Kenya Opposition Vows Strikes, Boycotts

[January 18, 2008]  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Their protests weakened by a harsh police crackdown, Kenya's opposition said Friday it would turn to economic boycotts and strikes to keep up pressure against President Mwai Kibaki over his disputed re-election.

Opposition spokesman Salim Lone vowed protesters would take to the streets for a third and final day despite the tough response from police, who have dispersed rowdy crowds with tear gas and bullets.

Next, the opposition will call for a "boycott of companies owned by hard-liners who are around Mr. Kibaki," including one of Kenya's biggest banks, a prominent bus company and a major dairy producer. Lone also said they would work with unions "to organize strikes in selected industries," Lone said. He declined to give details.

Kenya, one of Africa's most stable and prosperous nations, exploded in violence after the Dec. 27 election, the tightest race in the country's history. Kibaki's main challenger, Raila Odinga, insists the president stole the vote, and international observers and the electoral chief have question the results.

The economy is already reeling from the unrest, which has kept away tourists who flock to the East African nation's primeval wildlife reserves, providing billions of dollars in revenue.

Odinga's supporters rose up after the results were announced, burning homes, clashing with police and exposing long-simmering ethnic tensions. More than 600 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes, the worst violence since a failed 1982 coup attempt.

At least 11 people have died since Wednesday, when the opposition started three days of protests. Police cracked down fiercely as protests lost steam.

Overnight in Nairobi's Mathare slum, mobs attacked and wounded eight people and killed another, said resident Alice Nduko, 35. An Associated Press photographer saw the slain man's body by the side of a road, the back of his head split open.

Nduko fled to a neighboring air force base with about 200 other people. In a muddy plastic bag at her feet was a neighbor's severed hand, which she said had been hacked off a mob. She said she retrieved it "as evidence."

"They've been killing our neighbors," said Nkuko, who is an ethnic Kikuyu like Kibaki. "We came here because we are afraid."

Despite his call for strikes and more protests, Lone said Odinga was open to dialogue. "We are completely ready to negotiate in good faith," he said. "Our people are suffering."

Kibaki's government has made similar statements, but envoys from the U.S. and the African Union have failed to bring the two rivals together for talks.

Three former African presidents -- Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa, Mozambique's Joachim Chissano and Botswana's Ketumile Masire were in Nairobi to take over the mediation effort.

We told them "what we want and they are going to convey that to the other side," Odinga said after meeting with the three Friday. He said the statesmen had also met with Kibaki.

The opposition has called for Kibaki to step down and acknowledge that the election's vote count was skewed. They have also called for a transitional government.

The United States blamed both Kibaki and Odinga for the unrest.

"There are clashes because of the political deadlock," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, adding it was "beyond time" for the two to reach a political accommodation.

[Associated Press; By TODD PITMAN]

Associated Press Writers Katharine Houreld, Malkhadir M. Muhumed, and Todd Pitman in Nairobi; Elizabeth A. Kennedy in Eldoret; and Katy Pownall in Kisumu contributed to this report.

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