Word: odinga
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...with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who had flown to Nairobi, the capital, to see if he could negotiate a peace. In the days since his Iowa victory, Obama has had near daily conversations with the U.S. ambassador in Nairobi, Michael Ranneberger, or with Kenya's opposition leader, Raila Odinga. Obama was trying to reach Kibaki as well...
...rigged election. For Kenya's other tribes, angry at what they regard as corrupt Kikuyu dominance of the country's politics and business, this was an outrage. Particularly angered were the Luo - the third largest in this east African nation of 36 million, whose populist candidate, Raila Odinga, was denied the presidency. Violence erupted across the country. Kyamba church burned the next...
Meanwhile, Odinga visited the city mortuary, where his aides opened up lockers and displayed the dead to the press. On the steps of the building, with the stench of bodies in the air, Odinga declared Kibaki "a thief" and added: "I have no other power to change what is happening right now. [The people] voted for change and what they got is the continuation of the status quo. So people must address the cause of this problem, not the consequence. The cause of the problem is the rigging of elections...
Prospects of a resolution are distant, not least because the rivalry between the two leaders is personal. Kibaki and Odinga were once political allies and Odinga backed Kibaki in the 2002 election, in return for a promise that Kibaki would change the constitution to create the position of Prime Minister - which he would then hand over to Odinga. That never happened and the pair fell...
Though regarded as one of Africa's most stable nations, violence has often accompanied elections in Kenya. That's because political rivalry often reflects tribal divisions. Kibaki's Kikuyu are the largest of the country's 42 tribes and have dominated politics and business since independence in 1963. Odinga is a Luo, the third largest tribe. Luos, who have never had a President, have been the most vocal in their criticism of Kikuyu dominance...