KIMIHURURA - Rwandan Members of Parliament have condemned the post-presidential election violence in Kenya, which has cost lives in the East African biggest economy and paralyzed business the wider region. At least 350 people have been killed in continued violent protests in Kenya since last Sunday when President Mwai Kibaki was announced winner of the widely disputed election. Kibaki’s main rival Raila Odinga claims he won the vote but was robbed of victory.Already, there are serious fuel shortages in neigbouring Uganda as a result of the violence in Kenya, which is the main gateway to the sea. Also big consignments of goods, both exports and imports, en route to Uganda and her other landlocked neighbours like Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DR Congo are held up due to the crisis. There are also accusations of genocide, with Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribesmen allegedly targeted by Luo, the ethnic group of Odinga.Youth MP Francis Kaboneka said that such violence is bothering and it is absurd for Kenyan people to be engaged in such inhuman activities.He noted that Kenya has been a role model in economic development in this region.“It’s the gateway for all exports and import in our country, since the borders have been closed business is under threat,” he said.Deputy Connie Bwiza expressed her anger over the killings. “Ooh! It’s terrible I hate to see the news, there are militias with machetes killing innocent people,” she said.She called on regional and the international community to intervene and stop the violence going on before it gets worse.Deputy Henriette Sebera raised more concern on allegations of a genocide going on amidst the violence and called for speedy action to end it.“I am worried the international community may not intervene immediately and it may end up being a similar case like what happened in Rwanda from 1990 to 1994,” she said.She advised Rwandans living in Kenya to keep in touch with the Rwandan Embassy. She believes there were irregularities in vote counting and urged that justice should prevail. MP Juvenal Nkusi noted that the alleged irregularities in vote counting sparked off the violence.“The Kenyan system of controlling violence during elections has always been weak,” he charged.Meanwhile, members of a group of parliamentarians from the Great Lakes Region, Amani (Peace) Forum, which was one of the observers of the now disputed election, has said it will work jointly with other concerned parties to enhance mediation talks between Kibaki and Odinga. South African Noble Peace winner Bishop Desmond Tutu kicked off the talks in Nairobi on Thursday. Rwanda is a member of the Amani Forum. The Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Denis Polisi who is the head of Amani Forum Rwanda Chapter, said that regional MPs plan to send an independent team that will meet with both the opposition and the pro-government MPs-elect in Kenya.“The team’s mission will be to mediate the two sides and also look at possibilities of creating stability in the country,” Polisi said.About the violence in the aftermath of the election, Polisi said that any kind of killing is so sensitive and has to be stopped.He said: “At the moment we have assurances that our diplomats and Rwandan business people working in Kenya legally are safe. The Geneva Protocol gives immunity to all embassy employees working in foreign countries.“Kenya has an obligation of protecting them from any harm at whatever cost, and in case any slight mistake happens there will be an intervention in a diplomatic way.” Ends
