NAIROBI, Kenya — Tit-for-tat ethnic clashes have killed more than two dozen people during the past two days, and angry youths Saturday continued to terrorize parts of central Kenya, defying calls for peace from political leaders.
The country’s latest post-election trouble spot is Nakuru, about 100 miles northwest of Nairobi, where gangs from rival tribes have burned hundreds of homes, stoned motorists and hacked dozens of people with machetes. The local morgue was overrun with bodies. Local media put the death toll at as many as 41.
“It’s a tribal war,” said David Kuria, 42, a Nakuru soda vendor and father of four. “We’ve had tribal clashes before, but I’ve never seen anything like this. Shops are closed. Children are scared. People won’t go outside.”
The government dispatched army units to quell the violence and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The clashes in Nakuru, which previously had escaped much of the violence, were some of the deadliest in this East African nation since the turmoil that followed a disputed Dec. 27 presidential poll. International election observers said the vote was plagued by irregularities and suspected rigging. Despite the controversy, incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner by the country’s election commission, sparking nationwide riots that have killed more than 600 people and displaced 250,000.
The latest violence started Thursday night, just hours after Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga met for mediation talks for the first time. The rivals shook hands and called on their supporters to maintain peace as negotiations proceeded.
The outbreak raised questions about just how much control each man has over his supporters and offered the latest evidence that Kenya’s crisis might be spinning beyond post-election frustration and reigniting decades-old tribal competition over land, jobs and resources.
“It may have been triggered by the post-election process, but it has evolved into something else,” said former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Saturday, after completing what he described as a “heart-wrenching” tour of violence-affected areas and displacement camps. Annan is in Kenya to lead peace talks.
A Kenyan police spokesman, Eric Kiraithe, tried to assure the public Saturday that security would be restored. He blamed the violence on gangs and “advantage-takers.”
