
religion.

The presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006 
divided the country along ethnic and linguistic lines.

And even in a peaceful, democratic country like Ghana, it is clear that 
ethnic Ashantis, for example, tend to vote one way while ethnic Ewes tend to 
vote another.

But at the same time there is usually a further explanation - beyond ethnic 
group - for the way people vote or the way they react to situations like the 
current crisis in Kenya.

That explanation is almost always rooted in money - or a lack of it - and 
the cynical search for power by politicians.

It is no coincidence that the people who usually perpetrate "tribal 
violence" are unemployed young men.

In Ivory Coast in the late 1990s, for example, the campaign against 
northerners that was orchestrated by southern politicians - and which 
eventually led to a full-scale civil war - was spearheaded by youths in the 
main city, Abidjan, who were paid a daily rate for the job.

'Land grabs'

Equally, in the Kenyan case, it is no coincidence that some of the worst 
violence has been in the Rift Valley area.

The region has a history of land disputes.

Most African nations now have an elected government

Some of those disputes were originally caused by what was coyly called 
European "settlement" - which created refugees hungry for land.

More recently, Kenyan politicians have practised more honestly named "land 
grabs" in parts of the country.

African intellectuals who concede there is a problem of tribalism on the 
continent - or, rather, a problem of the deliberate manipulation of tribal 
sentiment by selfish politicians - stress that there is also a rational 
solution.

Part of the solution, they say, is economic development. If there is growth 
in the economy there will be more education and less ignorance about fellow 
citizens of other tribes - and, of course, fewer unemployed thugs for 
politicians to "buy" for a few cents a day.

Another part of the solution, they say, is genuine democracy with genuinely 
independent law courts.

People would have no need to rely on their tribe - apart from culturally, 
should they so wish - if they could rely on all their ballot papers being 
counted, and could expect honest judgements from courts.

Here, Africa can point to progress in recent decades.

Fifty years ago, almost the entire continent was ruled by foreign colonial 
powers.

Even just 20 years ago, most African countries were run by dictators or 
military juntas.

Now, thanks to pro-democracy activists, most African nations have an elected 
government.

Good start

Many of those governments are far from perfect.

But the advent of at least some democracy - assisted by relatively cheap 
technology such as FM radio stations and mobile phones which can spread 
information easily - has encouraged what seems to be an irreversible 
cultural sea-change in African attitudes to those in power.

Put bluntly, that change means that people can no longer be comprehensively 
fooled or dictated to.

It is still possible for politicians to cheat at elections - for example 
through the vehicle of ethnicity.

But the new freedoms, coupled with the new technology, make it almost 
impossible for politicians to do this without people knowing what is going 
on.

That is a good start, African intellectuals say, and it may one day mean the 
end of negative tribalism.

Meanwhile, of course, those headlines will remain at least half true.