Post election report 3 - Dec 31

December 31

There is a surreal quiet here at my relative’s house as the country has erupted in violence.

Kenya’s ethnic conflict has erupted pitting Kikuyus against Luo, Luhya, Kalenjin and others.

A source in the police told me that 5 Kikuyus have been killed in Mbale. Most of the Kikuyus in the area around Mbale have fled to the District Commissioner’s Office. Shops owned by Kikuyus have been burned and looted.

In the town of Chavakali, the policeman told me, 30 more Kikuyus have been killed.

I can hear gunshots, I suspect mostly teargas guns, coming from the direction of Chavakali.

Another source has told me 2 other people have been killed in Kakamega. There are no vehicles on the Kisumu/Kakamega road.

In the provinces near my home (Nyanza, Western and the Rift Valley), the countryside is being divided into areas where there are all Kikuyus and other areas were there are no Kikuyus.

At 11 am today, a woman came up the path wailing that her only son was killed in Nakuru (a Kikuyu area). She wailed, "they should have killed Kibaki instead of my son."

Peace,
Dave Z
AGLI