Kenyan rivals on unity tour
Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga visit areas worst affected by post-election violence.
Published On 24 Apr 2008
“We have formed a unity government … Kenyans want to live together and we have agreed to that.”
Tens of thousands of people in the region are still displaced following the violence which stemmed from the disputed December 27 presidential polls.
Odinga accused Kibaki of rigging the elections and the conflict that followed killed more than 1,000 people.
Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, Kibaki retained the presidency while Odinga was given the post of prime minister.
Security fears
Those displaced, many of them farmers, fear a lack of security if they return to their land which they are eager to farm as the rain season gets into full swing.
“This was not ordinary post-election violence. When villagers spot us in our farms with the intention of settling, they scream to attract a larger crowd to harm you,” one farmer told AFP news agency.
“Though no one has settled on my farm, I really need a policeman outside my door for me to go about my farming business and have sound sleep at night,” he said.
The coalition government has been told to address the root causes of the violence in order to foster genuine reconciliation.
The new government was sworn in on April 17 after weeks of bitter negotiations between the two camps.
Some observers say the alliance, which includes many prominent opposition figures in the cabinet, will struggle to carry out sweeping changes in the country.
Source: News Agencies