Kenyans flee homes amid violence

2 Jan 2008, 8:53 am   -   Source: SBS staff and agencies
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Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes amid brutal port election violence in Kenya, that has claimed up to 300 lives.

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Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes amid brutal port election violence in Kenya, that has claimed up to 300 lives.


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued a joint statement moments ago urging Kenya's political leaders to call for a halt to the violence and engage in a political and legal process to resolve the crisis.

Up to 35 children and adults sheltering in a church near the western town of Eldoret were burnt alive by an angry mob in one of the bloodiest incidents since the December 27 election.

President Mwai Kibaki was sworn in immediately after the vote, but election officials have since admitted coming under pressure from his party to announce their victory.
 


Bitter fighting

Frustrated supporters of defeated opposition leader Raila Odinga - who has rejected the outcome of the election -went on a rampage, lifting the lid on tribal tensions across the country and prompting bitter fighting among rival groups.

Mr Odinga has accused the government of provoking the violence, saying Mr Kibaki's administration is "guilty, directly, of genocide".

Electoral commission chief Samuel Kivuitu said European envoys and the state-owned human rights commission had urged him to delay announcing poll results for a week while an investigation was held.

Vote-tampering

But he said he gave in to pressure from the ruling Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Party-Kenya to name the election winners immediately.

"I wanted to resign, but I thought that if I resign, citizens would think that I am afraid," he told reporters." I was being pushed from many sides... then I made a decision at once."

On Sunday, Mr Kivuitu declared Mr Kibaki the ballot winner, despite allegations his party had tampered with the result.

European Union observers said the polls fell short of international standards, and called for an independent audit of the results.

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