Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Attackers set upon victims hours after Kibaki was declared winner

Kenya's former President Mwai Kibaki carries out his final guard of honour inspection as Head of State on April 9, 2013 before the swearing in and power handover ceremony for Kenya's fourth President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy President William Ruto in Nairobi. Photo/TONY KARUMBA AFP

In Summary

• In Uasin Gishu District, Turbo, Soy, Moiben, Ainabkoi, Kesses and Kapsaret were the worst affected and people from the targeted ethnic communities were evicted, killed or maimed.
• Deaths and massive destruction of property were also reported in parts of the South Rift including Kericho, Narok, Bureti, Bomet and Kipkelion.
• Though Central Province was not largely affected, there were sporadic cases of violence in Limuru, Kikuyu and parts of Kiambu, resulting in some deaths.
• In Western, property was destroyed in Busia, Vihiga, Kakamega, Lugari, Mumias, Butere and Mt Elgon districts.

By ISAAC ONGIRIMore by this Author

Hours after the Electoral Commission of Kenya declared Mwai Kibaki winner of the 2007 elections, violence erupted and spread in five of the country’s then administrative regions.

The Rift Valley, Coast, Western, Nyanza and Nairobi were the most affected by the violence that lasted for about a month and resulted in the deaths of 1,300 people and displacement of 600,000. It later spread to Central Province.

In the North Rift region, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia districts were the epicentre of the violence in which property worth millions of shillings was destroyed.

In Uasin Gishu District, Turbo, Soy, Moiben, Ainabkoi, Kesses and Kapsaret were the worst affected and people from the targeted ethnic communities were evicted, killed or maimed.

EVICT THE KIKUYU

Though the violence mainly erupted after the presidential results were announced, witnesses who testified at the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence said incidences of violence in the area had started much earlier.

Stated the report: “Another witness, a Kalenjin resident of Soy Division in Eldoret North Division in Uasin Gishu told the Commission that even prior to the election, there was a concerted campaign to evict the Kikuyu from the Rift Valley, starting as early as December 1, 2007.”

Quoting a presentation by an official from the then National Security Intelligence Service, the Waki Commission reported: “As early as 30 October 2007, there was a brief to the effect that a week earlier, a former Member for Parliament for Eldoret South, whose constituents were threatening to unseat him, toured the Kesses area and told them they should get rid of madoadoa.”

Overall, in the region, several areas including Tinderet, Burnt Forest, Kiambaa, Rurigi, Rukuini, Kiamumbi, Soi Matunda,Wareng, Keyio, Koibatek and Baringo, among others, are listed as having experienced massive violence during the period.

At the end of the crisis, which only subsided after a truce brokered by former UN secretary-general Kofi Anan, 744 people had been killed in the Rift Valley region alone, with Uasin Gishu contributing the highest number after 230 people were reportedly killed there.

Deaths and massive destruction of property were also reported in parts of the South Rift including Kericho, Narok, Bureti, Bomet and Kipkelion.

In Western, affected areas included Busia, Kakamega, Bungona, Mumias, Webuye and Vihiga, while in neighbouring Nyanza, Kisumu, Suba, Kisii, Rongo and Homa Bay bore the brunt of the violence.

In Nairobi violence mostly affected the slums with Kibera, Mathare and Huruma at the heart of the storm.

Later, the violence spread to Naivasha and Nakuru as Kikuyus regrouped to retaliate following the reported killings and destruction of property in other parts of the country.

Though Central Province was not largely affected, there were sporadic cases of violence in Limuru, Kikuyu and parts of Kiambu, resulting in some deaths.

In Nyanza, 134 people were killed during the violence, 125 in Nairobi, 98 in Western, 27 at the Coast and five in Central Province.

Said the report: “Of the total deaths, there were 11 children, 74 females and 1,048 males.

The distribution of documented females and children who died as a result of PEV is indicated (see table above).”

The report stated that the deaths documented were caused by burns, arrow shots, mob justice, blunt objects, severe wounds, sharp pointed objects assault, drowning, hypothermia, severe wounds, suffocation, stoning, shock, hanging, gunshots and unknown cases.

Of all the deaths reported, 405 were shot dead. Rift Valley recorded the highest number of casualties in this category at 194.

Those shot in Nyanza were 107, Nairobi 23, Western 74, three in Central and four at the Coast.

INJURED IN NYANZA

Some 3,561 people were reportedly injured, with Rift Valley accounting for the bulk of the reported injuries at 2,193 people.

Those injured in Nyanza were 747, Nairobi 342, Mombasa 133 and Western 146.

“Gunshots accounted for 962 casualties out of whom 405 died. This represented 35.7 per cent of the total deaths, making gunshots the single most frequent cause of deaths during post-election violence,” the report states.

The level of destruction of property during the violence was also high in Nyandarua, Homa Bay, Kipkelion, Uasin Gishu, Nandi North, Trans Nzoia West, Trans Nzoia East and Kericho districts.

Said the report: “A total of 160 vehicles were reported destroyed as follows: 128 saloon cars, 8 buses, 6 tractors, 15 trucks and 3 matatus. Kipkelion district recorded the highest number of destroyed motor vehicles at 44 followed by Kericho with 39 vehicles destroyed.”

In Western, property was destroyed in Busia, Vihiga, Kakamega, Lugari, Mumias, Butere and Mt Elgon districts.

In most of these districts, both residential and commercial buildings were destroyed. A total of 1,060 such properties were destroyed.

Kakamega recorded the highest in Western Province with 444 destroyed property, Lugari 431, Busia 66, Mumias 41, Butere 38, and Mount Elgon 35 while Vihiga documented 5.