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2008

Sunday 09 November 2008 Calm largely prevailed on Saturday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Government soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers are confronting Tutsi rebel forces who have taken control of several towns. A U.N. official said that Angolan soldiers had joined in combat on Friday, but Congo's government denied that foreign troops are on its soil. African leaders at an emergency summit held under U.N. auspices in Nairobi, Kenya, called for an immediate ceasefire. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that fighting in the eastern province of North Kivu is threatening to engulf the entire region. Fighting between government troops and Laurent Nkunda's forces has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Sunday 12 October 2008 Kenya Uses Text Messages To Track Elephant

Kimani, a huge bull elephant, can be seen with his collar containing a sim card, on Sept. 26, 2008 in the Ol Pejeta conservancy near Mt. Kenya. (AP PHOTO)

Saturday 12 July 2008 VANCOUVER: ATTACKED MISSIONARY WON'T LEAVE KENYA
A 70-year-old Canadian missionary from Vernon, BC, says that he and his wife won't leave Kenya despite being attacked and gravely injured on Wednesday. A group of men wielding machetes attacked John Bergen and left him for dead at his home in the town of Kitale, then tied up his wife and ransacked the house. Mr. Bergen suffered a fractured skull and two broken arms and his wife also has serious injuries. He says that as many as five men armed with machetes and clubs attacked them. Two guards and five suspects are under arrest, while four others are being sought. The Bergens are now is hospital in Nairobi. Mr. Bergen moved to Kenya to work for the Kelowna-based Christian group Hope for the Nations, which is trying to help the widows and orphans of Kenya's recent political convulsion.

Friday Jul 11, 2008 Canadian and wife savagely beaten in Kenya
A Canadian man and his American wife on missionary work in Kenya are recovering in hospital today after...

VANCOUVER: GUARDS BLAMED IN ATTACK ON MISSIONARY
A relief organization for which a 70-year-old Canadian works say two guards at his home in western Kenya were in cahoots with the hoodlums who attacked and severely John Bergen and his wife Eloise. A group of men wielding machetes attacked Mr. Bergen and left him for dead at his home in the town of Kitale, then tied up his wife and ransacked the house. Two guards and five suspects are under arrest, while four others are being sought. The Bergens are now is hospital in Nairobi. The Bergens moved to Kenya from Vernon, BC, to work for the Hope for the Nations group.

Tuesday 08 July 2008 DADAAB: CANADIAN-FUNDED REFUGEE CAMPS BEING OVERWHELMED
The Canwest News service reports that three refugee camps in Kenya that are funded by Canada are being overwhelmed by new arrivals from Somalia. The service reports that the refugees are fleeing battles between Islamic militias and government and Ethiopian troops and now number for the first time more than 200,000. Three-thousand Somalis are said to have arrived in the camp in Dadaab in the single month of June. One-half of the refugees are under the age of 18. Canada and the U.S. have agreed to receive as immigrants some of the refugees in the three camps. The U.S. has agreed to take 6,000, of which 2,500 have departed.

Saturday 21 June 2008 The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, marked International Refugee Day by warning that surging oil and food prices may force increasing numbers of people from their homes to seek basic necessities. Mr. Guterres said in remarks made in Nairobi that recent food and fuel shortages are having a dramatic effect on the poor and dispossessed. Experts have said that Africa's spending on cereal imports will rise by more than 50 per cent this year. According to the world body, there are 11.4 million refugees living outside their country and 26 million others are displaced internally.

Kenya's Tourism Industry in Shambles
Months of violence have taken their toll on Kenya's tourism industry. Jeffrey Gettleman reports from the Masai Mara game reserve.

Monday 09 June 2008

A happy roar from Kenyat Jun 9th 2008

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Friday Apr 18, 2008 Kenya swears in coalition government
Kenya swore in a power-sharing government yesterday to end a bloody post-election crisis that claimed...

