Nairobi fears return of mass tribal bloodshed as it heads to the polls

THE last time 24-year-old Ruth Mueni, pictured, went to the polls, tribal gangs ransacked her village in a Nairobi slum and tortured her neighbours.

"I saw people being stoned to death and killed with panga (machete] knives," she said. "There was so much violence; people were looking for someone they had a grudge with."

The assailants were Luo supporters of then opposition leader Raila Odinga, who were angry at election results that saw president Mwai Kibaki, of the Kikuyu tribe, returned to power.

The bloodshed gripped the country for three months, crippling the economy and leaving more than 1,300 people dead and 300,000 displaced before a coalition government was announced.

Ms Mueni's home in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa, lies in Mr Odinga's Langata constituency. Populated mostly by Luo, Kibera was a hotspot for the violence in 2007-8.

International organisations and community groups have been trying since to assuage these deep-rooted tribal rivalries, but their work will be put to the test on 4 August, when Nairobi votes on a new constitution.

Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga both support the draft constitution, which curbs the powers of the presidency and strengthens civil liberties. But a substantial No campaign has been roused by church groups and some politicians who object to clauses that allow abortion in special circumstances, legalise Islamic courts and enact land reforms.

The fear is the vote will trigger a wave of opportunistic violence that will unsettle fragile community relations and set the tone for the next election in 2012. However, youth worker Kennedy Juma is optimistic Kibera residents will react well to the referendum. He spearheads Jamii ya Kibera (the community of Kibera), part of a sports programme run by the non-governmental organisation Carolina for Kibera. Mr Juma helped recruit conflict resolution officers for other CFK programmes to encourage hundreds of residents to work together to solve disputes.

"The main aim is to use soccer to reduce ethnic tension. If there is animosity between the teams, or the coaches, we bring them together to discuss the problem," he said. "We concentrate on what is within our reach and, I must say, in terms of the referendum, if there is violence, the youths touched by CFK won't be involved."

Not everyone has confidence in this strategy, however. Salim Mohamed, CFK co-founder and now a post- graduate student at Manchester University, said many of the slum-dwellers do not understand the draft constitution and are being informed by the media, politicians and churches, which makes them vulnerable to hate speeches.

For Ms Mueni, the deciding factor on polling day will be people's memories of the post-election violence. "I don't think I will vote. If you vote and something happens to you because of what you voted, it's not worth it."