Local Search Site Search

- Local
- National
- World
- Campaign '08
- Business
- Education
- Health
- Science
- NECN
- Obituaries
- Special reports
- Traffic
- Weather

THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

- Home /
- News /
- World /
- Africa

# Slaying sparks riots in Kenya

## Motive unclear on lawmaker's death

| Opposition supporters, one armed with a machete, destroyed parts of a gas station sign in Kisumu, Kenya, yesterday. (Associated Press)

Email|Print| Text size – + By Jeffrey Gettleman
New York Times News Service / February 1, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya - A second Kenyan opposition lawmaker was shot dead yesterday and riots immediately exploded in opposition strongholds.

The violence led to the postponement of talks being brokered by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, and the current secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, said he would travel to Nairobi today to help address the crisis.

The lawmaker who was killed, David Kimutai Too, was shot by a police officer in Eldoret in the country's volatile Rift Valley, where many people have been killed or have fled their homes, but Kenyan government officials were quick to say the latest killing was connected to an illicit love triangle. The opposition, however, called it an assassination.

"This is the part of the strategy to reduce the number of parliamentarians," said Salim Lone, a spokesman for the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga.

Too was the second opposition lawmaker to be killed in two days in a spiral of violence that has claimed more than 800 lives in the country, pushing Kenya to the brink of disaster.

The trouble began with a disputed election in December, in which Kenya's president, Mwai Kibaki, was declared the winner despite widespread evidence of vote rigging, and the violence has steadily moved, town by town, death by death, across the country.

On Tuesday, Melitus Mugabe Were, a popular opposition member of Parliament, was dragged from his car and shot dead in his driveway by two armed thugs. Were's friends and family say he was not robbed and the killing was a professional assassination.

Annan, who has emphasized that time is running out in Kenya, told reporters that because of the second slaying of a legislator, "we have postponed this afternoon's session and we will work all day tomorrow so that the leaders can attend to urgent matters."

Too was a member of the Kalenjin ethnic group, which has supported the opposition. In the days after the election, Kalenjins swept across the countryside burning homes that belonged to Kikuyus, Kibaki's ethnic group, and killing many Kikuyus. In one attack, a Kalenjin mob burned to death up to 50 people hiding in a church. Too's killing seemed to send a shock wave of outrage - and panic - across Kenya.

In Kisumu, an opposition stronghold in the far west of Kenya, mobs of young men tore through the streets, burning tires, hurling rocks, and blockading roads. They didn't seem to accept the government's explanation of the killing, and it seems that even if Too's death had nothing to do with the incredibly volatile political situation here, it is bound to be interpreted in that way.

"We won't believe what they say," said Willis Omondi, a protester with a sling in his hand. "We know the government is involved. Kibaki's government will never work in Kenya. We will paralyze them even if they kill our leaders."

According to government authorities, Too was driving in his car with a female police officer whose boyfriend was also a police officer. The boyfriend drove alongside them on a motorcycle and shot and killed both.

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

### more stories like this

- Email
- Email
- Print
- Print
- Single page
- Single page
- Reprints
- Reprints
- Share
- Share
- Comment
- Comment

- Share on Digg
- Share on Facebook
- Save this article
- powered by Del.icio.us

Your Name Your e-mail address (for return address purposes) E-mail address of recipients (separate multiple addresses with commas) Name and both e-mail fields are required.
Message (optional)
Disclaimer: Boston.com does not share this information or keep it permanently, as it is for the sole purpose of sending this one time e-mail.
Advertisement

### Most popular

- E-Mailed
- Searched

### MOST E-MAILED STORIES

1. Complete list of summer events
2. Merck moves on from Vioxx
3. Boston police warn women of predator on downtown streets
4. Lawyers for Gitmo detainees endorse Obama

rising falling | Full list | About
See full list

### HOT SEARCHES

- – Foreclosed Homes
- – Groundhog Day
- – Butt Enhancing Panties
- – Patriots

- About this list

More in search