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147 dead in Kenya land clashes
12/04/2007 18:41 - (SA)
Nairobi - Land clashes in western Kenya have killed 147 people in the past six months, uprooted more than 60 000 and left already basic health services in disarray, said aid workers on Thursday.
Violent disputes over land are common in the east African country, but these are the worst for a decade and residents fear they could escalate ahead of elections expected in December.
"Six months of this has left local health services in disarray, or in many cases, entirely absent," said Kenya Red Cross spokesperson Anthony Mwangi.
At least 10 000 children had been affected by schools closing due to the bloodshed, he said, and hundreds had been separated from their parents as families fled for their lives.
The clashes first flared when people displaced from their ancestral land under a controversial government settlement scheme attacked members of a rival clan awarded plots there.
The government says police have killed 13 members of a local militia - the Sabaot Land Defence Force - in separate battles.
Land is an explosive issue in Kenya. For decades, top politicians grabbed public land for patronage, dividing it among their tribe or handing it over to others to buy loyalty.
Regional conflicts have made guns easy to acquire and they are a common household item in some of Kenya's most remote areas where there is little police presence.
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