Recent Daily Highlights

Picking up where I left off last time, the following are highlights of the past few days:

Monday, January 28

Mediator Kofi Annan spelled out the terms of reference and agenda for the peace talks: an end to the spiraling violence, solving the Presidential election results, and crafting long-term solutions to glaring inequality in the country.

Death toll from ongoing violence throughout Kenya rose 115 in the past three days.

Thirteen lorries transporting goods were set ablaze. Five Easy Coach buses were burned. The transport sector has faced a crisis, with gangs of youth barricading roads and destabilizing the flow of goods and persons in parts of the country.

Learning in Nyanza Province now on its knees as the majority of schools in ten districts are yet to open for the first term.

Tuesday, January 29

ODM Member of Parliament, Mugabe Were, was shot dead outside his Nairobi home in the wee hours of the morning. As this news was reported, protests erupted in some parts of the country. Tension was high in parts of Embakasi (his Nairobi constituency) where residents demonstrated and torched kiosks. Kibaki called the murder “a heinous crime”. Raila said, “This is an assassination and there can be no doubt about that. How can the police term it a normal criminal act without any investigations being carried out?” Friends and colleagues described him as “humble, principled, focused, reserved, and humane”.

Police fired several times in the air as they dispersed groups of youths armed with guns and crude weapons as tension gripped Kibera, a sprawling slum. Two photo-journalists escaped death by a whisker after they were shot at by the youth. Tension was high in the slum and its environs after the killing of Were, who was shot nearby at Woodley estate.

The European Union warned it will review its relations with Kenya if a solution to the current political crisis is not found.

More than 10,000 teachers in the country cannot teach due to the ongoing violence.

Wednesday, January 30

Relief efforts by United Nations agencies and their partners have been hampered by recent cases of heightened insecurity in parts of the country. The organization’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, said he was deeply concerned about the situation in Kenya.

Leading scientists are among hundreds of professionals evacuated in Kiambu District, as rowdy youth tried to raid top research institutes.

Thursday, January 31

A 2^nd ODM politician, Kimutai Too, was shot dead in Eldoret (along with a female in his company). The death sparked riots in opposition strongholds as the country continues to reel under post-election violence. Ten more people were killed. Police described the shooting as a “crime of passion” and immediately arrested a police officer. ODM insisted it was yet another political assassination, part of a plan to reduce its majority in Parliament.

PNU and ODM negotiators give hope to millions of Kenyans by agreeing that the violence must end in seven days.

The US State department said it is reviewing its allocation of “several millions of dollars” in non-humanitarian aid to Kenya.

Bus companies consider cancelling services to and from Western Kenya and Uganda as insecurity escalades along the route.

Violence in Naivasha, Kenya’s key flower-producing town, threatens the industry in the key period before Valentine’s Day. Just 30% of workers turned up at the flower farms today. Kenya is the leading exporter of cut flowers to Europe, providing over 25% of stems sold there. Currently the industry is the 3^rd highest foreign exchange earner after tourism and tea.

Kenya’s political crisis dominated discussions as the African Union Summit opened in Addis Ababa, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon warning of catastrophe. “Violence continues, threatening to escalate to catastrophic levels,” Mr. Ban said.

Friday, February 1

Three key issues were agreed upon that could see Kenya return to peace. PNU and ODM teams agreed to hold joint rallies to stop the escalating violence and restore basic human rights and civil liberties. They agreed there should be freedom of assembly, expression, and press to help end political turmoil. Long-term issues and solutions including undertaking legal reforms, tackling poverty and inequity, unemployment, consolidating national cohesion and unity, land reform, and addressing transparency, accountability, and impunity are to be agreed on within a year.

World attention turns on Kenya as the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, arrives in Nairobi to bolster Mr. Annan’s peace efforts. The high-level attention Kenya is being showered with at its moment of tragedy, is coming from a global community that sat and watched as Rwanda experienced genocide in 1994, that left nearly one million dead in 100 days of sheer terror.

Former African National Congress of South Africa party leader, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, arrived in Kenya at Kofi Annan’s invitation to be added to the Panel of Eminent African Leaders that are mediating talks with the two Kenyan parties. He is a highly respected peace mediator.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr. Ross Hynes, announced that his country would be reluctant to issue visas to Kenyan government officials to travel to Canada.

ODM wants the United States’ FBI to investigate the deaths of two of their MPs. They were shot dead in a span of 36 hours. Opposition leader, Raila, said the party had no confidence in Kenyan security forces, terming them partisan.

Sustained post-election violence in the multi-ethnic and expansive Rift Valley province is threatening the lives of millions of residents whose economic mainstay is agriculture and tourism.

Saturday, February 2

Amnesty International wants Kibaki and Attorney General Amos Wako directly petitioned over threats made to a number of leading human rights campaigners in Kenya. The human rights and pro-democracy activists “received a number of anonymous threats, including death threats, in the past two weeks.” All, except one of the activists are from one ethnic group. The threats they’ve received include accusations that they are “traitors to their ethnicity”.

Pineapples and other produce go to waste on the coast. There are very few buyers for the fruit following the cancelation of supply contracts by tourist hotels, as the number of tourists coming into the country plunge. On the other hand, Nairobi’s 800 restaurants and 40 small cafés face a shortage of potatoes because of the violence that has crippled Rift Valley province. The violence also portends grave prospects for the pyrethrum industry (used to make insecticides).

Sunday, February 3

About 300,000 Kenyans are still sheltering in at least 44 makeshift camps one month after the disputed presidential election sparked violence and riots in Kenya. Estimates indicate that 2/3 of these people, living in inhuman conditions in these camps, are women, children, and young people.

The displaced people are telling tales of shattered lives and dreams. The huge numbers have over-stretched the sanitation facilities at the camps and there are fears of disease outbreaks. There is a high rate of prostitution in the camps. The scorching sun by day and the buzzing sounds of mosquitoes by night are their daily struggles.

ODM takes issue with Kibaki’s remarks at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa. Kibaki said that the problems in Kenya could be resolved locally and that ODM was behind the violence, which he added was premeditated.

Police are preparing charges for 1,700 suspects in criminal acts linked to post-election violence.

Dairy farmers in the North Rift have incurred losses running into millions of shillings because they cannot deliver milk to processing plants, due to fears that their vehicles will be damaged in riots.

Monday, February 4

PNU and ODM mediators agreed on major steps aimed at resolving the political crisis. Among the key issues was setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, encourage and help displaced people to settle back in their homes and have safe passage and security throughout, and ensure freedom of expression, press, and peaceful assembly.

The government lifted the ban on live media coverage.

Kenyatta University opened today, postponed for one month due to the situation in the country. Most schools in Nyanza district opened, although the turnout of students was low. Many teachers reported to work.

Tuesday, February 5

Kenya’s top CEOs warned that the economy might grind to a halt after a month of post-election violence. Already the country has lost 40-50% in manufacturing and the tourism industry is on its knees.

The Kenya Red Cross has called for better management of efforts to assist those that were displaced. The organization is finding it difficult to reach all of them because they are spread in so many camps throughout the country.

Wednesday, February 6

Police arrest 26 gang members who have been harassing women in Naivasha since the town was rocked by violence. The gang forces women in trousers to “dress properly”.

Thursday, February 7

The US imposes travel bans on five Kenyan politicians and five prominent businessmen suspected to be involved in the post-election violence. The visa ban also applies to their immediate family members.

Kenyan police charge one of their own for two murders during the violence and chaos in Kisumu. His actions, caught on film, were broadcast around the world. The number of deaths is now said to be 1,000.