Thursday, January 17, 2013

Residents in election hotspots take charge of their security as poll fever grips towns



British High Commissioner to Kenya Dr Christian Turner (right) on January 15, 2013, views graves of people who perished after the Kiambaa, Kenya Assemblies of God Church in Eldoret town was burnt during the 2007/2008 post-election violence. Photo/JARED NYATAYA
By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Thursday, January 17  2013 at  00:30
In Summary
  • People living in these areas have beefed up security around their premises and homes as traders cut down on their stock in case of attacks
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Residents of counties mapped out as election hotspots are preparing for peaceful elections on March 4, but they are not taking any chances on their security should violence break out as happened in 2007, a Nation survey shows.
Interviews with residents in some of the hotspots confirm that a number have opted to beef up security around their premises and homes to safeguard against break-ins during the election period.
Demand for land has gone down in some areas as buyers develop a wait-and-see attitude, perhaps to renew their interest after the elections should they turn out to be peaceful.
Some traders have cut down their stocks, preferring leaner merchandise to minimise losses in case of attacks.
“The election fear is something that any person who was affected by the previous chaos cannot wish away,” said Mr Geoffrey Oduori, a mechanic in Eldoret town who hails from Busia County.
Uasin Gishu Chamber of Commerce chairman Charles Mose told the Nation such panic was expected, especially for those who witnessed the post-election chaos in 2008.
“It is natural that the fear is there but we have been assured by the Provincial Administration that this time round, it will be peaceful,” he said.
Already, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has dispatched 80 monitors to the regions to monitor the election campaigns.
The regions include Nairobi, Kisumu, Kwale, Kilifi, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru and Isiolo.
Many Kenyans especially those who were affected in the 2007/08 post-election violence are not taking any chance.
Mr Oduori was uprooted from a rental house he occupied barely a kilometre from Chepkoilel University College, along the Eldoret-Ziwa road,  just a day after President Kibaki was declared the winner of the 2007 presidential election. (EDITORIAL: Yes, monitor hotspots)
“They told me they had no problem with me but I was staying in a wrong house,” he explained
He packed and left with his wife and two children.

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