Kenya's darkest week

Seven people were killed in a shoot-out between police and raiders as Kenya marked the end of the darkest week since the country won independence in 1963.

Hundreds of families camp at Moi Garden in Kericho Town yesterday after they were displaced from their work stations at the James Finlay and Unilever tea estates. Thousands of families have been displaced or have left their homes for fear of being attacked in the wake of a disputed presidential election. Photos/SOLLO KIRAGU.

The stand-off sparked protests in various towns that have claimed the lives of at least 300 people in the last one week and displaced thousands.

On Sunday, hundreds of families continued to leave their homes in volatile areas, especially in Rift Valley Province, for fear of fresh attacks even as religious leaders held peace prayers.

Displaced families

Nakuru Town, which has been hosting thousands of people fleeing from hot spots in Rift Valley, continued to  receive hundreds of displaced families amid reports that some workers in Nyeri had sought refuge in police stations.

Some 3,300 people — the largest group so far — arrived at Nakuru showground from Burnt Forest and Nandi Hills in lorries. 

The seven people were killed in Trans Nzoia when raiders attacked a police station where 3,000 displaced people were seeking refuge. The over 100 raiders killed two people at Kachibora Police Station in Cherangany at 5am, but police overpowered them and shot five dead.

In Kuresoi, another band of raiders burnt down a Presbyterian church and attempted to damage a Catholic church in Matunda farm. However, local elders prevailed upon the youths not to destroy the church.

And in Nairobi, ODM leader Raila Odinga rejected President Kibaki’s proposals for a coalition government. Mr Odinga said ODM wanted international mediation to defuse the crisis facing the country, even as the Government announced it had sent assistant minister Moses Wetang’ula to Ghana to brief President John Kufuor.

Mr Odinga and the international community want Mr Kufuor, the chairman of the African Union, to mediate between Mr Odinga and President Kibaki to find a political solution to the violence. 

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the President was for a government of national unity. He repeated the Government’s opposition to international mediation saying the crisis would be dealt with internally.

And the International Monetary Fund has warned that if the post-election crisis was not addressed, Kenya faced an economic catastrophe.

Supply disruptions

Managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said IMF was concerned that supply disruptions due to the violence had affected neighbouring countries.

As part of efforts to stop further attacks, police announced an additional 100 mobile telephone hot-lines to be commissioned this week. 

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme started sending relief food to displaced people all over the country and to slum dwellers in Kibera and Mathare. The groups in the slums are multi-ethnic and cut across the political divide.

The agency’s trucks left Mombasa port Sunday under heavy police guard.

President Kibaki and Mr Odinga have been urged to start dialogue to get the country out of the current impasse but the two are yet to meet.