Clashes after bodies found in Kenya slum
Tensions rise ahead of court ruling on poll
CLASHES erupted in a Nairobi slum yesterday after four bodies were found in the streets, hiking tensions on the eve of a Supreme Court ruling on the validity of last month’s divisive election rerun.
The bodies of three men and a woman were found in the city’s Mathare slum, one of several flashpoint areas where violence erupted during the disputed October 26 vote that was largely boycotted by the opposition.
The discovery came just two days after three people were shot dead in a nearby suburb during clashes with police which erupted as thousands of opposition supporters turned out for their leader, Raila Odinga.
Nairobi police chief Japheth Koome said the cause of death was not immediately clear.
“Investigations are going on into the killings of the four people in Mathare Area 1,” he said.
“The people were found dead and we want to establish how they were killed.
“We could see they have been hit with a blunt object, and one is cut.”
When the bodies were found, angry residents clashed with police, setting fire to two buses and another vehicle.
In a bid to head off any further unrest, police immediately brought in reinforcements and several water cannon.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police official said that angry residents believed the murders were ethnically motivated, blaming the violence on the Mungiki, a feared criminal gang known for running protection rackets and violently defending tribal business interests.
Drawing its members from Kenya’s largest tribe -- the Kikuyu, to which President Uhuru Kenyatta belongs -- the Mungiki were responsible for much of the deadly ethnic violence which swept the country in the months after the 2007 election.
Today, the term is widely used in reference to groups of armed Kikuyu men.
But the police chief was quick to rule out any ethnic factors in Mathare, where many Kikuyu live alongside ethnic Luo or Luhya, who largely back Odinga.
“It is not about ethnic clashes,” Koome said, insisting that it was a criminal matter, but without giving details.
Since Friday, Kenya has been on edge after a mass opposition demonstration to welcome Odinga back from a trip overseas turned violent, with three demonstrators shot dead in Muthurwa, not far from Mathare.
Angry protesters hurled stones at police, who hit back with teargas and water cannon in running street battles.
The violence soured a gathering which had sought to welcome Odinga back from a 10-day trip to the United States where he was trying to rally support for the holding of new elections.
Tensions are also high ahead of a key Supreme Court ruling today on whether Kenyatta can be sworn in for a second term or if there must be another rerun.
Although Kenyatta won the October 26 vote, the ballot was boycotted by Odinga and his supporters, who clashed with police in his strongholds in the west and in several Nairobi slums. – AFP