Kenyan opposition calls for more rallies
Last Updated: Sunday, January 6, 2008 | 3:18 PM ET
The Associated Press
Related
Internal Links
Video
- David McGuffin reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:44)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
Kenya's opposition leader called Sunday for more rallies across the country, raising the threat of further bloodshed, but also indicated he was willing to share power with the government he accuses of rigging the presidential vote.
More than 300 people have died in fighting since the Dec. 27 vote, bringing chaos to a country of 34 million people that had been one of East Africa's most stable democracies and revived simmering tribal resentments.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga rejected President Mwai Kibaki's offer of a "unity government," but said he was willing to consider a power-sharing agreement guaranteed by the international community. Still, his call for new protests on Tuesday — despite a government ban imposed during the unrest — dimmed the prospect of a quick resolution.
"This fighting is meaningless," 17-year-old Eliakim Omondi said at a Lutheran church in Nairobi's Kibera slum that was torched days ago. "I wish they would just talk and square everything so the fighting will stop."
Kibaki, re-elected by a narrow margin in a vote count that international observers say was deeply flawed, said Saturday he was willing to form a unity government after meeting with the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer.
Odinga rejected that proposal, but his spokesman, Salim Lone, said they were open to other solutions.
"A government of national unity is not acceptable to us," said Lone. "But there are other formulations, such as a coalition government with genuine power sharing that we are willing to discuss."
The other opposition proposal is to set up an interim government with a mandate to hold new presidential elections, he said.
It would be nearly impossible for Kibaki to govern without opposition support. In parliamentary balloting, Odinga's party won 95 of 210 legislative seats and half of Kibaki's cabinet lost their seats.
Odinga welcomed the imminent arrival of Ghana's President John Kufuor, current chair of the African Union, who is expected in Nairobi by Tuesday.
The violence eased over the weekend, although there have been isolated ethnic clashes and police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the coastal tourist town of Mombasa.
At the Lutheran church in Nairobi, Pastor Dennis Meeker urged congregants kneeling before a charred cross to "be with those who tried to kill you and destroy you." A woman dropped to the floor screaming, "Forgive the people who attacked our church!"
More clashes are likely if Odinga presses ahead with his call for supporters to rally Tuesday. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua told reporters such demonstrations remain illegal.
Attempts to rally last week were blocked by police, who fired tear gas and water cannons and fired live bullets over people's heads. Human rights groups accuse police of excessive force and unjustified killings in the violence, but police Commissioner Hussein Ali on Sunday insisted, "We have not shot anyone."
Odinga told reporters: "If there is any bloodshed during these rallies, it will be the government's responsibility."
Election dispute highlights tribal tensions
The crisis following the election has pitted Kibaki's Kikuyu people against Kenya's other tribes.
In the countryside, with the continued threat of ethnic attacks, thousands fled their homes, escorted by soldiers as they streamed down roads strewn with corpses, burned out vehicles and downed power lines.
Tens of thousands of people have been cut off from supplies by the crisis, which closed down shops and transport across the country. What food is available has tripled in price.
The United Nations tried to help Sunday, sending 20 truckloads of grain, pulses and vegetable oil that had been stuck in Mombasa port on the southeast coast. Vigilante roadblocks and other insecurity had halted shipments.
The convoy of trucks left without an expected armed police escort, but a police vehicle raced to catch up about 97 kilometres outside Mombasa.
The food was destined for some 100,000 "people who are in dire need" in Nairobi, the capital, and troubled Eldoret city in Odinga's stronghold in the central Rift Valley, according to United Nations World Food Program logistics officer Lemma Jembere.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim’s husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
- An Ontario judge was moved to tears while delivering a life prison sentence to a serial carjacker who killed a woman and injured five others after driving a stolen van into her car during a 2010 police chase. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Everest victim’s husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Canadian restrained on flight to Miami arrested
- A 24-year-old Canadian man is in federal custody for rushing toward the front of an American Airlines flight from Jamaica after the plane landed in Miami. more »
- Suspect in Etan Patz death charged with murder
- A New Jersey man accused of luring six-year-old Etan Patz into a New York City convenience store in 1979 and killing him has been charged with second-degree murder. more »
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest

- The difficulty, danger and expense of removing the bodies of climbers who died in Mount Everest's "death zone" mean most of the dead remain on the mountain as a stark reminder to other climbers of the risks. more »
Dispatches »
- Foreign slaves serving the U.S. military machine May. 24, 2012 3:33 PM How does a hairdresser recruited for work in Dubai, wind up slaving for the U.S. military in a war zone in Iraq? There are tens of thousands serving in what's come to be known as America's "Invisible Army."
Connect Newsroom Blog
Etan Patz Arrest, Helene Campbell & Facebook Flop May. 24, 2012 8:54 PM Three decades after a U.S. child Etan Patz disappeared, an arrest has finally been made.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim's family asks for government help
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Double-lung recipient dances on Ellen show
- Brave cat makes epic leap of faith
- Conservatives move again to have robocalls suits tossed

