[Channel 4 News] Kenyan violence rumbles on 2008.02.02

By Lindsey Hilsum:

"There's no end in sight to the violence in Kenya which has claimed the lives of nearly 900 people since the disputed elections a month ago.

There were 27 people reported killed in clashes in Western Kenya in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday Kofi Annan announced a breakthrough in the peace negotiations with both sides pledging to bring an end to the violence and stop all inflammatory statements but almost immediately their war of words resumed.

Roads are blocked and the worst hit towns are Sotik and Kisii, where peace looks a distant prospect.

The villages are burning, the people have fled and along Kenya's Rift Valley there are signs that this conflict is far from over.

In the last 48 hours it's moved to the Kisii area, about 100 miles west of Nairobi.

We flew over the tea plantations to Sotik, towards a clearing where we saw a police helicopter. We heard there had been fighting around here between the Kisii people and the Kalenjin, especially the sub-tribe the Kipsigis.

We could see hundreds of people and many men were running. They were going up the road; they were hiding in the tea; they were armed men - warriors.

As the helicopter landed, they watched us. As we got out, we couldn't believe what we were seeing and hearing.

Above the rotary blades, there were war cries. Thousands surrounded us, some were only boys, and some were older.

They were Kipsigis warriors with bows and arrows, sticks, machetes, axes, clubs and spears. They weren't threatening us. They were smiling but they wanted to show their strength.

One of the commanders was trying to keep control and to hold the crowd back.

In Nairobi the politicians are talking but here they're clearly ready to fight. Whatever is being said in the capital, the conflict in Kenya is widening.

They say they're fighting because the elections were rigged. They voted for the opposition and over the past two days they've been fighting the Kisii tribe, about half of whom had voted for the ruling party. They blamed the government for the conflict.

At the hospital in Kisii, 30 miles away, we saw the victims of the conflict - 19 people admitted with arrow wounds over the last two days, many others wounded by machetes and sticks.

Philip Nchore Nyangweso is a young man who has just been admitted. He is a Kisii injured by an arrow in the neck, which he had pulled out himself.

The injured people said there weren't enough police on the ground. They feel unprotected and blame the government for doing nothing.

The irony is that many of these people also voted for the opposition but that's being lost as political strife turns into ethnic conflict.

As we lifted off from Sotik, the Kipsigis warriors moved away to avoid the helicopter down draft back to the tea plantations or maybe back to the boundary with the Kisii people, to burn villages and fight, bringing chaos and despair to Kenya."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Channel4
• News
• Anglais
• Kenya
• ethnic
• violence
• tribal
• riot
• murder
• refugees
• Nairobi
• Naivasha
• Kisumu
• Rift
• Odinga
• Kibaki

[lionsome]

lets find it!

[samuelnadaj]

hahah that are kalenijn worries Strong people in kenya just try fuck with them and you wil see

[capitanTyTy]

poor poor africans... they even don't have assault rifles to kill each other effectivly... =(

[planettexaspluto]

opel korikwak ak onage ngwonet...opar aragaik ..ha ha ha.

[egalmannen]

very brave/stupid of the newsteam to land amidst the. I bet she was really scared when they swarmed the crew.

[egalmannen]

hahaha, how anybody can say these people are my equall is beyond me. Acting like poorly organized apes as usaual, cant even stand still for the camera, they looked ready to eat someone really. Monkeys the lot of them.

[lmashua]

any innocent blood shed be it A kale kiuk ,luyhas luo the muderers cannibals will pay one by one even generation to come!

[lmashua]

I believe u r one of the killing tribe!

[lionsome]

in africa

[tomtrigga]

where

[kimluck2]

and  my comment was a reply to (wonderer) who says Africa is a lost continent.