124 killed in Kenya post election riots
Dec 31, 2007
KENYAN police battled protesters in blazing slums yesterday morning after disputed elections returned President Mwai Kibaki to power and triggered violence that has killed at least 124 people, according to Kenyan Television Network and the Police.
By Vision reporter
and agencies
KENYAN police battled protesters in blazing slums yesterday morning after disputed elections returned President Mwai Kibaki to power and triggered violence that has killed at least 124 people, according to Kenyan Television Network and the Police.
Fatal riots convulsed the nation from opposition strongholds in the west near the Uganda border to Nairobi’s shanty-towns and the port of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean Coast.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected the results, accusing the government of rigging the counting process. Kibaki took 4.58 million votes to Odinga’s 4.35 million.
Odinga’s supporters said he would be declared the “people’s president†at a rival ceremony yesterday in Nairobi’s Uhuru (Freedom) Park. But the Police banned the event and threatened to arrest him if he went ahead.
Odinga, instead, called for a mass rally later this week. “We are going to call for a meeting at Uhuru park on January 3 where we expect a million Kenyans to attend,†he told a news conference Monday noon.
By press time, 40 people had been killed in the capital Nairobi and 53 in Kisumu, the country’s third city and a bastion of Odinga, according to the Kenyan Police.
“We collected 36 bodies by 5:00am in the morning from all over the city (Nairobi), mainly major slums. They were shot during confrontations with the police. The majority are young men,†a senior police official told AFP.
Four bodies were discovered in the capital's Mathare slum, while in Korogocho slum, a witness reported seeing 15 bodies.
“All these bodies are lying in the mortuary,†the official added.
Seven were killed in the Rift Valley provincial capital Nakuru. Further clashes between rival supporters in a village near Kapsabet also left four dead, police said.
Much of the fighting pitched Luos, who support Odinga, against Kibaki's ethnic Kikuyu group.
Siren-blaring ambulances and armoured cars with water cannon rushed through the streets of Nairobi. Helicopters flew overhead.
In Mathare slum, police threatened to shoot people coming out of their homes, witnesses said. “Police are saying on loudspeakers from trucks that anyone found outside will be shot dead,†said taxi driver Argwings Odera.
“No Raila, No Peace!†chanted youths in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, one of Africa's largest. They lit bonfires in the road and torched a petrol station before police moved in to fire teargas and bullets in the air. Bodies lay in the dirt alleys.
In Kisumu, an eye-witness told BBC that the police fired indiscriminately even after the protesters started running away in the suburbs of Manyatta and Nyamasira.
Trying to defuse one of the most volatile moments since independence, the government flooded the streets with security forces and kept a ban on live TV broadcasts.
“Africa has had its share of violence and even genocide arising from incitement by media stations,†argued government spokesman Alfred Mutua.
But Kenya’s civil society blamed the government. “We are in an undeclared state of emergency†said a statement from several civil society groups. “The consequences of a stolen election must be clear to all Kenyans.â€
Despite a reputation as an old-school gentleman, Kibaki, 76, showed a steely core by swearing himself in within an hour of being pronounced victor in an election questioned by international observers.
“The tallying process lacks credibility,†chief EU monitor Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said. Former colonial ruler Britain also expressed concern.
The US, which initially congratulated Kibaki upon his re-election, now said it was concerned over “serious problems†experienced during the counting of votes, and urged Kenyans and their leaders to refrain from violence.
“Those alleging vote tampering may pursue legal remedies and should be able, consistent with respect for freedom of speech, to make their case publicly,†the US embassy in Nairobi said in a statement. “We call on the judiciary to play its role expeditiously.â€
Polling anomalies included abnormally high turnout rates, counting discrepancies, manipulation of poll documents, and long delays in reporting results in about a fifth of Kenya's 210 constituencies, the statement said.
Muslim and Christian religious leaders on Sunday called for a recount of votes to dispel doubts.
While appealing for calm, the chairman of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics Trust, the Rev. Stephen Nyenda, supported calls for a recount of presidential votes in all the constituencies to find a legitimate result. The Muslims for Human Rights also called for a recount.
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya denounced the delay in the announcement of results.
The head of the Catholic archdiocese in Mombasa, Bishop Boniface Lele condemned the chaos, and appealed for calm.
The violence threatens to deter investors from east Africa’s largest economy and damage Kenya’s reputation as an oasis of relative stability.
Kenya Airways has suspended flights to and from Kisumu due to a fuel shortage in the western city, an airline spokeswoman said.
Bewildered tourists, who contribute to an $800 million a year industry, were stranded by delayed flights at Mombasa airport.
