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Kenya - Police Link Tribal Violence To Election
http://www.africaeagle.com/2013/01/kenya-police-link-tribal-violence-to.html
Kenya's police chief said Friday that a spate of tribal clashes in the southeast of the country may be linked to politics and be part of a bid to drive out one community ahead of March 4 elections.
This week 19 people were killed in the two separate raids in the volatile Tana River delta region, where scores have died since clashes broke out in August, and police are investigating local politicians for alleged involvement.
Five years ago, Kenyan elections descended into deadly post-poll killings that shattered the country's image as a beacon of regional stability, with at least 1,100 people killed and more than 600,000 displaced.
"There are substantive grounds to believe that the violence in this region is not a result of scramble for land or other resources," police chief David Kimaiyo said in a statement.
"On many occasions, it has been suggested that the motive is a desire to completely displace one of the communities for political reasons," Kimaiyo added.
Clashes broke out six months ago between the Pokomo farming community and their Orma pastoralist neighbours and a series of vicious reprisal killings and attacks have left more than 150 people dead.
The Pokomo and the Orma have fought intermittently for years mainly over access to grazing, farmland and access to water in the coastal region.
But the scale and brutality of recent killings -- with women and children hacked to death or torched in their huts -- have shocked many.
On Thursday, Modibo Toure, the top UN humanitarian official for Kenya, said there was concern over an "increase in violence" in the country, noting that more than 450 people were killed and nearly 112,000 people fled violence last year.
The March elections are for the presidency and parliament, as well as for local office.
Five years ago, Kenyan elections descended into deadly post-poll killings that shattered the country's image as a beacon of regional stability, with at least 1,100 people killed and more than 600,000 displaced.
"There are substantive grounds to believe that the violence in this region is not a result of scramble for land or other resources," police chief David Kimaiyo said in a statement.
"On many occasions, it has been suggested that the motive is a desire to completely displace one of the communities for political reasons," Kimaiyo added.
Clashes broke out six months ago between the Pokomo farming community and their Orma pastoralist neighbours and a series of vicious reprisal killings and attacks have left more than 150 people dead.
The Pokomo and the Orma have fought intermittently for years mainly over access to grazing, farmland and access to water in the coastal region.
But the scale and brutality of recent killings -- with women and children hacked to death or torched in their huts -- have shocked many.
On Thursday, Modibo Toure, the top UN humanitarian official for Kenya, said there was concern over an "increase in violence" in the country, noting that more than 450 people were killed and nearly 112,000 people fled violence last year.
The March elections are for the presidency and parliament, as well as for local office.
