1. Posted on Monday 20 July 2009 - 10:45

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   Maina

   

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   Maina Waruru, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya Photo: Lameck Nyagudi

   Fears of a resurgence of violence growing in Kenya's Rift Valley Province as the debate of possible prosecution of suspected planners of the 2007 post-election violence rages.

   

   It is emerging that 90% of suspects in the controversial and now famous envelope currently in the hands of the International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo are from one community.
   
   According to AfricaNews reporter, what is fuelling tensions even more is that the suspects are all prominent personalities in the government from the Kalenjin ethnicity which is the dominant group in the Rift Valley Province. There is growing tension and hatred between the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu - the ethnic group that suffered the heaviest casualties in the 2008 flare ups.
   
   Our reporter said the Kalenjins claim the list is not a fair representation on the ground and suspect witch-hunting. He said members of the Kikuyu community are living in fear of a possible attack should the ICC prosecutor disclose the names.
   
   The renewed tensions come at a time when thousands of people who have been living in camps over the past 18 months are barely settling in their homes from camps where they have lived as Internally Displaced Person (IDPS). Some 1000 people lost their lives in the country, majority of them from this province in the chaos that followed disputed 2007 presidential results.
   
   About 90,000 out of the original displaced 350,000 are still living in camps strewn across the province and the possibility of these Kenyans going back home will be diminished should the situation remain same.

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Reactions

1. Posted on Monday 20 July 2009 16:10

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   maiyo

   

   Josh Maiyo
   7 berichten
   Lid sinds November 2007
   Amsterdam

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   This is a good example of very bad and irresponsible journalism and Africa News should exercise professional editorial competency in publishing such unsubstantiated, unaccredited reports that are not evidence based.
   
   First of all, the writer provides no supporting evidence to his claim that 90% of suspects in the case are from one community. To the best of available information, the contents of the documents handed over to the ICC prosecutor have not been divulged to the public.
   
   Such a false claim only serves to create a mis-perception that only one community(in this case the Kalenjin) is overwhelmingly guilty of the post election violence in Kenya. The second unsubstantiated claim (though not necessarily false) is that the Kikuyu community suffered the most casualties during the violence. There are no credible, reliable and authoritative figures to back this claim.
   
   Third, the writer provides no credible evidence for his central claim of renewed tensions in rift valley. Rift valley is the largest province in Kenya cutting along the entire midwest swathe of the country from Turkana bordering Sudan and Ethiopia to Kajiado at the border with Tanzania, where exactly are these tensions? No specific locations, towns or villages are given; no supporting evidence of who the reporter spoke with, when were the interviews carried out, what observed activities suggest this and what is the link if any to the debate in the prosecution of the suspects.
   
   The net effect of this poor, skewed and unsupported journalism is potentially not only misleading, but also seriously destabilizing by further perpetuating perceptions of grievance, victim hood and social disintegration in an already fragile post-conflict environment.
   
   This kind of blind sensationalist reporting by western media, even one which claims to give an alternative voice to Africa is disappointing to say the least. Africa News, please check the credibility of your reports and apply basic standards of credible journalism before rushing to publish sensationalist and alarming and potentially damaging news.

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   maiyo modified this message on 20-07-2009 16:20 with 20%

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