“We have no fuel to go anywhere. No money either, the cashpoints are dry†said Shilesh Patel, a tourist in a queue at a fast-emptying petrol station in Mombasa.
and agencies
KENYAN police battled protesters in blazing slums yesterday morning after disputed elections returned President Mwai Kibaki to power and triggered violence that has killed at least 124 people, according to Kenyan Television Network and the Police.
Fatal riots convulsed the nation from opposition strongholds in the west near the Uganda border to Nairobi’s shanty-towns and the port of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean Coast.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected the results, accusing the government of rigging the counting process. Kibaki took 4.58 million votes to Odinga’s 4.35 million.
Odinga’s supporters said he would be declared the “people’s president†at a rival ceremony yesterday in Nairobi’s Uhuru (Freedom) Park. But the Police banned the event and threatened to arrest him if he went ahead.
Odinga, instead, called for a mass rally later this week. “We are going to call for a meeting at Uhuru park on January 3 where we expect a million Kenyans to attend,†he told a news conference Monday noon.
By press time, 40 people had been killed in the capital Nairobi and 53 in Kisumu, the country’s third city and a bastion of Odinga, according to the Kenyan Police.
“We collected 36 bodies by 5:00am in the morning from all over the city (Nairobi), mainly major slums. They were shot during confrontations with the police. The majority are young men,†a senior police official told AFP.
Four bodies were discovered in the capital's Mathare slum, while in Korogocho slum, a witness reported seeing 15 bodies.
“All these bodies are lying in the mortuary,†the official added.
Seven were killed in the Rift Valley provincial capital Nakuru. Further clashes between rival supporters in a village near Kapsabet also left four dead, police said.
Much of the fighting pitched Luos, who support Odinga, against Kibaki's ethnic Kikuyu group.
Siren-blaring ambulances and armoured cars with water cannon rushed through the streets of Nairobi. Helicopters flew overhead.
In Mathare slum, police threatened to shoot people coming out of their homes, witnesses said. “Police are saying on loudspeakers from trucks that anyone found outside will be shot dead,†said taxi driver Argwings Odera.
“No Raila, No Peace!†chanted youths in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, one of Africa's largest. They lit bonfires in the road and torched a petrol station before police moved in to fire teargas and bullets in the air. Bodies lay in the dirt alleys.
In Kisumu, an eye-witness told BBC that the police fired indiscriminately even after the protesters started running away in the suburbs of Manyatta and Nyamasira.
Trying to defuse one of the most volatile moments since independence, the government flooded the streets with security forces and kept a ban on live TV broadcasts.
“Africa has had its share of violence and even genocide arising from incitement by media stations,†argued government spokesman Alfred Mutua.
But Kenya’s civil society blamed the government. “We are in an undeclared state of emergency†said a statement from several civil society groups. “The consequences of a stolen election must be clear to all Kenyans.â€
Despite a reputation as an old-school gentleman, Kibaki, 76, showed a steely core by swearing himself in within an hour of being pronounced victor in an election questioned by international observers.
“The tallying process lacks credibility,†chief EU monitor Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said. Former colonial ruler Britain also expressed concern.
The US, which initially congratulated Kibaki upon his re-election, now said it was concerned over “serious problems†experienced during the counting of votes, and urged Kenyans and their leaders to refrain from violence.
“Those alleging vote tampering may pursue legal remedies and should be able, consistent with respect for freedom of speech, to make their case publicly,†the US embassy in Nairobi said in a statement. “We call on the judiciary to play its role expeditiously.â€
Polling anomalies included abnormally high turnout rates, counting discrepancies, manipulation of poll documents, and long delays in reporting results in about a fifth of Kenya's 210 constituencies, the statement said.
Muslim and Christian religious leaders on Sunday called for a recount of votes to dispel doubts.
While appealing for calm, the chairman of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics Trust, the Rev. Stephen Nyenda, supported calls for a recount of presidential votes in all the constituencies to find a legitimate result. The Muslims for Human Rights also called for a recount.
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya denounced the delay in the announcement of results.
The head of the Catholic archdiocese in Mombasa, Bishop Boniface Lele condemned the chaos, and appealed for calm.
The violence threatens to deter investors from east Africa’s largest economy and damage Kenya’s reputation as an oasis of relative stability.
Kenya Airways has suspended flights to and from Kisumu due to a fuel shortage in the western city, an airline spokeswoman said.
Bewildered tourists, who contribute to an $800 million a year industry, were stranded by delayed flights at Mombasa airport.
“We have no fuel to go anywhere. No money either, the cashpoints are dry†said Shilesh Patel, a tourist in a queue at a fast-emptying petrol station in Mombasa.