Mob Violence Wreaks Havoc and Death in Kenya

No the violence has not ended in Kenya. If anything, over the past 48 hours it has spiraled out of control in the rural areas of the country.

Jeffery Gettleman, the New York Times reporter covering the crisis in Kenya has been doing a terrific job of providing some of the most vivid details from the conflict. Although much of the reporting from the international media this week was on signs that the bloodshed was coming to an end, this story reminds us that the conflict is very much alive:

“Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, may seem calm, but anarchy reigns just two hours away. In Nakuru, furious mobs rule the streets, burning homes, brutalizing people and expelling anyone not in their ethnic group, all with complete impunity.

On Saturday, hundreds of men prowled a section of the city with six-foot iron bars, poisoned swords, clubs, knives and crude circumcision tools. Boys carried gladiator-style shields and women strutted around with sharpened sticks.

The police were nowhere to be found. Even the locals were shocked.”

A post today on Ushaihidi.com claims that, “violence outbreak occurs in Nakuru Town in the areas, The violence is tribal linked. Reports of People being burnt in there homesteads, and Bows and Arrows being shipped into the areas to fuel the violence.”