Anti-riot police forces and opposition supporters clashed on the street of Nairobi - Kenya’s capital - leaving about 300 people dead and many more wounded. The protesters were angry with the result of last week's presidential ballot and decided to express their dissatisfaction on the city streets, but they were brutally countered by hundreds of police agents, a move which determined the rally to be postponed, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed party official.
Raila Odinga, leader of the opposition party, said the Dec. 27 ballot was manipulated and also accused the government of “genocide” for the numerous killings which took place as a result of the above mentioned clash. Odinga called up on the opposition supporters to meet in Nairobi’s main Uhuru Park at 2 p.m. local time today, but the rally was delayed to Jan. 8, Agence-France Presse reported.
Those who tried to gather in the city’s main square were stopped by the police forces which were deployed in large numbers all over Nairobi in order to block the streets and with them the road to the Uhuru Park. Reports show that police forces have cordoned main roads and used water cannons in order to disperse the opposition supporters.
“It's been postponed. It's going to be on the 8th of January,'' said Ahmed Hashi, the Orange Democratic Movement's director of communications.
Since the result of the poll which said President Mwai Kibaki won and since he was sworn in for a second five-year term on Dec. 30, violence swept through Kenya.
Amos Wako, attorney general of the sub-Saharan Africa's fifth-biggest economy and the world's largest black-tea exporter, called for an independent body to verify the results of the elections.
The latest clashes were the bloodiest since an attempted coup in 1982 in which at least 2,000 people died. Approximately 40 ethnic groups which coexist in Kenya were caught up in the fighting and tensions which were more or less latent over the last period were exposed.
President Kibaki belongs to Kikuyu, which makes up about a fifth of Kenya’s population and is the largest group. On the other hand, Odinga is a Luo. Until now, the country has been regarded as politically and economically stable.