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Kenya's president issues ultimatum to halt violence
August 23, 1997
Web posted at: 1:29 p.m. EDT (1729 GMT)MSAMBWENI, Kenya (CNN) -- President Daniel Arap Moi called Saturday for an end to the ethnic violence that has killed 42 people in the coastal region of Mombasa over the past 10 days. He said those behind the violence had until Sunday to surrender firearms.
Moi's presidential motorcade drove to Ukunda near the tourist center of Diani beach, where he addressed several hundred people from his car, appealing for peace and saying that if people have complaints, they should not resort to violence.
Moi also held a brief rally at Msambweni 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Mombasa, where he told a rally that Kenya was safe for tourists and investors.
"What we need are investors to invest in Kenya so that our people can be employed. We need many tourists to visit any part of Kenya," Moi said, also accusing the western world of distorting events in Africa.
He then drove past a Roman Catholic Church in Likoni, where two people were killed Friday by attackers with guns and machetes.
The deaths occurred despite the presence of heavily armed police, who had guarded the church for more than a week, after people took refuge in the sanctuary to escape the violence.
About 1,500 people remained in the church Saturday, despite repeated attacks. Those people, called "upcountry people" by local residents, said they were targeted because they were not native to the coast.
"Kenya is for all Kenyans. You have the right to live where you want," Moi told the people. "No one has the right to push you off your land."
Moi also issued an ultimatum: "We have given those people who stole guns until tomorrow to return them to police stations. If not, the crackdown will continue."
Thousands of the upcountry people have left the coast, boarding crowded trains and buses with their possessions.
The sides point fingers at each other
Moi's government and its opponents blame each other for the violence, which erupted August 13 on the Indian Ocean coast when an armed mob attacked a police station in Likoni, killing seven policemen.
Police arrested more than 400 people in connection with the Likoni attack and a series of killings triggered by the incident.
Police said the attacks were simply the work of bandits. But opposition leaders accuse Moi's ruling KANU party of exploiting ethnic tensions before multiparty elections that Moi must call this year.
Local tribes, in turn, accused the more educated settlers of taking the best jobs and grabbing their ancestral lands.
The upcountry people maintained they were driven out before the elections, because they were seen as opposition supporters.
Country deals with economic woes
In the first good news for the government in weeks, the Kenyan shilling strengthened on Friday in response to news that an International Monetary Fund team will arrive Monday for talks on an aid package that was blocked because of concern over high-level corruption.
In the first belt-tightening to try to cover a $141 million shortfall this year caused by the aid blockage, Finance Minister Musalia Mudavadi announced tax increases Friday.
Reporter Jennifer Glasse and Reuters contributed to this report.
- Newsmaker Profile: Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi - Kenyan President
Related stories:
- Kenyan activist arrested as police try to halt violence - August 20, 1997
- 2 more dead in outbreak of Kenya violence - August 19, 1997
- Death toll in Kenya violence reaches 30 - August 18, 1997
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