Friday 11 April 2008 NAIROBI: CANADA URGES KENYAN SIDES TO WORK TOGETHER
Canada has called on Kenya's president, Mwai Kibaki, and opposition leader Raila Odinga to form a coalition government in good faith. The two leaders signed a power-sharing deal in February to put an end to ethnic violence in the country. The violence broke out after Mr. Kibaki's return to power in December's presidential elections. Canada's minister for foreign affairs, Maxime Bernier, said in a statement Thursday that the delay in following through on the agreement is prolonging the suffering of hundreds of thousands of internally-displaced people. Mr. Bernier said it is important for Kenya's political leaders to work together in the interest of the Kenya people.

Thursday 20 March 2008 A fact-finding team from the UN's High Commissoner for Human Rights is urging Kenya not to grant amnesty to any of the perpetrators of the recent post-election violence. The comments are aimed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, due to be set up in Nairobi. The team's report said there would be no co-operation from the UN, or from the High Commissioner's office in Geneva, if the Kenyans were to propose amnesties. Also in their report, the team found that the actual death toll in post-election violence was higher than the 1,220 people reported killed, and that police were responsible for many of the deaths.

Tuesday 18 March 2008 President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga met with representatives of 40 embassies to put forward an appeal for US$400 million for an emergency humanitarian and reconstruction program. The diplomats included the country main creditors Canada, China, the EU, the U.S., Japan and the U.S. Mr. Odinga is expected to become prime minister as a result of an accord was reached between his supporters and the president's that aimed at ending the political and ethnic strife that erupted after Mr. Odinga accused Mr. Kibaki of steeling the presidential election in December. The appeal for aid came on the same day that the Human Rights Watch lobby accused pro-government and opposition politicians of having organized the violence and the police of shooting hundreds of people who were protesting the election outcome in Nairobi, the western town of Kisumu and other places.

Friday 29 February 2008 Residents of Nairobi danced in the streets on Thursday after President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing accord. The development came after a month of often bitter negotiations mediated by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Protests and ethnic riots left at least 1,000 people dead and cause the displacement of 300,000 others after Mr. Odinga accused the president of having stolen the Dec. 27 election. Under the power-sharing deal, a new prime minister's post has been created for Mr. Odinga. Cabinet posts will be allocated according to each party's strength in Parliament and two deputy prime ministers' position also will be created. Later, there will be a full review of Kenya's constitution.

Friday Feb 29, 2008 Kenyans celebrate pact: How the deal breaks down
Kenyans moved to put one of their country's darkest chapters behind them today after the president and...

Wednesday 27 February 2008 EDMONTON: HALT TO KENYA DEPORTATIONS RECOMMENDED
Amnesty International has called on the Canadian government to reconsider the cases of Kenyans who face deportation orders. The rights group says the government should move faster to update its list of dangerous countries, the last country having been added to it being Zimbabwe four years ago. Amnesty says that Kenyans ordered deported should get another chance to plead their cases in light of the post-election violence that left more than 1,000 dead in December. Last week, a Kenyan family in Edmonton learned that the government was pushing ahead with its decision to deport them after their refugee application was rejected in October. The text of the decision indicated that although Kenya suffers from violence committed by tribal gangs, the country is nonetheless safe because its government consider the gangs criminal groups.

Tuesday 19 February 2008 Negotiators for the country's feuding political parties will resume their talks to find a way out of the political impasse in which Kenya finds itself as a result of post-electoral violence. One-thousand people were killed and 300,000 displaced in ethnic violence and protests after opposition leader Raila Odinga dispute the Dec. 27 electoral victory of President Mwai Kibaki. Negotiating teams from both sides have been meeting throughout February.

Sunday 17 February 2008 The former head of the United Nations says a power-sharing agreement is still needed in Kenya to put an end to ethnic conflict. Kofi Annan is trying to end the turmoil that erupted after the results of December presidential election. Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki won the election. However, Raila Odinga of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement claims the vote was fraudulent. Mr. Annan says the two parties made considerable progress this week, including an agreement for an independent review of the election results. However, Mr. Annan says a power-sharing accord is crucial to prevent further chaos. More than 1,000 people were killed and more than 300,000 others forced to leave their homes in post-electoral violence.

