Kenyan polls: 'No to violence'
2007-10-01 15:35
Nairobi - Two dozen foreign embassies in Kenya called on Monday for "zero tolerance" on campaign violence as elections loom in the east African nation, where national votes seldom pass without bloodshed.
With campaigns just beginning to roll ahead of an expected December presidential poll, one rally had already been ambushed by men armed with bows-and-arrows.
In a joint statement at a Nairobi news conference, the 25 nations - including most of Kenya's major aid donors - urged authorities to ensure a clean, fair and peaceful vote.
The statement said: "We encourage political players to refrain from any action involving bribery, corruption, violence, intimidation and coercion of voters", adding that all signatories would stay neutral on the election's outcome.
Kenya's most recent presidential elections, and a 2005 referendum, all saw riots and fighting during the campaigns.
'There is more at stake'
And in what many saw as an ominous sign for this year's poll, 10 days ago three opposition politicians were injured by men hurling rocks and firing arrows after they showed up uninvited at a fundraiser for President Mwai Kibaki.
Anna Brandt, the Swedish ambassador to Kenya and Rwanda, said: "We want zero tolerance on political violence.
"There is more at stake this time than in 2002 or during the referendum, because opinion polls keep changing. It's going to be very close this time."
Opinion polls in recent days had shown main opposition candidate Raila Odinga - a firebrand former political prisoner - overtaking Kibaki in voter preferences for the first time.
Odinga commanded passionate support from his Luo tribe in west Kenya, while Kibaki had the backing of the nation's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu. Tribal rivalry had traditionally defined Kenyan politics and stirred violence.
Monday's statement was signed by 25 diplomatic missions, including the United States and the European Union.
They singled out the plight of women in Kenyan politics for special mention. Brandt said: "Women candidates are more at risk. Women are so under-represented in Kenyan political life compared to neighbouring countries."
US envoy Michael Ranneberger said he was confident Kenyans would rise above the tribalism that had dogged them in the past.
He said: "I think voters will surprise people by voting on issues, not along tribal lines."
The diplomats' comments came a day after Kibaki, 75, formally launched his re-election in front of 50 000 people at Nyayo Sports Stadium in Nairobi.
Odinga was to hold a similar rally in Nairobi at the weekend, already postponed once due to the threat of violence.
- Reuters