Word: odinga
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Tribal violence erupted across Kenya Monday, claiming the lives of at least 124 people, after widespread accusations that President Mwai Kibaki rigged an election to defeat opposition candidate Raili Odinga...
...Odinga supporters in his western stronghold, Kisumu, torched gas stations and more violence erupted in towns across the country. In Nairobi, walls of flame 20 feet high consumed homes in the slums. Crowds chanted "No Raila, no peace!" - a slogan that has become their rallying cry in the days since the vote. Many stores closed and there was panic buying at those that stayed open. Damage was extensive. Ann Wanjiru, a woman's activist in a massive slum called Mathare, in eastern Nairobi, said: "Everything is just gone. Where most of the people live, the poorest people...
While both sides pleaded for calm, there were fears the violence could aggravate an enduring national tribal split between Luos, who support Odinga, and Kikuyus, who back Kibaki. The two groups co-exist in an uneasy rivalry in Kenya. On Monday, crowds of Kikuyus in the west of the country were reported to be fleeing across the border to Uganda, while six Kikuyus were hacked to death in the popular tourist port city of Mombasa. Police, given orders to shoot rioters on sight, imposed a curfew at locations across the country and barred people from leaving the slums, a tactic...
...image has slipped from that of a capable reformer to an aging and fragile stereotypical African "big man." The 76-year-old was sworn in Sunday in a hasty ceremony attended by party loyalists, less than an hour after the Electoral Commission of Kenya pronounced he had beaten Odinga, 62, by just 230,000 votes. (Odinga had led most pre-election polls in the weeks leading up to the election...
...vote last Thursday was initially portrayed as a success. Turnout was 70%. Nairobi's Daily Nation newspaper boasted such a peaceful and energetic political process would be the "envy of Africa." But the mood soured as the counting went on. And when Odinga jumped to a lead of nearly 1 million votes, results were delayed from several of Kibaki's strongholds. Election officials either disappeared with ballot boxes or refused to answer their phones. When the final result was announced, Kibaki had squeaked through with a victory over Odinga...