Churchill Otieno
18 January 2008
Nairobi — Six people have been killed in the third day of opposition protests as former UN chief Kofi Annan announced he will arrive on Tuesday for renewed mediation efforts.
General Service Unit officers chase a city resident near Nairobi's Kimathi Street, shortly after the police dispersed a group of people who attempted to march to Uhuru Park for an outlawed rally yesterday. Photo/JOSEPH MATHENGE
At the same time, President Kibaki named a team of ten to spearhead dialogue out of the political crisis following the December 27 contested presidential election.
Today was the last day of three-day protests called by the Orange Democratic Movement in search of justice over alleged vote rigging that saw President Kibaki handed a second term.
The third day of protests were felt most in parts of Nairobi, Narok and Mombasa.
Four people died after being shot with arrows in Narok, while police shot dead two in Nairobi and one in the coastal town of Mombasa.
A paramilitary policeman escapes from teargas after protestors lobbed a cannister back into the police truck during riots earlier today in Mombasa. Photo/ LABAN WALLOGA
In Narok, one of the dead men was unlucky when he ran into a group with crude weapons.
"The man bumped into a group of armed residents who shot him with a poison arrow," Narok area police boss Patrick Wambani told Reuters.
The riots in Mombasa started soon after the Friday Muslim prayers ended at 1pm resulting in one shot dead and three seriously injured from bullet wounds.
In Nairobi, two were shot dead in the sprawling Kibera slums. Police confronted a mob that was removing parts of the railway line and shot a 15-year-old girl in the back and a man in the head.
The city's central business district was mostly peaceful but tense. There were with brief moments of running battles as riot police dispersed some Muslim faithful who attempted to demonstrate towards Uhuru Park after coming from Friday prayers at Jamia Mosque.
On the mediation front, President Kibaki appointed a team led by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka to help in the dialogue.
A dispatch from the Presidential Press Service said a top-level political committee had been formed to spearhead "national political dialogue, national reconciliation and to promote international understanding and good relations on the political problems facing the country following the recently concluded elections".
Other members of the committee are Security Minister George Saitoti, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya, Local Government Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere, Justice Minister
Martha Karua, Attorney General Amos Wako and Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo.
The statement said the tenth member will be co-opted by the committee as appropriate.
The President also named two joint secretaries for the committee. They are Mr Ludiko Chweya, a senior political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, and Mr Geoffrey Gichira Kibaara, the director of legal affairs at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
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