KENYA:At least eight people were killed by Kenyan police yesterday, marking a bloody end to the opposition's street protests against the disputed re-election of president Mwai Kibaki.
In Nairobi's Kibera slum, the home constituency of opposition leader Raila Odinga, at least seven people were reported to have been shot dead by police ordered to prevent protesters from reaching the city centre. A man was also killed in Mombasa when Muslims demonstrated against Mr Kibaki after Friday prayers, bringing the death toll at the hands of police since the start of mass action on Wednesday to more than 20. Four more people were killed in ethnically based clashes between supporters of Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki near the southern town of Narok.
Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement said there would be no more demonstrations, as too many innocent people were being killed by the police. The government itself has banned all rallies.
A statement signed by nine western countries, including Britain, yesterday expressed concern at Kenya's "deteriorating human rights situation", and urged the security forces to "desist from any extraordinary or disproportionate use of force".
But in a series of full-page advertisements this week, paid for by taxpayers, the Kenyan government has accused diplomats, civil society organisations, the UN and the media of waging a "partisan, emotional and personalised campaign against President Kibaki".
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice, an umbrella organisation of leading local civil society groups, issued a lengthy report yesterday detailing the election's irregularities. It focused on the day leading up to the announcement of the result, looking at the chaotic tallying process at election headquarters, where many people believe rigging took place, and noting that in about two-thirds of constituencies the presidential votes cast exceeded the parallel parliamentary count by 325,000 ballots. This unexplained variance exceeded Mr Kibaki's winning margin of 238,000.
With protests over, the focus has shifted to the arrival of Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, who will head an African Union panel that will try to bring Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki together. Mr Annan postponed his trip earlier this week due to ill health, and is now due to fly in on Tuesday.