Open Doors Calls for Prayers in Kenyan Crisis

SANTA ANA, Calif. (Jan. 8, 2008) – Kenyans across the political divide prayed for peace on Sunday while aid workers sought to bring relief to nearly 200,000 refugees from post-election violence that has killed at least 300 people so far, reports the Reuters News Agency.
“Our leaders have failed us. They have brought this catastrophe upon us. So now we are turning to the Almighty to save Kenya,” one Nairobi worshipper said.
Kenyans went to the polls on December 27. On December 30 Mwai Kibaki of the ruling party won the election by a very narrow margin. He was hurriedly sworn in as president after beating Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement. Both sides alleged massive rigging.

The disputed polls unleashed vicious tribalism around Kenya. The protests, riots and looting that started after the announcement of Kibaki’s re-election created grave concerns over the future of democracy in all of east Africa. Both sides accuse the other of ethnic cleansing.

The unrest has touched off deep ethnic tensions, specially in the rural areas. On January 1 about 30 members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe died when a mob set fire to the church where they had taken sanctuary in the western town of Eldoret. Young men with machetes manned roadblocks and hunted down their enemies. It was one the worst outbursts of violence that has allegedly uprooted nearly 100,000 Kenyans, some fleeing to Uganda. On January 2 there were growing examples of revenge killings by Kikuyu militants. In the town of Naivasha in the Rift Valley, scores of people were injured in retaliation for the church killings. Full Story