Taped Shooting Of Protester Rattles Kenya

Violence Again Breaking Out Across Country As Tribal, Political Tensions Boil Over

(CBS/AP)  Violence has again engulfed Kenya, after television video showing police shooting a young, unarmed anti-government protester to death enraged opponents of President Mwai Kibaki.

According to opposition leaders, at least seven more people had been shot and killed in the Mathare slum early on Thursday, and a 5-year-old boy in the Kibera slum was wounded in the leg, CBS News reporter Katherine Arms reports. Both sprawling slums are in Nairobi.

Anger is high across the country after the scenes of vicious violence from the town of Kisumu aired on local the private Kenya Television Network.

The video shows a lone policeman chasing a handful of unarmed young men down a side-street in the town of Kisumu. The policeman is seen firing and two of the men fall. The policemen then kicks one of them.

In a statement sent to Arms by opposition leader Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement, the party said it "condemns in the strongest terms the cold-blooded execution of a wounded youth who was peacefully protesting in Kisumu."

"We demand the immediate prosecution of the officer who committed this murder, and those who have issued the shoot to kill instructions to police. This killing and the other acts of violence inflicted on peaceful protestors will be part of the case we are filing with the International Criminal Court in The Hague," against the Kibaki government, the ODM statement said.

Kibaki was declared winner of a contested Dec. 27 election - deemed deeply flawed by international observers, which touched off weeks of violent protests and clashes along tribal lines.

On Thursday, police fired tear gas and live rounds to break up opposition rallies in several cities, killing at least two protesters.

Odinga said seven people were shot and killed. Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe said police killed two "criminal" protesters, one in western Kenya and one in Nairobi.

"Everyone is scampering away from the police," said Collins Odhiambo a protester in the western town of Kisumu who carried a white handkerchief as a sign of peace. "They killed too many of us yesterday and now people are staying away because they don't want to be shot."

Machete-wielding young slum dwellers in Nairobi hurled stones at police who fired tear gas and gunshots Thursday, the second day of opposition protests. Arms says Thursday will likely be far more violent than the previous day, due primarily to the airing of the video from Kisumu.

Most of the violence has pitted members of the president's Kikuyu tribe against other ethnic groups, including the Luo, of which Odinga is a member.

"Our rallies will continue until the government sits down with us and seeks a solution," said opposition spokesman Salim Lone. "Calling off rallies would be admitting defeat to those who first stole the presidential election and are now killing innocent protesters on sight."

Speaking to reporters, government spokesman Alfred Mutua repeated President Kibaki's position the opposition should take its grievances to court and said Kibaki's administration "is very open to dialogue."

Riots and ethnic killings in the wake of the disputed vote have marred Kenya's image as a stable democratic oasis in a war-ravaged region and damaged its tourist-dependent economy. It has also exacerbated long-simmering ethnic tensions and conflicts over land.

In Nairobi's Mathare slum, residents hid indoors and crouched on the floors of shops as young men ran past. Police fired tear gas down dirt alleyways and gunshots into the air.

One Red Cross medic said his ambulance picked up a 24-year-old with deep machete cuts to his head and neck and a fractured arm. The medic asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

As he spoke, another man staggered down the road, bleeding profusely from the head and mouth. "Help me," he begged before collapsing. Jack Owich, his 22-year-old companion, said the two had been attacked by a gang from a rival ethnic group two blocks away.

"They were Kikuyus," the opposition supporter said, naming the president's tribe.

Police also fired tear gas in downtown Nairobi at dozens of protesters, some of whom threw stones.

In the western town of Eldoret, gunfire echoed across town as police fired warning shots to break up several dozens-strong groups who tried to gather. Some protesters overturned kiosks and pushed them into roads to block them, and tires burned in the city center. Arms reports some human rights groups have become "very upset" by security forces' use of live rounds.

The government has banned the rallies, but the opposition and Kenyan human rights groups say the government has no authority to do so.

This week, 13 nations, including the United States and Britain, increased pressure on rival politicians to find a solution, threatening to cut aid to the government "if the commitment of the government of Kenya to good governance, democracy, the rule of law and human rights weakens."

