Kenyan Police Open Fire, Kill Protesters
Shots were fired today by police at people attempting to rally in protest of last month’s disputed election results. Around Kenya thousands of people are attempting to stage rallies as the outcry of the election outcome refuses to die down.
According to CNN: “The tense day follows the election Tuesday of an opposition candidate as house speaker in a contentious session of parliament full of angry accusations and heckling. Opposition party candidate Kenneth Marende was elected speaker in the third round of voting, winning 105-101 over the government’s candidate, Francis Ole Kaparo, who had been speaker since 1993. Another opposition lawmaker, Farah Maalim, was later elected deputy speaker.”
Opposition leader Raila Odinga was in parliament for the vote but he refused to look at the President, his rival in the election.
A report just issued on ushahidi.com states that “police in Mombasa have used tear gas to disperse a group of youths that had started gathering along MOI Avenue for a potential demonstration. There is heavy presence of security personnel deployed along all streets on the Island.” There are also reports of gunshots being fire in Bungoma Town.
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11 Responses to “Kenyan Police Open Fire, Kill Protesters”
I believe that both the president and the odm leader are both guilty. the president for not allowing the election results to be well checked before he appointed his cabinet. the odm leader for being so greedy for power that he will not even give peace a chance. sending people out in the street knowing that there will be in danger means he is ready to destroy his counttry for the sake of power.
it appears to me that in africa an election is true and fair only if the opposition party wins. if they do not win, then the elction is not fair and then they promise mayhem. in my country ghana, the opposition is already promising us mayhem if in their opinion, they see the election as not being fair. what most of african opposition leaders tend to forget is that, violence is not the perogative of one party and that it takes two. the sad thihg about this is that when they start the fire they run out of the country with their families.
the world is not helping matters when it encourages such people who want power by force, to be invited to share in the power. this action by the world body makes some people think that they can get what they cannot have legitimaly by taking up arms. it is this situation that has embolded the odm leader not to even talk to the presdent. what he is forgeting is that the president also has supporters who can equally make it difficult for him to govern should he get power and he will also have to send armed police on to the street of niarobi to stop what he will be calling nation breakers forgetting that he started it. his police will be doing exactly what he is complaining about. for when one of his spokemen was asked ifby sending people onto the streets of kenya while kofi annan’s group was coming to town, his response was that they want they him to comeandsee how bad the situation is in kenaya. how sad. he realy does not care how many people die just to prove a point to au group. so if 1000 have to die for odm leadership to prove a point so be it.
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 6:45 amMr. Joe,
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 8:26 amI take offence at the level of your language.If you are not a Kenyan, you should leave Kenyans to comment on their problems.First of all, Kenyans problem started not with this election but in 1963 when the British left.The first president was a Kikuyu Kenyatta,followed by a Kalenjine Moi and another Kikuyu Kibaki.All these people destroyed Kenya with unwarranted corruption,big man prophesy and raising tribal tensions to the highest level unseen.Kenyans have fought hard to create democratic space and that is why they are fighting back.It doesn`t matter whether you say they are greedy.There need to be peace and that peace comes with justice.Raila Odinga won a popular vote and majority in parliament.Kibaki robbed Kenyans of their victory.What we need now is that President Bush tells Kibaki to vacate the office without much ado.Secretary Rice should be sent to make known the gravity of the matter or Dick Cheney be sent instead.If America doesn`t want to solve this problem,Chinese,alqaeda and other people with vested interest may step in.It is simple,one tribe,Kikuyu has dominated economy in Kenya for too long and it is time to step aside for others to taste the cake.If Kibaki hangs on power for the next three months, I bet Nairobi will be in ruins, economy devastated and many killed.This is war to correct the ills of Kenya for the last 45 years.Believe me, this will be worse than Rwanda.
I urge you to diologue with Dr. Onyango Oloo from Canada to propagate and instill in you,the grannery of knowledge and wisdom,punctuated mind with proper education, so that you may qualify to reason in an international website.As of today, you lack the melorama of arguing with battle harden soldiers of fortune,who are fighting to keep democracy alive in Kenya makes you a pariah in the eyes of those who seek justice.
Leonard is one of those people who think in tribal lines and these are the type of people that politicians use to make a point.He seems to believe in what others say and do by the fact that he brings the name Dr Onyango Oloo in the picture as if this gentleman from Ghana does not know what he is talking about.
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 11:01 amTalk about Rwanda but it will never happen in Kenya, it will only happen in your dreams.That statement just shows how ignorant and stupid the writter is.
Think before you write!
Tim - why not? This is how genocide begins. Don’t you agree that the situation in Kenya is very dire? If not, how do you see it?