Tuesday 12 February 2008 Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has invited Kenya's feuding political parties to continue their peace talks at an undisclosed site outside Nairobi. Mr. Annan is trying to mediate a peace deal within a few days between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. More than 1,000 people were killed and 300,000 displaced in violence that erupted after Mr. Odinga claimed that the president had rigged the Dec. 27 presidential election. The Reuters news agency cites unnamed sources as saying that Mr. Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement is no longer demanding the president's resignation and that both sides are now talking about a power-sharing arrangement.

Tuesday Feb 5, 2008 Kenya on Diana's site

Sunday 03 February 2008 Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said Friday the parties of Kenya's feuding leaders had agreed a joint roadmap to end the turmoil that has wracked the country since disputed elections in December. Mr. Annan has been in Kenya trying to mediate the dispute. Hundreds of people have died in fighting since President Mwai Kibaki was re-elected in a Dec. 27th vote that international observers said was flawed.

Saturday Feb 2, 2008 Annan brokers peace deal in Kenya
Kenya's government and opposition struck an agreement yesterday to take immediate steps to try and end...

Thursday 31 January 2008 The top U.S. envoy to Africa is calling the month of post-election violence in Kenya "ethnic cleansing." Jendayi Frazer says Washington is reconsidering hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the country. He claims neither President Mwai Kibaki nor opposition leader Raila Odinga is doing enough to stop the bloodshed .More than 800 people have died in fighting since the disputed December 27th presidential election .President Kibaki met again Wednesday with Opposition leader Raila Odinga. The two continue to blame each other for the raging violence. A summit of African leaders is to begin Thursday in Addis Ababa, and the political crisis and mass killings in Kenya are expected to loom large. Various scenarios are being studied to give Kenya its rightful place in the African Union's agenda without being perceived as favouring one side or the other.

Wednesday 30 January 2008 The former head of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has begun a mediation process aimed at ending Kenya's post-election crisis. Mr. Annan met in Nairobi with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Mr. Odinga accuses Mr. Kibaki of stealing the election last month. He has refused to recognize him as president. Western nations have called on both sides to take the talks seriously or risk losing aid. The disputed election led to nationwide violence that has killed close to one-thousand people and displaced more than quarter of a million.

Monday 28 January 2008 Violence in Kenya escalated on Sunday as gangs of armed youths fought battles with police. In one attack, at least five people burned to death in their homes in the village of Naivasha, about 90 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. In all, 22 people died as a result of violence in the town during the weekend. Some victims were hacked to death by machetes. In the Rift Valley, 55 bodies were counted in the morgue in the city of Nakuru. About 800 people have been killed since tribal violence erupted following controversial presidential elections last month. The United Nations former secretary general, Kofi Annan, is in Kenya to promote peace talks between President Mwai Kibaki and his chief opponent Raila Odinga. Mr. Odinga has called on the president to step down.

Sunday 27 January 2008 At least 13 people were killed on Saturday night in the western town of Nakuru. Six of the victims were shot and seven others were hacked to death in the slums. Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan was set to push to break the deadlock in Kenya's political crisis. Mr. Annan, on his fifth day in the country, was to continue meetings in the capital. Security forces patrolled the Rift Valley's volatile towns of Nakuru and Molo, where violence on Friday killed at least 15 people.

Saturday 26 January 2008 Survivors of a church massacre appeared in a Kenya court Friday to try to stop former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from leading mediation efforts between the government and the opposition party. Thirty members of the Kikuyu tribe were killed on New Year's day, just three days after the presidential election, when a mob set fire to the church where they sought shelter. Thirty-seven survivors want the court to suspend the mediation process with Mr. Annan on the grounds that some of those involved in the talks were responsible for the violence. Some 700 people have died in ethnic clashes since President Mwai Kibaki was returned to power. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement under Raila Odinga insists the election was fraudulent.

