“Conditions that caused 2007/2008 POST ELECTION VIOLENCE still EXIST” – report

The Kenyan DAILY POSTNews23:34

Friday, the 8^th of February 2013 -According to a new report by global human rights NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), Kenya could be headed for a repeat of the 2007/2008 post election violence because the conditions that brought about the chaos are still in place and (in many ways) have become even more pronounced.

The post election violence in 2007 was sparked by a disputed presidential election that resulted in the deaths of up to 1,300 people and the displacement of 650,000 others.

According to the HRW report, the March 4^th elections could see the country again plunge into violence because the powers that be have failed to pass key reforms especially in the ‘ranks of the police, corruption, criminal groups, displaced persons, and (most importantly) hold accountable the many perpetrators of violence.”

HRW says that the failure to effect reforms makes the specter of violence almost inevitable;

“….this report shows, the underlying causes of past election-related violence remain in place, and in some parts of the country the tensions have escalated. A combination of inaction by the authorities in some regions and abusive or discriminatory conduct in others, plus a failure to implement promised reform, has led Kenya into another election where the risk of violence and human rights violations remains perilously high.”

The HRW report is based on research “conducted between August and December 2012 in Kenya’s Central, Coast, Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, and Rift Valley regions” six regions that are considered potential hotspots.

Significantly, the report also notes that the political marriage between Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto that created the Jubilee alliance will not be enough to forestall violence in the Rift Valley region;

Possibilities of violence in 2013 remain high in the Rift Valley and, according to members and elders of both the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities, minor disagreements at either the local or national level could trigger serious violence. Local government officials told Human Rights Watch that the political unity between Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto exists only at the national level because significant mistrust lingers between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin at the local level.”

The Kenyan DAILY POST