NAIROBI, Kenya – The murder of an opposition leader today has triggered an on-set of violence again in Kenya. Mugabe Were, a lawmaker who won a seat in parliament, was shot to death as he drove home. Odinga claims the murder was a planned assassination given that Were had bullet wounds in both eyes. The police are treating his murder as a homicide but have not ruled out political motives. President Kibaki has condemned the killing and appeals for calm.

With the news of Were’s death, hundreds of men armed with machetes and clubs inset with nails gathered in Nairobi slums. One witness claimed the group dragged a Kikuyu doctor from his clinic and attacked him with machetes until “his head was off”. In the Mathare slum, volunteer aid worker Fospeter Oumaa witnessed a man dragged from his car and attacked with machetes. In the Kibera slum, homes dividing members of the Kikuyu and Luos tribes were set on fire.

Police have failed to control the violence throughout Kenya. Police on the ground and in helicopters fired at a mob of Kikuyus chasing hundreds of Luos outside the Naivasha Country Club. More deaths have been the results of police shooting than ethnic attacks. With the death rate at over 800, the Human Rights Groups have accused police officers of using excessive force.

Meanwhile, former UN chief Kofi Annan has begun formal talks of mediation. Annan says he hopes to resolve the immediate political issues within four weeks and the underlying ethnic crisis within a year.  Western donors have urged both sides to resolve the crisis, and consider a power-sharing solution or risk losing aid.

On Nairobi’s Capital FM radio station, U.S Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, whose father is Kenyan, appealed for “Kenyan leaders to rise above party affiliations and past ambitions for the sake of peace.”

For more information please see:

Yahoo News- Opposition Lawmaker Killed in Kenya – 29 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Annan Launches Kenya Mediation, Violence Spreads – 29 January 2008