Daily Archives: January 28, 2008

otti confirmed dead, pouring cold water on negotiations

Posted on by
Reply

The former number two of the Lord’s Resistance Army – the rebel movement in Northern Uganda – Mr. Vincent Otti has finally been confirmed dead. The announcement was made by Southern Sudan’s vice president Mr. Riek Machar.

The death of Otti has cast doubts over the progress of the talks between the government of Uganda and the rebels as he was seen as the rational one among Joseph Kony’s top generals. Indeed it might be possible that it is his sobriety that prompted Kony to dispatch him as he was more likely to get a plum job in the Uganda government in case of a deal than the superstitious and somewhat uncultured Kony.

embakasi MP shot dead outside his house

Posted on by
13

Newly elected MP for Embakasi constituency in Nairobi, Kenya – Mr. Melitus Were has been shot dead outside his house. The ODM has issued a statement through its spokesman Tony Gachoka pointing fingers at the government and the Mungiki sect. Suspicion is also being directed at the immediate former member for Embakasi Mr. David Mwenje who has in the past publicly admitted to being in cahoots with the Mungiki terror gang.

The murder of the MP comes at a time when Kenya is faced with its worst crisis since independence. It is unclear how the residents of the populous Eastlands constituency will react to the news of the murder of their representative. Were was just sworn in recently after winning a bruising battle against the long time MP David Mwenje.

Police spokesman, Kiraithe said that they are not sure what the motive of the murder was and are not going to attribute it to the ongoing violence in various parts of the country, saying that it could have been an act of thuggery.

Reports indicate that Mr. Were was coming back home at about 12.30 am when two gun men approached his car outside his Woodley home and shot him, before fleeing without stealing anything.

19 burned to death in kenya

Posted on by
2

Sunday saw the most ghastly violence over the last one week in Kenya’s Rift Valley province. A group of 19, most of them school children were burnt to death in a house in the town of Naivasha as ethnic violence continued in this former oasis of peace and stability. The authorities and politicians seem to be unable to stop or even control the continuing violence. Their calls for calm have been met with deaf ears as more people continue to die in attacks and revenge attacks through most of the central Rift Valley region.

The latest attack brought grim memories of the Eldoret arson attack that left 50 dead, again most of them being children. And as this happened, the politicians – the root causes of the violence – could do nothing but continue to exchange accusations, pointing fingers at each other for being responsible for the killings.

The Rift Valley has seen the worst violence in the last month since the disputed December elections that plunged Kenya into chaos. The military has been deployed in the area, curfews imposed but all this seems to have not changed much. Angry youth, wielding all manner of crude weapons still roam the countryside, burning people’s houses and killing perceived enemies.