Mutua told reporters: "The government of Kenya will not be blackmailed ... We are able to support ourselves."

About 6 percent of Kenya's budget comes from foreign aid. The unrest, though, has hurt the economy, particularly the key tourism sector.

In Britain, the Federation of Tour Operators extended a ban on charter flights to Monday. The Press Association quoted the largest British tour operator to Kenya, Somak, as saying they were offering alternative vacations in India.

A few dozen miles outside the western town of Eldoret, 12 empty trucks and buses blocked a main road. The drivers, milling nearby, said they had been stopped overnight by around 150 young men armed with machetes who robbed them, flattened their tires and stole fuel. One bus was filled with aid supplies from the U.N. World Food Program.

Driver Rashid Hassan, 42, said the culprits told them they had blocked the road because 'until Kibaki leaves, there is no peace."'

Late Wednesday, the United Nations launched an appeal for nearly $42 million to help half a million Kenyans affected by the violence.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said the money was needed to provide food, shelter, health care and other services for the next six months.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, speaking by telephone hookup Wednesday from Kenya to a conference at the Center for Strategic International Studies, a Washington think tank, said a power-sharing arrangement was "the only thing to do," but it would not be easy to persuade Kibaki and Odinga to agree to such a compromise.

But "both have looked us in the eye and said they are willing to have a dialogue," Ranneberger said, adding Kibaki's one condition is that he will not step down.

The ambassador said a new election would be too expensive.

[olasylvania]

Africa has been in Chaos for a long time: Now that the black leaders are in power they have forgotten about the struggle we all endured. It is a shame that in 2008 people are hungry and they kill like animails for food, the simple things for people in the United state is like a diamond to them. I went on the internet a few years back and found a family that needed help I have supported them for 6yrs and brought then out of the mud hut they lived and showed them how to survive, how to make a meal that will last for days, and how to share. They are now lost in the chaos in Mombasa Kenya. I am praying for them to come out of this alive. I pray everyone who reads this please give a little bit of yourself to help these people, the world is watching with a silent voice. WHAT IF IT WAS WHAT WOULD YOU DO? fIGHTING IS NOT THE SOLUTION,THESE ARE HUMANS THAT ARE TREATED LIKE ANIMALS. Please write to your President,Senators,anyone who will listen,HELP THE PEOPLE OF KENYA

[olasylvania]

My Borthers and sisters in Kenya are dying because of
2 powerful powerful men who want to rule. I say to all of you when power is in play it is for ones self and family not for those who are dying and homeless,look at your life there is a need for an intervenion there of a new President no tribals, but a person who truly understand the life in Kenya,my god Please send a savior to save these people ,heart, body and soul.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Can''''t blame the white colonial rulers anymore. So who will you blame now? Can''''t blame the great, noble, almighty African black man."
Posted by Keithle1

Why does there need to be blame? A great injustice has been overturned, the colonial whites no longer control Zimbabwe, but if you expect the transition to be neat, orderly, and immediate, you are as ignorant of human nature as you are of history.

The fertile land will still be there when the Zimbabweans sort out their own problems, and regardless of how much you lament it, the days of "race" based slavery are over.

Whether or not people of your ilk can get over it, is of no concern.

[godofredo29]

Screw the prime directive: we need to issue the opposition phasers now!

[keithle1]

Even when you put the local "native" people in charge of African countries, what happens? Not much. Not a whole lot that''s good. Am I mistaken? No. You have to look hard for success stories.

Look at Zimbabwe. Mugabe has been in charge since 1980. What do the people in the country have to show for it? The world''s highest inflation rate. Back when it was Rhodesia, it was the "bread basket" of Africa. Now it''s a joke. The "war veterans" took over the white-owned farms. But do they work the farms? No.

It doesn''t take much for the tribal resentments & differences to rear their ugly head. Lots of examples of that.

Can''t blame the white colonial rulers anymore. So who will you blame now? Can''t blame the great, noble, almighty African black man.

