Kenya church fire kills 50

NAIROBI (Kenya)—A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of Kenyans fleeing election violence on Tuesday, and at least 50 people burned to death, police and a witness said as the president came under increasing pressure over the disputed vote. The European Union and the United States have refused to congratulate President Mwai Kibaki. The EU and four top Kenyan elections officials have called for an independent inquiry in what had been east Africa’s most stable and prosperous democracy.
Violence in response to the closest presidential election in Kenya’s history has flared from the shantytowns of Nairobi to resort towns on the sweltering coast, killing at least 228 people since Saturday, according to accounts from police, morgues and witnesses. Among them were at least 15 who died Tuesday in Eldoret, some 185 miles from the capital, Nairobi.
“There was a huge mob; they attacked the church,” said a witness, who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals. “We counted 15 to 20 bodies.” Two police officers, who were not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that several people burned to death. In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged talks between Kibaki, sworn into office for a second five-year term, and opposition leader Raila Odinga. “The violence must be brought to an end,” he said Tuesday in London. Allegations of rigging were fueled by the fact that the opposition won most of the parliamentary seats in Thursday’s vote, as well as unexplained delays in vote tallying and anomalies that included a 115 percent turnout in one constituency.
Opposition leaders set the stage for more turmoil by calling for a million people to rally Thursday against Kibaki, who had been trailing Odinga in early election results and opinion polls before pulling ahead. The government banned the demonstration but opposition leaders said they would forge ahead.
The bloodshed has exposed tribal resentments that have long festered in Kenya, where Kibaki’s Kikuyu people — Kenya’s largest ethnic group — are accused of turning their dominance of politics and business to the detriment of others. Odinga is from the Luo tribe.
Anne Njoki, a 28-year-old Kikuyu, said she fled her home in the slums after she saw Kikuyus being attacked and their homes looted. She was camped out near a military base with her sister, 3-year-old nephew and 7-year-old niece. “They have taken our beds, blankets, even spoons,” she said of the looters. The children hadn’t eaten for days, she said.—Agencies