Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term yesterday amid violent clashes between police and opposition supporters that left several dead.
More than 50 people are believed to have beeen killed over the past four months as Kenya has been gripped by political turmoil following two disputed election polls.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
AFP reported police firing volleys of teargas and beating opposition supporters who had gathered for a “memorial rally” honouring all those who have lost their lives since the trouble began. Associated Press reported that three people died attempting to enter the stadium where the swearing in ceremony was being held.
The violence stems from a decision by the Supreme Court to annul an August original election result because of what it described as “irregularities and illegalities”. Kenyatta subsequently secured a landslide 98% of votes cast in October’s re-run after the main opposition leader and presidential hopeful, Raila Odinga, called for his supporters to boycott the election.
However, despite the Supreme Court validating his victory, Kenyatta’s swearing-in appears not to have eased the political crisis.
The disputed election season has split the country along ethnic and regional lines, with “the current political crisis drawing on a deep well of social, ethnic and geographic grievances in the country of around 48 million people”, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Odinga has vowed to “fight on” regardless, announcing plans to be sworn in himself next month following a programme of protests and boycotts aimed at undermining Kenyatta’s “dictatorship”.
-
6 homes with incredible balconiesFeature Featuring a graceful terrace above the trees in Utah and a posh wraparound in New York City
-
Did Alex Pretti’s killing open a GOP rift on guns?Talking Points Second Amendment groups push back on the White House narrative
-
The 8 best hospital dramas of all timethe week recommends From wartime period pieces to of-the-moment procedurals, audiences never tire of watching doctors and nurses do their lifesaving thing
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