[mitywhity]

What do you expect from Kenyans?

[karanjasan]

And as for the xenophobes that would seek to pacify their own guilt for the participation of Europeans in the pillaging of Africa, the reality is that Europe and America is right in the middle of every single conflict throughout the so called ''third world''. Kenya''s problems stem from Colonialism, where the British demarcated near whole provinces for themselves, ferrying Africans off their land leaving many landless. To date British Kenyans continue to own disproportionately huge farms that they never paid for nor have they ever really worked on. The west is involved in practically every single conflict, be it for minerals, Agricultural produce, or oil causing more death and destruction than anything or anyone else ever possibly can!

[karanjasan]

There is unduly great bias in favor of teh opposition, which has caused untold chaos, having started murdering Administration Police sent to mann Polling Staions in Nyanza. Machetes had run out of stock in supermarkets even before the election, with Bishop Cornelius Korir pointing out that the mass killings and evictions of Kikuyu were too well organised and must have been pre-meditated! So is the world going to just continue talking about Raila and Kibaki and the flawed elections, which apparently both sides cheated in, or are they going to start attempting to stem the start of an ethnic cleansing Genocide whcih has been planned and paid for by politicians quite possibly from both sides of teh political divide, although it is increasingly clear that ODM is much more unscrupulous with regard to loss of life and mayhem and havoc in Kenya!

[birdseatcats]

"The ambassador said a new election would be too expensive."
Now that sure sounds like a good reason to let the man who stole the election remain in power.
If there''s anything more important than a fair election, it''s saving money.
I''ll bet this ambassador was hand picked by Bush/Cheney on the basis of intelligence and integrity.

[rushlimpdrug]

So this is how they treat blacks in Africa.
At least they don''t lynch them.

Opposition spokesman Salim Lone: "Calling off rallies would be admitting defeat to those who first stole the presidential election and are now killing innocent protesters on sight."
Is he referring to the same ''innocent protesters'' who lock-up people in a church and then burn it down? Or who cut off children''s hands and feet because they happen to be from the same tribe as the president?
African tribe members (= blacks in Africa) really don''t need an excuse to burn down and plunder and to rape and kill members of other tribes. They have done that since long before the Europeans ever set foot in Africa. It%u2019s part of their culture, so who are we to criticise them?

[gaaru-2009]

The problem is simply the defeated refusing to accept defeat.Forget all those cliches about Africa.

From that point on, everyone is biased one way or another. In other parts of the world (ie America) the defeated bid their time. it may take four yeara but that is the civilised thing to do.

In Kenya, they result to all forms of antics with very loud supporters around the Globe and the result is what you see.
Violence everywhere !

[nolalou]

beehive21 said "If the people had guns,they could free themselves"

That''s exactly the problem in many African countries, they do have guns, and they form militias and kill each other in mass genocide! They kidnap children and brainwash them into joining their so called ''revolution''.

Part of the problem is most of Africa is tribal. The country borders were mainly drawn by European occupiers in the past.

The UN and other international organizations can try to keep the peace, but ultimately the people of Africa have to find their own solution.

[beehive21-2009]

Third world country,so what''s new ? If the people had guns,they could free themselves ,if they have the vision to do so .

[raulmala]

Mutua: "The government of Kenya will not be blackmailed... We are able to support ourselves."

He is right, the government of Kenya IS able to support ITSELF! Sadly, the regular people now (more than ever) CAN''T because of the instability.

Politics should be abandoned in favour of grassroots reconciliation. Why aren''t peace efforts by civil society being reported?

[allunknowing]

So murder and rape happen ever day there and goes unnoticed by anyone. But once it is actually caught on tape, everyone says "OMG this is happening in my country?"

Get a clue you idiots. The money you siphon into your pockets comes from the blood of your people. Once they are out of blood, you are out of money. And then you will pay with your own blood.

/end

[inventagod]

The whole world is watching...

Including Cheney and Bu$h, but they have score cards...

[antoniof123]

This is great if you don''t like the results just revolt. If the elections are fixed then the revolution will succeed.