Word: luo
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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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...
With their candidate leading in early polls, the Luo were poised to celebrate a historic victory. Instead, Odinga's nearly 1 million-vote lead vanished amid reports of improbably high voter turnout in 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...
Clashes between the police and the Orange Democratic Movement (O.D.M.) were largely confined to scuffles and tear gas. But on the outskirts, the tribal violence that has raged in Kenya for five days claimed scores more victims. A mob from the Luo tribe rampaging through the township of Mathare stoned one unidentified man to death before stealing his shoes, hacked another man from the Kikuyu tribe about the head with a machete and set a gas station on fire, gutting the buildings, pumps and five vehicles. By the end of the day, the toll had risen from just more than...
...Kenya's political divisions overlie its tribal ones. Kibaki is a member of the Kikuyu tribe, Kenya's largest with 20% of the 37 million population, which has dominated the political scene since Kenya's independence from Britain in 1963. Odinga is a Luo - they make up 10% of the population. The two tribes have shared a tense coexistence, segregating themselves and rarely intermarrying. Luo have long complained that Kikuyu hoard political and economic power for themselves. And Kibaki never made good on his promises to stamp out corruption - a failing that has turned several other tribes in Kenya against...
...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...