Madam, - As someone who spent a number of years in Rwanda and who has good friends from there and from Kenya, I was appalled to see the word "genocide" so loosely associated with Kenya by John O'Shea of Goal (January 5th). This risks damaging Irish public perception of Kenya in the future.
The recent civic unrest and pockets of tribal violence in Kenya have been far from genocidal in nature. Just last week Maini Kiai of the Kenya Human Rights Commission called on opposition and ruling party leaders in Kenya to "drop the genocide talk" which he called "crazy".
We must all strive to be more sensitive when it comes to understanding and describing crises on the African continent but opinion leaders and public figures carry a particular responsibility in this regard. - Yours, etc,
SIVE BRESNIHAN,
Maputo,
Mozambique.