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The news remains pretty depressing with reports of up to a further 200 people killed in grisly ‘street’ deaths since last Friday. The brutality of the mob only goes to justify the use of force being resorted to by the Police, which was previously described by the Opposition and outside observers as ‘excessive’. The police (and their military back up) have been acting as complete heroes the majority of the time having to risk their lives to keep order among their own people.
There appears to be a predictable backlash going on in Nakuru and Naivasha against those that voted for the opposition. The Kikuyu reportedly said that they wanted all ‘foreigners’ out of the area (meaning non Kikuyu). Their ‘beef’ was along the lines of; ‘Who is Kofi Annan? We don’t care about the politicians; this is our fight now, for our land and our people!’
Local NTV news reported tonight that farm workers are split into two highly tense groups along the Naivasha South Lake road with only a few hundred metres and a flimsy police line between them. The media is at great pains not to mention the names of tribes in their reporting, using phrases like: ‘certain communities’.
While Kofi Annan is caught up in a whirl of meetings, unbelievably both Kibaki and Odinga’s sides are still shifting blame between them over who is responsible for the violence. A spokesman for Odinga’s ODM is still whingeing over wanting to hold mass rallies. Neither side has shown any willingness to ‘share’ power, or any softening in negotiations. Annan has hinted that he may not be able to fulfil his promise of staying in Kenya until a lasting solution has been found, which is not a good sign!
The agriculture sector of the economy are struggling badly with workers fleeing or at each other’s throats, the country’s infrastructure is failing with mobsters erecting illegal road blocks, vandalism and the empty hotels of the tourist industry having to lay people off, having initially given staff a month’s early leave in the hopes that the situation would soon blow over.