Saturday 26 January 2008

Thursday 24 January 2008 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, is calling for an independent investigation into recent human rights violations in Kenya. In a statement, Miss Arbour, a former justice of Canada's Supreme Court, says that hundreds of deaths following controversial presidential elections in December have to be 'investigated expeditiously and impartially.' She said that those responsible for human rights abuses must be brought to justice. In the latest incident on Wednesday, dozens of protesters set fire to a government building in Nairobi after police fired teargas at violent youths during a memorial service for victims of post-election violence. Former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan is in Kenya on a mission to help resolve the conflict between supporters of President Mwai Kibaki and those of the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. In defiance of a ban, Mr. Odinga has called for a peaceful mass protest on Thursday.

Wednesday 23 January 2008 Kofi Annan will try his hand at resolving the impasse between the feuding political parties in Kenya. The former Secretary General of the United Nations arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday in a bid to bring an end to a political crisis in which at least 650 people have been killed. The disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki in a December 27th vote unleashed weeks of ethnic and political violence. Mr. Annan's mediation mission follows a similar attempt earlier this month by Ghanaian President John Kufuor, the head of the African Union. He was unable to get Mr. Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to meet.

Monday 21 January 2008 The opposition party in Kenya warned on Saturday that it would resume public protests next week. Protests against the presidential election last month have led to violence that has killed several hundred people. Five more people were reported killed on Saturday in the Rift Valley, about 180 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. The victims were refugees who were attacked by an armed band. The camp is in a region where people largely support President Mwai Kibaki. At least 28 people died in violence in the preceding four days. The chairman of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, Henry Kosgey, said that peaceful protests would resume on Thursday, adding that his party would use all available means to bring down the regime of President Kibaki.

Monday 21 January 2008 Two people were killed Saturday overnight in clashes in the capital, Nairobi, as Kenya continues to reel from opposition protests against President Mwai Kibaki's re-election. Two bodies were recovered in the Mathare slums after clashes between rival gangs. Forty people have been killed over the past five days of unrest. A government crackdown on protesters has sparked international condemnation for killing unarmed civilians. Over 700 people have been killed in violence since the disputed presidential vote last month. Mr. Kibaki won a second term, but international observers said that the count was rigged.

Saturday Jan 19, 2008 Kenya's streets tense after bloody protests
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan riot police patrolled the capital on Saturday and rival tribes faced off in a southwest town, after 23 people were killed in three days of protests called by the opposition over a disputed election.

The death toll for three days of opposition rallies against Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's re-election soared to 25 Friday when police killed five protesters and found several bodies across the country. The fresh wave of violence following last month's disputed presidential poll came as former UN chief Kofi Annan announced he would fly in Tuesday to broker a deal and the opposition said it would halt its demonstrations. At least 700 people have died in the last few weeks in riots and ethnic killings that erupted following the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election. Mr. Kibaki won a second term, but international observers said the count was rigged. Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for three days of demonstrations that began Wednesday.

Thursday 17 January 2008 Police fired tear gas and bullets to disperse thousands of protesters in several Kenyan cities Wednesday at the start of three days of opposition rallies, killing at least one person and injuring others. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who insists he was robbed of the presidency through vote rigging in last month's election, urged his supporters to join the protests despite a government ban. In downtown Nairobi, helmeted riot police on horseback chased away small clusters of protesters from skyscraper-lined streets. Businesses quickly shut as tear gas was fired, and thousands of panicked office workers streamed out of downtown on foot. Police in several cities lobbed tear gas canisters and beat protesters with batons to disperse them. In Nairobi and at least two other cities, police fired live rounds, sending crowds scrambling for cover. Violence in the wake of Kenya's disputed Dec. 27 vote has left more than 700 people dead and a 250,000 people displaced.

