Inter-Ethnic Scores Settled in Nakuru

26 January 2008 BBC

Some of the latest violence seems to be revenge attacks by Kikuyus

Terrifying mobs of young men armed with panga (machetes), rungus (wooden clubs) and bows and arrows stormed through the streets of Nakuru the market town, the capital of Kenya's Rift Valley. More than a dozen people have been killed in a frenzy of violence in the town, and dozens of properties have been torched and destroyed. Many Kikuyus, driven from their homes in other parts of the Rift Valley, have come to Nakuru in the past three weeks seeking shelter. They accuse mobs of Kalenjins, another tribal group, of launching attacks.

The fighting has now taken on a different complexity old inter-ethnic scores, some going back generations are being settled. Many relate to disputes over land which different communities claim was stolen from them.