Kenya’s Odinga urges supporters not to go to work today
CHURCHES preached peace yesterday in Mathare, a Nairobi slum that has been hit by days of violent demonstrations since last week’s disputed presidential vote, but it was opposition leader Raila Odinga the people were desperate to hear from.
Odinga had been silent since the Friday night declaration that his opponent, incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, had won the election, but he re-emerged yesterday afternoon to reiterate his claims of vote fraud and to announce that his next moves would be unveiled tomorrow.
“I want to tell you not to go to work tomorrow [on Monday]. We are not done yet. We will not give up,” Odinga told thousands of fist-pumping supporters in a dirt clearing in the Kibera slum. The speech was exactly what his supporters wanted to hear as they waited for a sign from their flagbearer after scenes of looting and clashes in opposition strongholds like Kibera and Mathare and parts of western Kenya.
“It was quiet and we were worried, because we did not know the plan.
“Now, we’re very ready for whatever will come,” Odinga supporter Duncan Nyamo said. “We are ready to die.”
In both Kibera and Mathare, roads still displayed burn marks from tyres set ablaze by protesters over previous days, but yesterday many people were going about their business and some shopkeepers were timidly reopening.
“It has been very violent over the past few days, but it’s a lot calmer today,” Susan Atieno, 19, said as she sold doughnuts on a garbage-strewn roadside in Mathare.
AFP’s tally of deaths between Friday evening and Saturday night stands at 16, including nine killed in Nairobi’s slums.
Slum residents flocked to church yesterday where pastors urged peace, while understanding the concerns of their congregation.
“What you have to understand is the amount of frustration here,” the Rev Julius Tai said outside his tiny corrugated iron church.
Kenyatta, a wealthy member of the Kikuyu elite, was elected on Friday with more than 54% of the vote, beating Odinga, a Luo.
It is the fourth time Odinga has lost a presidential election. –