No sign of breakthrough in Kenya violence

Calls for a re-run of the Kenyan election whose result sparked days of deadly rioting were effectively dismissed by president Mwai Kibaki tonight.

He said he would only stand for re-election if the move was approved by the country’s Supreme Court, whose judges were appointed by him.

His spokesman said: “As long as the due process of law is followed and the constitution is respected the president will obey.”

When asked if the constitution allowed for a re-run, he said: “I doubt it.”

Fears that the election was rigged in Mr Kibaki’s favour ignited a spiral of violence across the country which continued today.

At least 300 people have been killed and 100,000 made homeless in protests and clashes since the election.

The unrest has taken an ugly ethnic twist, with other tribes pitted against President Kibaki’s Kikuyus, and brought chaos to a country once considered an island of stability in violence-plagued East Africa.

In Nairobi, opposition leader Raila Odinga called for a fresh election and his supporters vowed that street protests would continue today, but none materialised. Instead, armed soldiers with riot shields patrolled.

In the sprawling Kibera slum, shops remained shut and small groups of protesters gathered on street corners .

Some feared civil war would erupt.

“I am leaving because I am actually afraid,” Kenyan Brenda Simps said at Nairobi airport. He said he was going to Liberia, the West African nation struggling to recover from decades of civil war.

“I was in Liberia during the war and it started like this, so I don’t want to take chances,” he said.

Trouble has spread from Nairobi, the capital, to the western highlands and to the coast. In the coastal tourist city of Mombasa today police hurled tear gas to scatter more than 1,000 protesters.

Food shortages in Mombasa caused prices to rise. The cost of a loaf of bread more than doubled to around 75c, said local Michael Musembi.

“There is no kerosene to light lamps with. To travel round town is difficult because transporters have raised fares. In all, prices have increased because of these demonstrations,” he said, calling on the politicians to “talk to each other and find a solution so that we can get on with our lives.”

South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu, who met Mr Kibaki today and Mr Odinga yesterday, said both “indicated they are open to the possibilities of negotiations.”

Businesses have lost millions of euro and the country’s vitally important tourism industry suffered as British and other tour operators cancelled planned holidays.

The World Bank said the unrest “threatens impressive recent gains in economic growth and poverty reduction”.

The bank said the stock exchange fell by five per cent, lucrative tea auctions were suspended and farming in Kenya’s breadbasket region largely halted.

Neighbouring countries also are affected, with shiploads of goods destined for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo waiting to unload at Mombasa, the gateway to eastern Africa.