Chaos erupts in Kenyan vacation spot

Naivasha, one of Kenya’s most popular vacation spots and a onetime playground for British colonialists, on Sunday became the latest city to suffer from ethnic clashes, raising fears that the violence is spreading into previously calm areas.

As many as 30 people were killed in the lakeside city, according to opposition leaders, who blamed the attacks on Kikuyu supporters of President Mwai Kibaki. The violence in Naivasha appeared to be in response to clashes last week in the nearby city of Nakuru, where as many as 50 Kikuyus were killed and hundreds of homes burned.

Gangs of Kikuyus, who supported fellow tribesman Kibaki in a disputed Dec. 27 election, took out their anger Sunday by attacking rival tribes in Naivasha, burning homes in slum areas and setting up roadblocks on the highway. In the most gruesome attack, a mob set fire to a house, burning to death 16 people, mostly women and children, trapped inside.

“This is not even about the election,” said Redemta Haoth, 36, a worker on a flower farm and member of the Luo tribe, which has generally supported opposition leader Raila Odinga. “This is ethnic cleansing.”

Haoth and her two children fled their home after neighbors warned her that Kikuyu gangs were planning to rampage through the district Sunday night. She spent the night with hundreds of other frightened people at Naivasha’s police station. Many opted to sleep in the town’s prison when space ran out in the police compound.

“This is getting out of hand,” Haoth said. “We hope our leaders can stop this.”

A Kikuyu man in Naivasha, roaming the streets Sunday wielding a club, called the attacks revenge for the recent deaths of Kikuyus in other parts of the country. “For every one Kikuyu killed, we shall avenge their killing with three,” he told the Associated Press.

Violence since last month’s presidential election has killed nearly 700 people and displaced an additional 250,000.

Both Kibaki and Odinga have urged their supporters to stay peaceful, but their calls seem to have had little effect.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leading mediation talks, said the election dispute has exposed deep-seated ethnic tensions.

“Let us not kid ourselves and think that this is an electoral problem,” he said Saturday. “It’s much broader and much deeper.”

Odinga accused the government of secretly backing the Kikuyu gangs to divert attention away from allegations that the election was rigged. Election officials declared Kibaki the victor, and he was sworn in for a second term three days after the vote.

“After stealing the elections from Kenyans, Kibaki now wishes to deny them justice and peace,” Odinga said. A government spokesman could not be reached for comment.

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edmund.sanders@latimes.com