Word: kikuyu
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What started as political protest quickly turned into something much more dangerous: ethnic conflict. That's because the election was also a competition between the country's two largest ethnic groups--the Luo, who support Odinga, and the Kikuyu, who back Kibaki. The two groups have been wary of each other since Kenya achieved independence from Britain in 1963, and the Luo have never held the presidency...
...Kibaki strongholds. Kibaki was hastily sworn in and promptly banned live TV as the violence surged in the streets. (At the height of the crisis, a broadcaster aired children's shows in which smiling kids sang, "Patty-cake, patty-cake.") On Jan. 1, a church in Kiambaa where Kikuyu had sought refuge was burned by an angry mob. At least 50 people, many of them women and children, died in the attack. In the midst of the violence, analysts say, it will be difficult to get the results nullified, but Odinga remains defiant. "If you want to do any kind...
...edge of the capital, Nairobi. On the ground, the city is gripped by fear. Police officers man roadblocks across its main arteries and sirens wail on its outer edges. Violence is sporadic, and sudden. In the slum of Karobongi, witnesses said the feared Mungiki sect - a group that weaves Kikuyu tribal mythology with gang rule in the slums - hacked to death several people from rival tribes in reprisal killings, leaving the roads strewn with limbs. Clashes between tribes also erupted in the tin-shack slum of Mathare, preventing aid workers from delivering daily drops of food and medicine...
...killed more than 300 people in four days, according to Kenya Human Rights Commission and the International Federation for Human Rights. Tens of thousands have left their homes, with many others pouring over the border into Uganda. On Tuesday, a mob set fire to a church where hundreds of Kikuyu were sheltering in the town of Eldoret, burning 50 alive. The fear is that the last four days may be a taste of worse to come. Thursday will see an unprecedented showdown between the government and the opposition in Nairobi's city center. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has called...
...streets, the violence is about tribal score-settling. Kibaki is a Kikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe with 22% of the population. Odinga is a Luo, Kenya's third largest at 13%. The Kikuyu have dominated Kenya's politics, business and land ownership since independence in 1963, provoking simmering resentment from the Luo and other smaller tribes. That has only increased in recent years. Kibaki's government was elected on an anti-corruption ticket, and the economy has since grown at a steady 5%, fueled by a thriving tourism sector. But the benefits have not been enjoyed by all. Corruption...