Friday, January 25, 2008
Spaces of Hope
“We cannot stop life for the sake of two people who are not in agreement” said a twenty-three year old Kenyan woman in Nairobi. The two men in question - Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga - both claim to have been elected president in the national vote on 27 December 2007. The incumbent Kibaki was sworn into a second term of office, and Odinga publicly challenges the legitimacy of the vote count.
During their stand-off, more than 250,000 people have been displaced from their homes; police have shot and killed unarmed civilian protesters; vigilantes (some posing as traditional “warriors") have prevented Red Cross food relief from reaching victims; police fired teargas into a hospital; and more than 650 people have died in violent conflicts, including some forty women and children who were incinerated in a church where they had taken refuge (on the background to some of these events, see Jeffrey Gettleman, “Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned,” New York Times, 21 January 2008). Food and fuel supplies have run short in Kenya and neighbouring countries.
MoreChaos in North Rift unmasks historical disputes over land and cattle rustling
A new wave of violence has hit the North Rift region casting doubt on the position that the ongoing mayhem was purely a result of the disputed presidential election results. Initially thought to have targeted just one community from Central province, the violence is now targeting two other groups this time from western Kenya, raising the possibility of other causes. Already, one church says there are indications that there could be other reasons fuelling the violence.
MoreInternational Criminal Court Observing Violence Closely
The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is closely observing recent post-election Kenyan violence, according to reports from The Hague, the court’s seat. Two Kenyan opponents, President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), threatened separately Tuesday to appeal to ICC, but apparently being unaware of the rules of referral. Asked over the issue, a member of the office of the prosecutor told the Hirondelle News Agency, that “Kenya is a state party of ICC and the Office of the Prosecutor follows all allegations of crimes within its jurisdiction.” The statute of the ICC enables it to exercise its jurisdiction if a situation is submitted to the Prosecutor by a State Party or by the Security Council of the UN but it also allows it (Art 15) to exercise its jurisdiction under the terms of an investigation opened by the Prosecutor by his own initiative.
Breaking Kenya’s Impasse: Chaos or Courts?
Executive Summary & Recommendations
Kenya’s 2007 election has precipitated the country’s worst crisis since the abortive August1982 coup by the Air Force: 700 deaths, nearly 300,000 others displaced, an estimated 60 billion Kenya shillings ($850 million) and continuing instability which has undermined the country’s international image and rapidly eroded donor confidence. Typically, international observers viewed Kenya through the prism of other failed states in Africa, and proffered the obvious ‘liberal peace’ solution: peace talks leading to a power sharing deal between the various ‘warlords’ or elites. As a result of this flawed diagnosis, Kenya has witnessed a parachuting of international mediators (Desmond Tutu, John Kufor and Kofi Annan) to broker yet another peace deal in a troubled continent.
ODM Unhappy With Alleged Kibaki Antics
Kenya’s main opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has described embattled President Mwai Kibaki as a fraud who the party claims is not interested in solving the political crisis in the country. The accusation followed the first face-to-face meeting between President Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. President Kibaki reportedly said during the meeting that he won the disputed December presidential election. But the opposition accused Kibaki of hijacking the meeting and wasting the mediators’ time.
New violence follows Kenyan leaders’ handshake
A new flare-up of violence shook Kenya on Friday and fresh political recriminations dulled hopes a breakthrough meeting between the president and opposition leader could resolve a month-long crisis. The local Red Cross said ethnic clashes related to a disputed December 27 election had engulfed areas around the Kenyan town of Nakuru, causing three deaths, hundreds of injuries, and thousands of displacements.
Western farmers watch intruders harvest their crops
Powerless, Stephen, a farmer from the Luhya ethnic group in western Kenya, watches members of the Kalenjin harvest his field barely 50 metres (55 yards) away. “I’ve not harvested ... I wanted to go today but I found the Kalenjin harvesting,” says the 35-year-old. “I’m depending on that (crop) for my livelihood and I can’t do anything.” Last week attackers burnt down his home, stole his cattle and killed five of his neighbours.
60,000 miss class due to chaos
More than 60,000 students from primary and secondary schools in Rift Valley Province have been displaced following the post-elections violence. Already 6,665 secondary school students have transferred to schools in Nakuru. About 660 primary and secondary school teachers have also been temporarily transferred to safer areas. However, Rift Valley Provincial Director of Education Peter Macharia said they would return to their former stations once calm is restored. Mr Macharia told a provincial heads meeting in Nakuru yesterday that the victims had been absorbed by 21 municipal schools. He said the ministry of Education was looking for funds to buy furniture and stationery for victims who are learning under tents.
MPs united in call for peace
Political differences were set aside Thursday when 40 MPs from the violence-torn Rift Valley Province joined hands and made a passionate appeal for peace. The MPs from PNU, ODM and other small parties vowed to work closely with provincial commissioner Hassan Noor to bring to an end the post-elections violence which has claimed more than 600 lives and left 600,000 people displaced countrywide. Bureti MP Franklin Bett said in a statement: “It’s our hope that the on-going dialogue and mediation by President Kibaki and the ODM leader Raila Odinga will yield positive results, and go a long way in bringing about the desired peace.”
Recount Kenyans’ votes
Kenya is aflame after a presidential election on December 27 widely believed to have been rigged to secure the re-election of Mwai Kibaki. Kibaki’s opponents took to the streets, the government issued shoot-to-kill orders, and hundreds have died at the hands of the police as well as from gang rampages and inter-ethnic violence. The United States has led the international diplomatic response, but its approach has been deeply flawed.
Kenyans voted in vast numbers, waiting in the hot sun for several hours at crowded polling booths around the country. The first results to be counted were for Kenya’s parliament, with Kibaki’s government ministers roundly defeated in their local constituencies. The main opposition alliance, led by Raila Odinga, won about 100 seats, compared to roughly 30 for Kibaki. It appeared overwhelmingly likely that the presidential vote count would similarly show Odinga beating Kibaki by a wide margin.
Verbal attacks stoke Kenya crisis, despite talks
Kenyans faced more turmoil on Friday after both sides in the country’s deadly political crisis accused each other of trying to sink mediation efforts. Hopes of an end to violence that has killed nearly 700 people rose after President Mwai Kibaki met his rival Raila Odinga for the first time since disputed December 27 polls. The two men shook hands and vowed to seek a solution. But in remarks to reporters, Kibaki’s description of himself as the nation’s “duly elected” leader brought an explosive reaction from Odinga’s party, which says he stole the vote.