Kenyan unrest: 'We'll go ahead'

2008-01-03 07:44

Nairobi - Kenya's opposition leader vowed to go ahead with a "million man" protest rally on Thursday that many feared could worsen a wave of political and ethnic violence, which humanitarian groups said had already killed 300 people and displaced 100 000.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called the march to protest President Mwai Kibaki's re-election in the December 27 vote, insisting the disputed poll was a sham.

On Wednesday, he said the rally was meant to be peaceful. But the government had banned it, though, and with security forces deployed in force, violence was likely to erupt if protesters followed the call.

In Nairobi early on Thursday, truckloads of riot police in red berets armed with rifles and batons patrolled the streets.

'Kibaki's victory legitimate?'

Dozens of security forces ringed the empty Uhuru Park in the city centre, where protesters were expected to converge. Overall though, the city was quiet and there were no signs of huge crowds assembling.

Odinga said the rally aimed "to communicate to our people, to inform them where we are coming from, where we are and where we want to go".

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Odinga and had a call scheduled with Kibaki to ask the pair to resolve their differences peacefully, the US State Department said.

US state department spokesperson Sean McCormack declined to say whether the US recognised Kibaki's victory as legitimate, but said Washington had "concerns" about accusations of electoral malfeasance that must be addressed within the country's legal system.

Though both sides said they were ready to talk, the Odinga and Kibaki camps had mostly traded accusations that the other was fuelling ethnic violence.

Leaders 'should act like statesmen'

Odinga said he would not meet with Kibaki unless he conceded he lost the presidency, something Kibaki was unlikely to do.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission urged Kibaki to agree to an independent review of the disputed ballot count, saying in a statement: "Kenya will not survive this moment unless our leaders act like statesmen."

Confusion had surrounded the disputed vote count. The head of the country's electoral commission, Samuel Kivuitu, said he was pressured by both sides to announce the results quickly.

The Nairobi newspaper, The Standard, quoted Kivuitu on Wednesday as saying: "I do not know whether Kibaki won the election."

Government spokesperson Alfred Mutua said clashes had only affected about 3% of the country's 34 million people.

He said: "Kenya is not burning and not in the throes of any division", adding that security forces had arrested 500 people since skirmishes began.

Vice-president Moody Awori said over a local television station that the unrest was costing the country $31m daily.

- AP