Three hacked to death in Nairobi clashes
Jan 20, 2008
Attackers hacked three people to death with machetes in a Nairobi slum yesterday in ethnic clashes triggered by President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election last month.
By Vision reporter and agencies
Attackers hacked three people to death with machetes in a Nairobi slum yesterday in ethnic clashes triggered by President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election last month.
Armed police chased away youths in the Huruma neighbourhood and some residents started to leave with their belongings on their heads.
“I saw three people dead, killed by pangas, slashed on the head, cuts on the back and a hand chopped off,†Samuel Oduor, 22, a freelance cameraman, told Reuters.
Other witnesses confirmed the death toll from fighting between youths from Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnic group and the Luo tribe of opposition challenger Raila Odinga.
Residents said there had been sporadic fighting throughout the night between the Kikuyu and the Luo youths.
“They are beating us. They want to chase us away. They are armed with bows and arrows and they are killing our children,†Wangeci Mwangi, 75, said of the gangs.
The latest casualties bring the number of dead to at least 34 since the opposition launched three days of anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday. Many were killed by the police, others by ethnic gangs.
“No need to kill somebody because of his tribe, even if he did not vote for me,†Odinga told several hundred supporters after a church service in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, its roads blackened with the remains of days of burning barricades.
Odinga said a memorial service would be held at a sports field in Nairobi on Wednesday for the dead. He called for more demonstrations from Thursday, despite police orders against rallies.
“You can beat our body, but you cannot break our spirit of justice,†he told cheering supporters, some holding up banners reading “Raila our solution†or “Kibaki hand over to Railaâ€.
More than 650 people have been killed since Kibaki was sworn into office after the disputed December 27 election observers said was seriously flawed.
Police in the Rift Valley said they had found two more bodies near the village of Kipkelion, 180km northwest of Nairobi, bringing the death toll there to eight after armed men attacked a refugee camp on Saturday.
A flyer apparently from the Mungiki, an ethnic Kikuyu gang notorious for brutal attacks and lucrative protection rackets, was circulated outside the church where Odinga spoke.
It warned Luos living in Kibera of reprisals.
EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, who met Kibaki and Odinga on Saturday, has urged both to hold talks.
Odinga said he would meet former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan tomorrow.
President Yoweri Museveni is also expected in Nairobi tomorrow. Museveni is one of few African leaders who congratulated Kibaki.
Opposition supporters have questioned his impartiality.
“Museveni leave Kenyans alone,†read one banner in the Kibera slum yesterday.
Attackers hacked three people to death with machetes in a Nairobi slum yesterday in ethnic clashes triggered by President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election last month.
Armed police chased away youths in the Huruma neighbourhood and some residents started to leave with their belongings on their heads.
“I saw three people dead, killed by pangas, slashed on the head, cuts on the back and a hand chopped off,†Samuel Oduor, 22, a freelance cameraman, told Reuters.
Other witnesses confirmed the death toll from fighting between youths from Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnic group and the Luo tribe of opposition challenger Raila Odinga.
Residents said there had been sporadic fighting throughout the night between the Kikuyu and the Luo youths.
“They are beating us. They want to chase us away. They are armed with bows and arrows and they are killing our children,†Wangeci Mwangi, 75, said of the gangs.
The latest casualties bring the number of dead to at least 34 since the opposition launched three days of anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday. Many were killed by the police, others by ethnic gangs.
“No need to kill somebody because of his tribe, even if he did not vote for me,†Odinga told several hundred supporters after a church service in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, its roads blackened with the remains of days of burning barricades.
Odinga said a memorial service would be held at a sports field in Nairobi on Wednesday for the dead. He called for more demonstrations from Thursday, despite police orders against rallies.
“You can beat our body, but you cannot break our spirit of justice,†he told cheering supporters, some holding up banners reading “Raila our solution†or “Kibaki hand over to Railaâ€.
More than 650 people have been killed since Kibaki was sworn into office after the disputed December 27 election observers said was seriously flawed.
Police in the Rift Valley said they had found two more bodies near the village of Kipkelion, 180km northwest of Nairobi, bringing the death toll there to eight after armed men attacked a refugee camp on Saturday.
A flyer apparently from the Mungiki, an ethnic Kikuyu gang notorious for brutal attacks and lucrative protection rackets, was circulated outside the church where Odinga spoke.
It warned Luos living in Kibera of reprisals.
EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, who met Kibaki and Odinga on Saturday, has urged both to hold talks.
Odinga said he would meet former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan tomorrow.
President Yoweri Museveni is also expected in Nairobi tomorrow. Museveni is one of few African leaders who congratulated Kibaki.
Opposition supporters have questioned his impartiality.
“Museveni leave Kenyans alone,†read one banner in the Kibera slum yesterday.