LOOKING AT GITMO WITH ONE EYE OPEN
CTV News goes inside and the Globe briefs confusion surrounding the Canadian government’s apparently contradictory attitude toward the US prison at Guantanamo Bay. CTV News has obtained a government “torture watch list” that notes Gitmo as a possibly offending institution. The document, designed to help diplomats identify signs of torture when visiting Canadian prisoners in foreign jails, enumerates “forced nudity, isolation and sleep deprivation” among the suspect “interrogation techniques” used at the prison. The acknowledgement of such practices appears to contradict Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s repeated claims that the one Canadian citizen currently incarcerated at the prison, Omar Khadr, is being treated fairly—an assertion he’s used to justify the government’s lack of interference in Khadr’s case despite the pleas of his lawyer, a US military officer. Khadr, who was arrested five years ago for “war crimes” when he was only fifteen years old, maintains that he has been the victim of torture throughout his imprisonment. His lawyers argue that Khadr will not face a fair trial in the US and should be returned to and tried in Canada. “Omar has certainly been abused, his rights have been violated under international law, and apparently the Canadian government has reason to believe that’s true, and yet, they’ve acted not at all to assist him,” Khadr’s lawyer, William Kuebler, said. CTV News says Harper would rather wait “for the US judicial process to play itself out,” which, in light of what we now know about the Canadian government’s view of the American justice system, seems a particularly incongruous attitude.

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PROTESTERS, POLICE, AND A PEACE IN PIECES
The National and the Citizen front, while the Star goes inside and the Post (not available online) briefs yet more violence in several Kenyan cities as opposition leaders continue to protest the outcome of last month’s disputed presidential election. Police employed tear gas and bullets to disperse crowds of rock-throwing protestors in the streets of Nairobi yesterday, killing two and injuring at least three more. Once thought to be a bastion of peace in a tumultuous region, Kenya has descended into near-civil war since the voting in of President Mwai Kibaki, which many claim was rigged. More than six hundred people have died in the subsequent protests, according to The National, while roughly 250,000 have been displaced. Among those demonstrating yesterday was opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has demanded that Kibaki resign and that new elections be held. The president, however, does not appear interested in any such abdication; he has banned demonstrations outright and used the full force of the state to quash the dissent. Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan is expected to arrive in the country shortly to help broker a truce, though several attempts at international mediation have already failed.

Jordan Himelfarb is a Quebec City-based MediaScout writer for Maisonneuve Magazine.

Sign up now to receive MediaScout, Canada’s definitive morning news briefing, e-mailed to your inbox every morning at 10 AM.

Wednesday 16 January 2008 OTTAWA: CANADA PLEDGES AID TO KENYA
The Canadian government say it will provide up to one million dollars in aid to Kenya's Red Cross. Canada's Minister for International Co-operation, Bev Oda, says the donation will help the Red Cross provide medical supplies, food and shelter to Kenyans displaced by outbreaks of violence in the country.

Tuesday 15 January 2008 Schools in Kenya re-opened on Monday for the first time since the country was largely shut down as a result of post-election violence. However, the country remains on edge. Parliament was set to resume on Tuesday even as the opposition planned new protests over the results of elections last month. The opposition insists that it should have been declared victorious.

Kenya's protests are expected to restart Jan 11th 2008 | NAIROBI

More instability Kenya's protests are expected to restart

Sunday 13 January 2008 The top US envoy for Africa Saturday urged Kenya's rival leaders to acknowledge election irregularities that led to an eruption of violence and to drop all preconditions for a dialogue to end the turmoil. US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said in a statement that it was "imperative" for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to sit down together "directly and without preconditions." Mr. Odinga insists he was robbed of victory in last month's presidential ballot by a rigged vote count. He has refused to recognise Mr. Kibaki's re-election or sit down with him until he admits to fraud. The violence that followed Mr. Kibaki's swearing-in on Dec. 30 has resulted in at least 600 people being killed. It has displaced 250,000 others. The UN has warned that half a million people will need humanitarian assistance in the coming weeks and months.

