10 April 2008
Nairobi — Contingents of riot police were deployed in a Nairobi slum and Kisumu streets on a day characterised by tension, building international pressure and a proposed list of a 20-member Cabinet.
In Mombasa, Busia, Nakuru, Eldoret and Molo, the tension came close to degenerating into violence as the US, Britain and the European Union called for power-sharing and told President Kibaki and Prime Minister-designate, Mr Raila Odinga, that it must be real.
Extra police officers were deployed to guard displaced people at Baraka, Sawmill and Showground camps in Molo and Eldoret respectively where IDPs claimed they were living under threat of attack.
Last night, Kibera, the epicentre of violence at the height of post-election skirmishes, reportedly erupted again with protestors venting their anger on the railway line, cutting off links with the wider region.
The arrival of the police in Kibera, led by Nairobi Area deputy police boss, Mr Julius Ndegwa, appeared to prime the youths for action.
Destruction
Goods destined for neighbouring countries were piling up in Nairobi after the protestors on Tuesday ripped off up to 90 metres of the rail line in the slum.
On Wednesday, the protesters ripped off another 500 metres, effectively cutting off Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan.
Mr Roy Puffett, the RVR managing director, told The Standard: "Rift Valley Railways is disturbed by the incident, which is extremely unfortunate. We are calling on political leaders to tell their supporters about the importance of this railway line."
He added: "The railway, though serving RVR, is the property of the Kenyan people and they have every reason to protect, not destroy it."
Fighting between police and protestors was still reportedly going on by the time we went to press.
And in Kisumu, Nyanza PPO, Mr Anthony Kibuchi, said officers had been deployed in the town to "help keep the peace".
"Police had a rough time repulsing youths who had barricaded roads in Kondele and Awasi," the PPO, said.
On Tuesday evening, groups harassed motorists on the Kisumu-Kakamega road, near the matatu terminus.
A platoon of armed officers kept vigil at Kondele. Public transport, which had been disrupted the previous day, was back to normal, but some parents did not take their children to school fearing that the chaos could erupt in the town.
In Mombasa, police maintained high presence out of fear that protests elsewhere could be replicated in the town. The local OCPD, Mr Patrick Wafula, called for calm and assured residents that "a meaningful solution to the political stalemate would be found soon".
Tension, however, remained high in the sprawling Mishomoroni slums, but residents said they would only resort to mass action if it became evident that the talks could not be salvaged.
Threats of violence
In Busia town, businesses were temporarily closed and transport services paralysed when angry youths took to the streets. Traders who feared for their safety hurriedly went home.
Trouble had started when a group of 24 chanting youths demanded that vehicles of people who were purported to be PNU sympathisers leave the bus park.
Tens of long-distance trucks that had crossed from Uganda retreated, while those waiting for clearance to cross into Uganda did so before clearing with Customs for fear of attack.
In Eldoret, police mounted roadblocks on roads leading to the town to ensure that no armed youths were transported.
Motorists had a difficult task removing boulders the youths had used to barricade the Eldoret-Iten road.
But as the tension threatened to boil over into full-scale skirmishes, the ODM spokesman said the party would not make any move until it got a reply to a letter to President Kibaki earlier in the week.
Mr Salim Lone, ODM's director of communications, told The Standard: "The Prime Minister-designate is ready to resume one-on-one talks with the President. But this will only happen after the party gets a response to its letter of April 7, which spelt out our terms of re-engagement."
ODM's Mr Musalia Mudavadi, had led other Pentagon members to Harambee House on Monday, where the delegation delivered the letter demanding that Kibaki dissolves the half Cabinet and adhere to portfolio balance among a raft of other conditions before resumption of talks.
And just a day after pulling out of the talks on the Cabinet, ODM announced it was ready for elections should they be called.
But it said should elections be called, there must be a framework to prepare for free, fair and legitimate polls, which would include the dissolution of the Electoral Commission of Kenya.
In a statement read by Budalang'i MP, Mr Ababu Namwamba, at Parliament Buildings, ODM said it was convinced that "the best way for our country to return to democratic normalcy and lasting harmony is to hold fresh elections that would meet universal standards of integrity to bestow upon the winner absolute, unquestionable and unimpeachable legitimacy to govern the affairs of our land".
ODM has laid stake on Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Transport, Cabinet Affairs, and Energy ministries, a 50-50 power-sharing arrangement and executive powers for the prime minister.
But PNU is reluctant and insists that the President wields executive powers. They have challenged ODM to another election.
New list of 20 ministries
On Wednesday, President Kibaki spent several hours at his Harambee House office, where he consulted with ministers, Mr Amos Kimunya (Finance), Mr Asman Kamama (Public Service) and Prof George Saitoti (Internal Security) as the new stalemate entered midweek. He arrived at 10 am and left at 3pm without a word for journalists who had camped outside his office all along.
And in the ongoing intrigues, The Standard last night obtained what is believed to be a proposal to scale down the number of Cabinet positions to 20.
It is a radical departure from the bloated 40 ministries ODM and PNU had earlier agreed on. ODM has since walked back on this agreement and says it is for a 34-member Cabinet.
PNU leaders are said to have forwarded the proposal after a Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday where the issue of whittling down the number of ministries to 20 was raised.
This would mean that each side gets only 10 slots. It is understood that some party MPs even plan to introduce a Motion in Parliament to limit the number of ministries in law.
In the new proposal, the office of the Vice-President will be in charge of Internal Security and the Provincial Administration.
Sources confided to The Standard that in the line up of ministries starting with the Vice-President's position, ODM would be given ministries listed in odd numbers.
The proposed ministries are Defence, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Health, Local Government, Agriculture, Education, Trade and Industry, Roads and Public Works, Planning and National Development, Public Service, Labour and Human Resources Development.
Others are Transport/ Information and Communication, Energy and Environment, Water and Irrigation, Tourism and Wildlife, Lands/Housing and Settlement, Youth/Sports/Gender and Social Services and Co-operative Development and Marketing.
If the proposal is accepted by PNU and ODM, then ODM would take Defence, Foreign Affairs, Health, Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Planning and National Development, Transport/Information and Communication, Water and Irrigation, Lands/Housing and Settlement, Co-operative Development and Marketing.
PNU will get the Vice-Presidency, Finance, Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Local Government, Education, Roads and Public Works, Public Service, Labour and Human Resource Development, Energy and Environment, Tourism and Wildlife, Youth/Sports/Gender and Social Services.
Reports Ben Agina, Patrick Wachira, Cyrus Ombati, Renson Buluma, Allan Kisia, Steve Mkawale, Jane Akinyi, Mangoa Mosota, Ngumbao Kithi, Peter Atsiaya and Vincent Bartoo
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