KENYA:Children returned to school and the streets of Nairobi were gridlocked yesterday as an air of normality returned to a country still reeling from the fallout of disputed elections.
However, with opposition leaders insisting there can be no business as usual, much of Kenya remains braced for violence.
Kepha Ngito, who runs a community group in Kibera, Africa's biggest slum, said many children there had opted to stay at home despite the first day of school after extended Christmas holidays. "The situation has been calm.," he said. "At least there has been no violence for a few days, but there's still a lot of tension and we are particularly worried about Tuesday and Wednesday."
MPs will take up their new seats today and opposition politicians are planning a series of protests for the rest of the week.
Meanwhile, Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general, is due to arrive today in the latest attempt to find common ground between the two sides.
More than 600 people have died in clashes between rival political supporters, ethnic groups and the police. Some 250,000 people have also fled their homes since President Mwai Kibaki was sworn in for a second term on December 30th.
Opposition officials insist his supporters rigged the election after early results showed the main challenger, Raila Odinga, with a narrow lead.
Now opposition leaders are planning three days of street protests starting tomorrow, raising the spectre of fresh violence.
Salim Lone, a spokesman for Mr Odinga, said traffic jams and children returning to school should not be seen as a sign that Mr Kibaki had weathered the political storm. "There will be no business as usual as long as this crisis is not resolved," he said.
Statements issued by American and European officials at the weekend called for compromise.
Jendayi Frazer, US assistant secretary of state, said the government must lift restrictions on the media and called on the two sides to work together on electoral and constitutional reform.
"In the meantime, the United States cannot conduct business as usual in Kenya," she said.
President Kibaki has tried to maintain the illusion of stability despite a crisis that is being felt all around east Africa. Fuel shortages have been reported in Uganda and Burundi, while the UN is concerned that aid operations from the Congo to Somalia are being disrupted by a bottleneck at the port of Mombasa.