Saturday 12 January 2008 Kenya's main opposition, Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement, on Friday said it would restart nationwide protests next week. That sets the the stage for a fresh showdown after international mediation failed to broker a deal with the government. Kenya's police chief immediately banned the protests, citing security reasons. The announcement of further protests came as Kenya's ruling party signed an agreement with a small opposition party on Friday to form a coalition government. President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity joined with the opposition Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya, whose candidate finished a distant third in Dec. 27 presidential polls, in a unity government. Mr. Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement remains locked in a tense stand-off with the government over alleged rigging at the presidential elections. Nationwide unrest sparked by Mr. Kibaki's re-election victory in the vote, which international observers said was not up to international standards, has left some 600 people dead and 250,000 others displaced.

Tuesday 08 January 2008 Opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday rejected an offer to form a unity government. The offer came from President Mwai Kibaki and was intended to help end an electoral dispute that has sparked violence in the East African country that has left at least 300 people dead. Thousands of others have been left homeless. Mr. Odinga told a news conference that Mr. Kibaki won the election fraudulently. The president was re-elected by a narrow margin in a vote count that international observers said was deeply flawed. Mr. Odinga has asked for a mediator to resolve the dispute. Ghanian President John Kufuor, chairman of the African Union, is expected to play the role of mediator when he arrives in Nairobi later this week.

Monday 07 January 2008
THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
Churches hold prayers for unity and international mediation efforts are underway in Kenya, after ethnic clashes erupted in the wake of a disputed presidential election. Georgia’s presidential contest has ended with a victory for incumbent Mikhail Saakashvili. Rescuers search a ski resort outside of Kelowna for a snowboarder feared to have been buried in a sudden avalanche yesterday morning.
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PRAYING FOR KENYA
CBC News: Sunday Night, the Globe, the Post (not available online), the Star, and La Presse go inside with the continuing post-election unrest in Kenya, a political conflict that has rapidly taken on an ethnic dimension and raised some disturbing parallels with the Rwandan genocide of the mid-1990s. Almost two weeks after a disputed poll re-elected President Mwai Kibaki over opposition challenger Raila Odinga, solutions to the political impasse remain evasive. Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe, refuses to acknowledge Kibaki’s authority and has insisted on new elections, while Kenya’s military and police remain loyal to Kibaki, a member of the powerful Kikuyu tribe. Kibaki has offered Odinga the vice-presidency in a national-unity government, but Odinga continues demand that Kibaki resign before any negotiations begin. Ghanaian President John Kufuor, currently serving as chair of the African Union, is on his way to Nairobi to attempt to broker a deal that will end the rioting and violence that have driven a quarter-million people from their homes and caused the death of three hundred Kenyans.

Kenya has long been envied by its neighbours as a relatively stable and economically advanced, if bracingly corrupt, regional power. While the country’s tribes and ethnic groups have their regional bases, all of them (and a substantial immigrant population) live side-by-side in Nairobi, which has experienced explosive growth as the country’s post-independence capital. CBC News: Sunday Night shows scenes of the slums on the city’s outskirts, where people have been forced to become refugees from homes a mere “stone’s throw away” as tribal rioting has forced the military to intervene and try to keep rival factions physically separated. Christian churches, which play a prominent role in national life and whose congregations often bring together members from multiple tribes, dedicated their Sunday services to prayers for national reconciliation. CBC News broadcast impressive footage of fervent prayer, and the Star has an excellent piece on the efforts of religious groups to stop the violence—attempts that one Kenyan commentator says came “too late” as “the churches were silent when we really needed them.” One Catholic worshipper demonstrated his indifference to tribal divisions for the Star’s correspondent: “I’m Luo, what are you?” he asked a fellow worshipper, who turned out to be Kikuyu. “You see? This is news to me. We don’t know and we don’t care.”

