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Many traumatized in the wake of Kenyan election violence

More than a month after a disputed election in Kenya there is still violence between competing tribes and many people are traumatized, reports Michael Ireland, chief correspondent, ASSIST News Service.

"It's been over a month since the presidential elections took place in Kenya. But all of Kenya is still suffering from the trauma of the elections. In the past couple of weeks we have seen horrific violence in many parts of Kenya," writes a missionary in Kenya working with Saving Grace World Missions

The missionary says that ethnic cleansing is going on, as other tribes of Kenya are trying to get rid of the Kikuyu tribe (who are the largest tribe in Kenya) especially as the president Mwai Kibaki belongs to this tribe.

He writes: "The Kenyan police now have shoot to-kill orders to control the violence but this has been condemned by many human rights organizations as a human rights violation, as the police seem to be ruthlessly killing people here. The death toll has risen to over 1000 people and many thousands remain homeless and displaced.

"However, there seems to be a ray of hope for all these problems in Kenya, as last week both feuding political parties agreed to officially (and finally) have peace talks mediated by retired UN secretary general Koffi Annan and a panel of other African leaders. But also last week two members of Parliament who belonged to the opposition party were murdered and this caused some unrest in Nairobi. The police are still investigating the murders."

The missionary says that in the past month they have had six food distribution days at his church, some on a smaller scale and some on a larger scale.

"We have been able to help those in our church body who have become homeless, displaced and others in desperate need. We have also been able to reach the slum community in the area surrounding the church.

"We plan to continue with the relief as there is unrest in the country still. There are still transportation problems within Kenya as the violence made it difficult for trucks and containers carrying food, fuel and other supplies traveling to various parts of Kenya."

He said they were praying about doing a food distribution last week on Tuesday, (as they have been doing for the past few weeks) but that was the day that one of the Opposition Members of Parliament was killed and the whole of Ngong road (where the church is located) was closed down because of riots and unrest, so we were not able to distribute food that day or go to the church.

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[02/05/2008]

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