Kenyan cauldron

• What has led to Kenya’s current problems?

The immediate cause of the unrest in Kenya — an East African country with the highest growth rate in Africa — has been the victory of Mwai Kibaki in the controversial presidential elections held on December 27. Kibaki, who leads the Democratic party, was sworn in for a second term as president on December 30 an hour after the controversial results were declared. An economist by training, he belongs to Kenya’s largest tribe, the Kikuyu (there are approximately forty tribes in all) and was first elected in December 2002 — when the Kenya African National Union, Kanu, lost power after four decades.

• What was so controversial about the presidential election?

The main opposition to Kibaki’s election has come from Raila Odinga who belongs to the Luo tribe. He has alleged large-scale electoral fraud and rigging. Odinga led in the electoral count for three consecutive days until the result was announced. According to the Kenyan papers, the Election Commission was forced to declare the results of the election under duress from Kibaki’s party of national unity. While hundreds of people have died in the violence, approximately 100,000 people have been rendered homeless or displaced.

• What is the scale of the violence?

Hundreds of people have died in the clashes so far. In a violent episode at Eldoret nearly 50 people died when a mob torched a church — less than 200 miles from the capital Nairobi. The majority of victims belonged to Kibaki’s tribe, the Kikuyus. In the past there have been no major clashes between different tribes.

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