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 12:23 pmMR. Munuve,
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pmThank you.From your name I can now know which tribe you come from?Why were you hiding trying to sound like a whiteman.Believe me white people are not stupid and they do not make vocabulary errors that I saw you make in the name of Joe.I cannot run from the truth that enough of your Kikuyu jokes have been accepted by Kenyans for too long.Beware it is GEMA against all the rest of 40 tribes of Kenya.This is a war that you cannot win.You better eat “waru”(irish potatoes) and drink “muratina”(illicit brew) while meeting with “njuri cheke” (council of elders) since your days of controlling Kenya`s wealth are numbered.We will make sure that we are all poor under the new political dispensation.Either you give us power or no Kikuyu business will take off.We will call this “sadaka takatifu”*(holy tithe).Whatever you get in bad faith God has cursed!This thing is more than Raila Odinga.It is Kenyans for Kenya and “vita vya enyewe for enyewe (tribal war)is not that bad”.America had theirs and we need to have ours.That is the only way we can live in peace thereafter.Infact Kenyans are overpopulated,Nairobi congested.We need atleast to release 1m people to go and rest in peace knowing that only God alone knows their faith.Remember those who have gone to their rest in the hope or rising again.I believe in the Holy Catholic church and their creed and all I can offer is a holy mass to our departed faithful invoking the tridium rites and Vatican II document on ecumenism and evangelization.
Leonard - you seem to think it is ok for kenya to erupt into a civil war. Don’t you think that would set the country back, not forward? Despite your passion for the truth to come out in the election, what good will come out of tribal war?
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 3:11 pmLeonard,
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 3:33 pmi’m not a white man and will never be.The fact that i don’t talk ill of any tribe does not mean i’m a mzungu.I have friends who are from all the tribes and its too disgusting when you talk like a fool.
The best thing for you to do is to go there and be on the frontline and will see where your evil mind will take you
Behave like an intelligent person not like someone who was born prematurely and misses major faculties of the brain.Also do not talk like someone in the rural pit latrine ready to escape the filth.You are too tribal to be a white person and by your english,I would characterize you with “chokora”(street children) before I even think of you as a caucasian lite.Meanwhile find something you can do rather than trying to argue with someone who is more sophiscated in knowledge than you.Did you ever take simple english writing;ENG 101 OR 102(Expository Writing).You need that.Also stop starting a sentence with small letters.Iam in Kenya.Where do you think I`m writing from?.Incase you want us to solve our problem physically, let me know where we can meet.I promise you, you will never be dissapointed.I will work some sense into your little brains.
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 7:41 pmWhy do i have to blog with an inferior human-being;get your ego together and look for someone else to read your vulgar.
Comment made on January 16th, 2008 at 11:55 pmDear Mr. Leonard Akajo,
Why this hatred and bitterness? What have I done to you to deserve the insults that you rained on me? Well, there some few things that I will like to say to you.
1. I am not a Kenyan. You were wrong to assume that Mr. Tim Munuve and I are one and the same person. I am not Tim. Therefore I am not in the position to react to the things you said to me by way of Tim since I do not understand any. Thanks for your education on the history of Kenyan elections.
2. I am not a whiteman neither am I an English man. The fact that I am called Joe does not make me a white man. I presume ‘Leonard’ is not a Kenyan name or is it? So please forgive my ‘poor’ english. By the way; not all white people are english. Some are Russians, Germans, Italians, French etc. And they do not speak english. And who said white people are not tribalistic? Have you already forgotten what happend at the Balkans?
3. So non Kenyans should not talk about Kenyan issues. Kenyans should be left alone to deal with their problems. The people of Rwanda were left alone with their problem. The cost was 800,000 dead. Is that what you want? Should the people in the countries around you leave you alone while their goods wait at your ports? Your country is not an island.
4. “I urge you to dialogue with Dr. Onyango Oloo from Canada to propagate and instill in you, the grannery of knowledge and wisdom, punctuated mind with proper education, so that you may qualify to reason in an international website. As of today, you lack the melodrama of arguing with battle harden soldiers of fortune, who are fighting to keep democracy alive in Kenya makes you a pariah in the eyes of those who seek justice.†Emmm! Strong language I should say. I do not know who this Dr Oloo is and I have not had the opportunity to read any of his works. I did not know that “battle harden soldiers of fortune” fight to keep democracy in any country. I do however know that, “battle harden soldiers of fortune” fight for money. They change sides if the opposition in the battle will pay more than they are getting. As to my qualification “to reason in an international website” you are the best judge.
5. We do get electoral problems in my country Ghana. But we do not fight each other over them. What we do is to use the due process to address the issues and put in place measures to ensure that, they are not repeated in future elections for we have seen what dispute over an election could bring about in the country if not properly addressed. West Africa has too many examples.
Once again, thank you for the educating me in both Kenayn electoral history and the english language.
Comment made on January 17th, 2008 at 6:08 amJoe - i agree with you. I am not a kenyan. But I have been following the situation. The hostility on some of these comments makes me wonder why there wasn’t violence in kenya before the end of december. If you live in Ghana or Kenya, it seems to me we should be working together to solve problems and not spitting out negative remarks against each other.
Comment made on January 17th, 2008 at 11:09 amLeave a Comment