Politics Suspected in Arson Attack on Kenya Resort Market

Hundreds of curio sellers salvaged merchandise Tuesday from the charred rubble of a market destroyed by gasoline bombs--apparently a politically motivated attack against new residents.

The arsonists struck the 700-stall complex in this Indian Ocean resort late Monday. Several Kenyans were injured.

“We all rushed here as the word spread through the town and tried to fight the fire,” said Frederick Ngimbwa, chairman of the committee that runs the market near the Malindi Sea Fishing Club, an old Ernest Hemingway hangout.

“I would say that it was politics. . . . Maybe there were leaders who sent them to set our shops on fire,” he said.

“This was the start of the high season, and what we make now helps us through the hard times later,” said Joyce Atima, picking up stone chess pieces from what was left of her stall.

“I am going back to my land in Kisii [in western Kenya]. I have no other choice,” she said before bursting into tears.

In the past week, at least 35 people have been killed in Coast province. Most of the victims were from tribes not native to the area.

Political observers link the wave of violence to upcoming general elections, which must be held by the end of the year. They say it is reminiscent of clashes provoked among different tribes in central Kenya before 1992 elections.

That year, local leaders of the ruling Kenya African National Union party tried to chase suspected opposition supporters out of their districts.

Coast province, one of nine in the country, is a stronghold of President Daniel Arap Moi’s ruling party, largely because of political patronage and a poorly educated local population.

But Kenyans from other parts of the country have flocked to the coast, drawn by the economic opportunities at the port and foreign tourism. Most support opposition candidates.

The ruling party has disavowed any connection with the recent violence.

Ayub Cichara, the Coast province representative for the Kenya Human Rights Commission, said the attacks looked coordinated and planned.

“One group strikes at one time, another at a different place at a different time. It looks as if they have a paymaster and they’re paid to do a certain job,” he said.