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Kenya

Kenya presidential elections violence situation report No. 2

Highlights

- Mass rally in central Nairobi postponed till Tuesday as police blocked demonstrators from reaching public park

- Country-wide violence continues unabated and access is still hampered to affected areas

- WFP sending team to Eldoret in Rift Valley to work with Kenya Red Cross Society

- OCHA Uganda reports that 300 more people have fled into Uganda bringing the total figure to 1,300

Security situation

There have been clashes between police and protesters in the street of Nairobi including the Kibera and Mathare slum areas and other locations after demonstrators tried to reach the central Uhuru Park where a mass rally had been announced but was later called off. Police fired live rounds, teargas and used water cannons at demonstrators but later in the day Nairobi centre was relatively calm. The rally was rescheduled for Tuesday. There were no confirmed reports of deaths or injuries from these clashes. Country-wide, various sources estimate that the total number of killed stands at 300.

In the flashpoint Eldoret (Rift Valley Province) some communities (the number of people not known) were being assisted by security forces to leave the town and trucks and vehicles with escorts were observed heading towards Nakuru-Nairobi, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) confirmed.

The violence in Kenya has forced the cancellation of UN Humanitarian Service (UNHAS) flights from Nairobi to Somalia.

Humanitarian situation

Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) clarified their estimation of people in need of immediate humanitarian assistance and said that there is currently over 100,000 people country-wide affected and/or displaced. KRCS emphasizes that they do not yet have country-wide statistics due to lack of access to affected areas across Kenya.

Humanitarian action

WFP will provide food through the Kenya Red Cross Society. A problem is the difficulty in reaching areas in western and central Kenya. Movements of WFP food in Kenya, both for western Kenya and the entire region, are currently frozen because of insecurity.

The Kenyan government has made 1,800 metric tons of cereal available which can feed 120,000 people for one month. WFP is to complement this with beans/lentils and vegetable oil for 100,000 people for one month in Rift Valley. Meanwhile, 15 WFP trucks are still stranded in Nairobi, each truck carrying 34 tons of food. WFP is sending a team to Eldoret to liaise with KRCS in the response efforts.

Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) is leaving on a joint assessment mission by helicopter with the Ministry of Health tomorrow to the entire western area of Kenya, MSF confirmed.

Regional implications

In the past week a total of 200 WFP-contracted trucks in Mombasa were loaded with 30,000 metric tons of food - enough to feed 1, 5 million people for a month - destined for Uganda, Southern Sudan, Somalia and the eastern Dem. Rep. of Congo but they have so far been unable to leave the port due to insecurity.

However, 20 previously stranded trucks with WFP food west of Nakuru were able to leave the town with security force escort and headed to Southern Sudan, Uganda and eastern Dem. Rep. of Congo.

OCHA Uganda reports that 300 people have fled into Uganda bringing the total number of displaced from Kenya to 1300. The movements are precautionary rather than as a result of fighting.

There have not been any reports of movements from Kenya across the border to Ethiopia.