Death Toll Mounts in Kenyan Town

In the Kenyan town of Nakuru armed gangs are manning roadblocks; to date 25 people have been murdered in the ethnic clashes that began on Thursday. A Reuters report says that paramilitary police are patrolling the Rift Valley provincial capital which had previous escaped the post-election violence. Journalists were prevented from reaching the scene by youths wielding machetes and clubs. "There is nothing we can do. All those who are fanning the violence are staying comfortably in their luxury homes while we burn," said resident Urunga Maina, who rushed his nephew to hospital after he was hacked by a machete-wielding mob. "We are being used as sacrificial lambs," Maina said. "What matters is that the politicians take what they want. They don't care about the wananchi (ordinary people)." Over 100 people have been admitted to the local hospital including one man who had an arrow in his head. Local authorities have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in an attempt to control the violence. In the village of Naivasha which is also located in the Rift Valley two men were hacked to death. The recent violence has pitted members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe against Luos and Kalenjins who backed Odinga and it appears that the local security forces were caught off guard. Benson Waliaula, 36 is a security guard at a bank in the town and he claims to have seen Kibaki supporters chase down one man and kill him. "They tore his clothes off first then killed him with blows of a panga (machete). It took him some time to die. The police were just watching. There was nothing they could do," he said. Apparently the Nakuru police mostly stayed in their barracks on Friday, seemingly unsure how to contain the chaos. Morris Ouma is a 25-year-old trader who claims he took part in the fighting. "I didn't feel good about it, but they are killing our people. What shall we do?" he asked. "We had to push them (the Kikuyus) away to protect our land. The enemy comes, so you have to be strong."