AFRICA/KENYA - “ In chaos of political clashes crime thrives”

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides)- “Life in Nairobi has returned to normal although in the slums there are still areas of tension” said a local Church source asking not to be named for security reasons.
Yesterday Sunday 20 January, a National Day of Prayer for Peace called by the Catholic Bishops, saw special prayers in all churches in Kenya. “Participation was good. Cardinal John Njue Archbishop of Nairobi, president of the Bishops' Conference celebrated Mass in the oldest church in Nairobi, St Augustine's, and in his homily he said President Kibaki and Odinga hold the keys to solve the crisis and he appealed to their sense of responsibility to save Kenya from more violence and suffering. The Cardinal urged the people to avoid holding said street protests in which there could be infiltration of provocateurs”. According to the local police 5 people were killed in slums in Nairobi, two of them in Mathare slum. The police say they are doing their best to restore order and security in the slums. In clashes following the elections on 27 December some 700 people were killed and 250,000 forced to leave their homes. “The government said the people could return home, but the humanitarian organisations asked for another two weeks to verify the situation and settle the details for the returnees” the local sources told Fides.
“Religious Sisters working in slums in Nairobi, speak of clashes between armed gangs for control of illegal activity: extortion, collecting rent for the shacks, supplying water and electricity, often illegally attached to regular water and power supplies…” the sources told Fides. “Besides political clashes, criminal gangs fight for control of the slums in a logic of Mafia which follows tribal rules. Criminal gangs have an ethnic character. The famous Mungiki are Kikuyu, and their Taleban enemies are Luo. What we see in these days appears to be a repeat of Mungiki and Taleban clashes in the past. The picture is more complicated because of the political struggle between President Kibaki and rival Odinga. We wonder why the Mungiki, heavily repressed the police in recent months, are back again. Probably someone said the road was clear”.
On the political level, after the suspension of protests called by Odinga who accuses Presidente Kibaki of fraud in the December 27 elections, the opposition leader announced a plan to extend the protest from 24 January boycotting companies connected with the government. Tomorrow 22 January former UN secretary general Kofi Annan should arrive heading a commission of elders to mediate the crisis in Kenya.(L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 21/1/2008 righe 38 parole 550)