Joyce Namutebi
25 January 2008
Kampala — More ethnic clashes erupted in Kenya's Rift Valley province yesterday, leaving at least 12 people dead and displacing thousands.
The violence and a denial by opposition leader Raila Odinga that he would agree to serve as prime minister under President Mwai Kibaki, dented hopes that were raised by talks between the rivals a day earlier.
"Nakuru town has been shut down. My staff have carried three dead bodies and hundreds are injured in hospital," Kenya Red Cross head Abbas Gullet said.
Hopes for a solution grew on Thursday, when former UN boss Kofi Annan brought Odinga and Kibaki together for their first talks.
The direct talks followed three days of intense diplomatic efforts by President Yoweri Museveni, according to Fred Opolot of the Uganda Media Centre.
"Following his separate one-on-one meetings with Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the two sides have finally agreed to face to face negotiations," Opolot said.
The Kibaki-Raila meeting was applauded around the world, including in statements from the European Union and US presidential candidate Barack Obama.
But their smiles and handshake were quickly followed by new accusations, with the opposition upset at Kibaki's reference to himself as "duly-elected."
Odinga yesterday urged the African Union to avoid endorsing Kibaki's re-election at a planned summit in Ethiopia.
In an interview with Reuters, he ruled out taking a new post of prime minister in Kibaki's Government, a solution some media and diplomats have touted.
He said the only three acceptable options would be Kibaki's resignation, a vote re-run, or power-sharing then a new election.
Odinga said he was willing to meet Kibaki again.
In the western town of Nakuru, soldiers last night cleared burning barricades as houses smouldered and the crack of gunshots filled the air.
Terrified residents sought shelter in churches, police stations and at the prison, while aerial pictures of surrounding villages showed smoke rising from torched homesteads. The local authorities imposed a 7:00pm to 7:00am curfew.
The fighting pitted members of Kibaki's Kikuyu against the Luo and Kalenjin, seen as pro-opposition.
A police source said 10 bodies had been found in different parts of the town, most with deep cuts. But he expected the death toll to rise because officers had not yet ventured deep into the Kaptembwa suburb, where the clashes started. Local media said at least two people were also killed in nearby Molo town.
"It's a nightmare. The Kalenjin came in from Eldoret side. Then the Kikuyu massed to confront them. It's a war out here," said one Kenyan businessman reached by phone.
All factories and shops were shut and his driver had been hurt by an arrow, he said. "The town is closed."
Some Kikuyu said they would confront the Kalenjin blamed for the killings of Kikuyu earlier this month in the Rift Valley area.
"We can no longer stand back and watch as our brothers are killed in Eldoret," said bus conductor Dennis Kariuki. "We have vowed that for every Kikuyu killed in Eldoret, we shall kill two Kalenjin living in Nakuru." Another witness, Joel Okumu, said his house was targeted in the town on Thursday night.
"The attack was well planned as they knew which house to burn despite the darkness," he said. "As I was escaping, I saw two bodies with deep cuts by the roadside and I am sure there are many more as the violence went on for the big part of the night."
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It real makes everyone sad.War in Africa,ethnic war in Kenya,why Africa,Why Kenya? My fellow Africans lets not make other people from other continets think that:BECAUSE THIS IS THE CONTINET OF THE BLACKS,HAVE TO BE DARK.NO.AND ALSO WE DONT HAVE BLACK HEARTS. Even if its right to put Kibaki on power,but they made us believe that Odinga was the winner.Lets be God fearing people and do what have to be done.I think putting Odinger on power shall bring peace and harmon in Kenya more than ever.