Kenya: Dozens Killed in Ethnic Clashes

At least 52 people including 11 children have been killed in ethnic clashes in south-eastern Kenyan province of Coast, in the worst ever violence to have hit the country since the post-polls chaos of 2007.

The Tuesday night raid on Riketa village of Tana River District, Coast Province by armed tribesmen from the Pokomo community is reported to be a retaliatory attack on the region’s ethnic Orma in recent clashes over water and pasture.

A week ago, raiders from the nomadic Orma attacked a village occupied by the farming Pokomo community, about 10 km from Riketa, where three people died and several others injured.

The raid which took place into the early morning of Wednesday caught most of the villagers unaware, many who are said to be women and children, who were either hacked or burned to death.

Regional police deputy chief Joseph Kitur said 48 people were killed on the spot, while four more died of their wounds later. However Red Cross officials in the region said they have counted 59 dead bodies and suggest the death toll could be higher.

“The victims included 31 women, 11 children and six men,” Mr Kitur said. The police are said to have heavily deployed the area to prevent further attacks, though no arrests linking the clashes are reported to have been made so far.

Area Member of Parliament Danson Mungatana in protest of the attacks, has accused the government of “laxity and reluctance” in failing to prevent the clashes, demanding for an official ministerial statement.

Violence between the two ethnic communities has been simmering for a while, over access of the region’s fertile land and waters from the Tana River. The two groups have been engrossed in long-standing enmity over cattle rustling and grazing and farming rights in the region, one of the poorest in the country, with very little infrastructure.

In 2001 a spate of clashes in the same between the two communities left at least 130 people dead.

The clashes come as the country gears for general elections in March next year. Over 1200 people died and some 600,000 others were displaced in clashes that ensued, following the disputed 2007 presidential polls.

 Pretoria, South Africa

South Africa Holds Memorial for Victims of Mine Clashes

South Africa held a national memorial service Thursday, for the 44 people killed in deadly clashes in the north-western Marikana platinum mine and police shooting last week.

Previously ten people including two police officers were killed at the British-owned Lonmin platinum mines in Marikana, west of the capital, Pretoria, during clashes involving members of two rival unions which began August 10.

Last week 34 miners were gunned down by the police at the same mine after the workers went on strike demanding higher pay. This is the country’s bloodiest police action since end of the racial apartheid era more than 20 years ago.

Police said they opened fire last week because the striking miners wielding machetes and clubs had refused to lay down their weapons. The deadly clashes have been blamed on union rivalry between   The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which has seen formidable violence at platinum mines since January.

Major platinum mines closed to allow workers to attend the memorial services which will be conducted in different towns across the country, since most of the workers were migrant workers.

Main service held at Lonmin, the site of the shooting has attracted politicians, religious leaders and throngs of miners and local community. Services are also expected to be conducted in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Mthatha in rural Eastern Cape Province, since most of the bodies have been sent back to their respective home villages.

On Tuesday Lonmin said it was dropping threats to fire workers if they failed to end the strike, which it termed as being illegal. South African President Jacob Zuma in his bid to ease tension and address concerns of the workers has promised to set up a judicial into the violence.

"The president has undertaken that before the end of the week the terms of reference and composition of the commission of enquiry will be complete," said Mac Maharaj, Zuma’s spokesman.

Zuma who is not expected to attend any of the memorial services, has faced criticism over his handling of the situation that could hurt investor confidence. Concerns are high over the spread of the unrest to other parts of the expansive South African mining sector, following incidents of workers demanding pay rise being reported in two other platinum mines.

The striking miners who currently earn between 4,000 and 5,000 rand ($486-$608) a month, want their salary increased to 12,500 rand. But the company says most workers are paid about 10,500 rand, if bonuses are added.