Left to beg for her life as mob torched church

Published on Thursday 3 January 2008 22:28

THURSDAY morning usually means choir practice for Jennifer Titus. Yesterday morning, she had to beg for her life on her knees as a violent mob tried to burn the church around her.

"I had to plead with them to let me out," she said, as the roof of Kibera's Africa Inland Church billowed smoke, deep in the heart of Africa's largest slum. "I was praying and tears were coming down my face.

"I had to tell them I wasn't a member of the church and was just hiding from the police, but until then they wanted to kill me."

She and the rest of her choir were caught up in violence that swept through the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, yesterday as opposition supporters took to the streets to protest against what they see as rigged elections.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to keep stone-throwing mobs from assembling in the city centre.

Plans by the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, to hold a "million man" march were eventually postponed until next week as his supporters were pinned back in the city's slums.

President Mwai Kibaki appealed for calm and offered to talk to political rivals. "I am ready to have dialogue with the concerned parties once the nation is calm and the political temperatures are lowered enough for constructive and productive engagement," he said.

Pressure is mounting on Mr Kibaki to seek a compromise with the opposition after he was hurriedly sworn in for a second term last Sunday.

Yesterday, the country's attorney general called for an independent investigation into alleged vote-rigging during elections held last week.

Amos Wako, the country's most senior law officer, said a "proper tally of the valid certificates returned and confirmed should be undertaken immediately".

Until now, the government has refused to accept there was any need to examine the results of last Thursday's poll. The elections were initially praised for their orderly conduct but discrepancies in results and long delays at counts prompted accusations that Kibaki supporters had rigged his narrow victory.

The political dispute has degenerated into ethnic violence, pitting Mr Kibaki's influential Kikuyus against the rival Luo tribe, which backs Mr Odinga. More than 300 people have now been killed and at least 70,000 driven from their homes across Kenya since Mr Kibaki was sworn in.

Yesterday, thousands of young men carrying leaves and branches – a traditional symbol of protest – poured out of Nairobi's slums, chanting "no Raila, no peace", to be met by police armed with tear gas and rifles. The police lines held firm, preventing the protesters reaching the city centre.

Frustrated demonstrators burned barricades of tyres, torched roadside shacks and launched volleys of stones at riot police.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Desmond Tutu arrived from South Africa and held a two-hour meeting with Mr Odinga and other opposition leaders. He said: "This is a country that has been held up as a model of stability. This picture has been shattered."

Yesterday, Nairobi's city centre of skyscrapers was empty. The smart coffee shops and glitzy shopping malls favoured by expat aid workers were deserted. The Nairobi stock exchange was closed after an hour of trading, and the Foreign Office warned Britons to avoid the country altogether.

By late afternoon, the mobs had dispersed from other parts of the capital, leaving the streets eerily silent.

William Ruto, an opposition leader, said the demonstration would resume next week. "We are here as peaceful people who do not want violence," he said. "That is why we are peacefully demonstrating now, but we will be back on Tuesday."

'Things could get very bad - we may leave very quickly'

RACHEL and Farquhar Readman settled in Nairobi eight years ago, confident of Kenya's stability and prosperity.

Now the couple, who have three young children, could flee back to Edinburgh, as Kenya is torn apart by violence. They are among 12,000 British expats in Kenya. Here, Mrs Readman, 32, a primaryschool teacher, and internet firm boss Mr Readman, 39, tell The Scotsman of life on the front line in an imploding state.

THE main thing is that you just feel wary about everything. When the election came, we didn't know what was going to happen and which way it was going to go. We didn't expect this.

No-one is going out much. We have really only been out for essentials, and even then it's not easy. On New Year's Eve, we went out to get fruit and veg; there was no cabbage or anything like that. We were not able to get any of the things we normally get, and the queue was half an hour to 40 minutes long.

We went to the supermarket and the queue was an hour and a half. There was no flour or sugar. Bread, milk, flour and sugar were the first things to go.

There are a lot of armed troops on the streets, a lot of trucks and vans with armed troops.

Today was one of those days we thought would be decisive if the rally was allowed to go ahead, but it is not being allowed to happen.

We just don't know what the repercussions are going to be; it looks like (President Mwai] Kibaki is going to try to hold on. Kenyans on the whole want peace, they don't want the hassle of this.

I think a lot of people are canceling holidays. People are not coming to the city from other parts of the country, they are having a problem getting into town.

The market we go to a lot for second-hand clothes and things, Kibera market, has been totally burned out. Hundreds, if not thousands, of stallholders have lost their businesses and livelihoods.

We are trying to stay out of the way. I have got friends who live not far from Kibera and they are hearing guns going off in the evening, and a lot of trouble. They tried to go to the supermarket in Ngong Road and were met by youths running along the road. Buses are only going one way, because the youths started stoning cars.

We have plenty of friends here and no-one cares what tribe anybody is from, it doesn't make any difference. Kenya is not a racist place, that is why hearing about what is happening is so shocking. It has taken everyone by surprise.

We are going to have to see how things go. When you reach the stage where your children are at school, your aim is to get everything going as normally as possible.

The senior schools have delayed the start of term because there are fuel shortages and people will not be able to get back to school. If our safety was at risk, we would consider leaving.

Rachel Readman

THE only real threat is if the army starts to fragment. Up until now the army has stayed behind Kibaki, but if it starts to fragment things could get very bad.

Then I would start to think about leaving and leaving quickly.

The roads out of the country are not easy but they are keeping the airport open and they have lined that road with troops.

There is a shortage of food and fuel in the cities because people have stopped running the supply trucks. There is plenty of food and fuel out there, it is just not getting through.

Farquhar Readman

HOLIDAYS AXED AFTER TRAVEL WARNING

THE UK FALL-OUT

BRITISH tour operators yesterday suspended holidays to Kenya after the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to the strife-torn country.

The announcement came after a meeting of the Federation of Tour Operators and will affect hundreds of UK tourists due to fly to Kenya for sand-and-safari breaks today and tomorrow.

A further decision on flights from Sunday and for the start of next week will be made as the situation in Kenya develops.

Those involved, including holidaymakers due to fly from Gatwick to Mombasa today on a First Choice Holidays trip, will be offered alternative holidays where possible or a full refund.

About 6,000 Britons – including about 3,000 on package holidays – are currently on trips in Kenya, where more than 300 people have died in the post-election riots. The FTO said it hoped that tourists already in Kenya would be able to complete their holidays and return as scheduled.