Kenya. (Areas of Conflict).Tribalism has plagued Kenya, and many other African nations, since independence. Ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture, but is also a source of conflict. After independence from Britain in 1963, politics was dominated by Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (October 20, 1889 – August 22, 1978) served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation. . He was succeeded in 1978 by President Daniel arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi (born September 2, 1924) was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002. Daniel Arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'. . Opposition and church leaders have accused President Moi of stirring up ethnic tensions - especially before the last general election in 1997. These are charges the president, in turn, has levelled at the opposition. In 1992, an estimated 2,000 people died and 20,000 were made homeless in ethnic clashes in western Kenya. In 1993, fighting in the Rift Valley rift valley, elongated depression, trough, or graben in the earth's crust, bounded on both sides by normal faults and occurring on the continents or under the oceans. between the Kalenjin and the opposition Kikuyu group killed 1,500 people and displaced displaced see displacement. 300,000. Foreign observers accused authorities of pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing ethnic cleansing The creation of an ethnically homogenous geographic area through the elimination of unwanted ethnic groups by deportation, forcible displacement, or genocide. in the fighting. In 1997, Mr. Moi was reelected president for a fifth five-year term in chaotic and contested elections that maintained divisions between opposition groups. A serious Kalenjin attack followed by opposition retaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and left hundreds dead in early 1998. The level of violence has declined in 2000 and 2001. However, there are still several inter-tribal feuds and cross-border fighting pitting Kenyan tribes against tribes in Uganda and Ethiopia. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Websites Cyber-Africa.net - http://www.cyber-africa.net/ Daily and Sunday Nation newspapers - http://www. AfricaOnline.co.ke/ AfffcaOnline/nation. html Greater Horn Information Exchange - http:// edcsnw3.cr.usgs.gov/ghai/ghai.html Inter-Church Coalition on Africa - http:// www.web.net/~iccaf/ |
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