Sunday 06 January 2008 Kenya's president said Saturday he is ready to form "a government of national unity" to help resolve disputed elections that sparked deadly riots last week. Mwai Kibaki made the statement during a meeting with the leading US diplomat for Africa. However, opposition leader Raila Odinga, who accuses Mr. Kibaki of rigging recent presidential elections, is demanding a new election. The dispute sparked days of rioting and ethnic killing which left at least 300 people dead. More than 100,000 people were forced out of their homes. The UN's World Food Program is trying to get food and supplies to those affected by the violence. On Friday Canada announced it would provide up to $1 million to Kenya for basic emergency needs such as food and medicine. Canada is advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to Kenya for the time being.

Sunday 06 January 2008 OTTAWA: BERNIER MAKES PLEA TO KENYAN POLITICIANS
Canada's foreign affairs minister is urging politicians in Kenya to reach a peaceful, negotiated solution. Maxime Bernier spoke Friday with his Kenyan counterpart as well as opposition leader Kenyan Raila Odinga. The conversations followed four days of violence over disputed election results in the East African country. Earlier Friday, Ottawa announced it would provide up to $1 million to Kenya for basic emergency needs such as food and medicine. Canada is advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to Kenya for the time being.

Sunday Jan 6, 2008 Barack Obama lends some truth to old Kenyan joke
How small the world is. In Kenya, a grim joke says a member of the Luo tribe stands a better chance of becoming president of the United States than being elected president of Kenya. Now, the joke might be coming true.

Sunday Jan 6, 2008 Canada gives aid as humanitarian crisis in post-election Kenya grows
..."People were fighting, stealing our things, putting houses on fire and trying to rape us," said Owichi, in a shelter at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Kibera. "She is safe, but I have nothing. I left my money in the house."

Wed1347 Alas, poor Kenya!
The turmoil in Kenya since last Thursday’s vote was unexpected (at least, by us). As the team of observers from the European Union said, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) had failed to ensure the credibility of the vote, President Mwai Kibaki has had himself sworn in, riots have errupted amidst dire predictions that the apparent vote rigging could drive one of Africa’s most stable countries into tribal warfare. The news and analysis bears out this bleak possibility.

Saturday 05 January 2008 Opposition Seeks New Vote as Violence Ebbs in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya — If the price of cabbage is any indicator, things here in Kenya’s capital may be edging back to normal.

Saturday 05 January 2008 Kibaki offer on unity government

The statement was issued after Mr Kibaki met the top US diplomat on Africa, Jendayi Frazer.

But opposition leader Raila

Va. Peace Corps Worker Details Perils in Kenya
The men on the side of the road gripped machetes as Fauquier County native Gillie Kehoe and fellow Peace Corps volunteers passed in two pickups, zigzagging around charred cars on the way out of a village near Kisumu, Kenya.

Saturday 05 January 2008 OTTAWA: CANADA PLEDGES AID TO KENYA
The Canadian government say it will provide up to one million dollars in aid to Kenya's Red Cross. Canada's Minister for International Co-operation, Bev Oda, says the donation will help the Red Cross provide medical supplies, food and shelter to Kenyans displaced by outbreaks of violence in the country.

Friday 04 January 2008 Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki says that once calm has been restored he's ready to talk to his political opponents. After police clashed for hours in Nairobi with thousands of protesters, the opposition called off a planned rally for Thursday, saying it wanted to save lives. It vowed to try again on Friday. More than 300 people have lost their lives in vicious, often tribal fighting since the election December 27th. The opposition accuses the government of rigging the final results.

Friday 04 January 2008 Ambition and Horror in Kenya
Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga must be brought together and pushed to come up with a solution that will restore Kenyans’ faith in their democratic system.
The murderous tribal violence that has spread through Kenya in recent days would be horrifying anywhere. It is particularly tragic to see this happening in a country that seemed finally to be on the path to a democratic and economically sound future. There may still be a chance to retrieve some of these hopes. That will likely require stepping back from the suspicious and hastily declared election results that sparked this ugly upheaval.

Tutu sees hope for Kenya deal as protest falters
NAIROBI (Reuters) - President Mwai Kibaki is open to the idea of a coalition government to end Kenya's post-election crisis but only if the opposition meets his terms, South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu said on Friday.