Close ally of Kenya's president calls for election result review

Kenya's attorney general has called for an independent investigation into the results of the presidential election that has plunged the country into turmoil and seen more than 300 people killed. Amos Wako -- who is seen as a close ally of President Mwai Kibaki, the winner of the disputed poll on Dec. 27 -- warned in a televized statement that Kenya was "quickly degenerating into a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions." "It is necessary... that a proper tally of the valid certificates returned and confirmed should be undertaken immediately on a priority basis by an agreed and independent person or body," he said. Western diplomats have been pushing for an independent review of the vote, but there is concern that the official forms have been tampered with since the results were announced. The review would serve as a mediation tool since only the constitutional court could unseat Kibaki, Wako said. But there were few signs that the government would accept his recommendation. Kibaki gave a press conference the night before in which he called for "dialogue with concerned parties once the nation is calm and the political temperatures are lowered enough," but made no mention of the vote review. Instead, he said that the election result was fair. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement, led by Raila Odinga, would have to go to court with its claims about vote rigging, he said. Kibaki also accused the opposition of encouraging the chaos. "I am deeply disturbed by the senseless violence instigated by some leaders." Odinga has refused to take his complaint to the courts, accusing them of being allied to the government. He repeated his call for mass action after the rally he had planned for a park in central Nairobi on jan. 3 was canceled because of a police blockade of all roads into town. "We will march again to Uhuru Park tomorrow, and every day until the president steps down," Odinga said. In Kibera, Kenya's largest slum, police fired teargas and water cannons at protesters trying to make their way to town. A church was burned, and houses, shops and cars were also set on fire. Elsewhere, large groups of men, many clutching oranges, the opposition symbol, marched towards town, shouting "peace" and waving leaves and a few white flags. They attempted to burn down a gas station before being dispersed by riot police. In Mathare, another volatile slum in the capital, rival groups of youths stoned each other, and several people were reported to have died. There was violence in several other cities, including Mombasa, although not on the scale of previous days. Uhuru Park was ringed by thousands of riot police from early morning. The few dozen opposition supporters who made it through gathered outside the luxury Serena hotel next to the park, occasionally shouting abuse at the police. When teargas canisters were fired, protesters and journalists escaped the smoke by pushing past security into the hotel. Desmond Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town, was staying at the Serena after flying in to try to mediate in the crisis. "This is a country that has been held up as a model of stability," he told reporters. "This picture has been shattered." But a government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said outside help was not necessary. "We are not in a civil war," he said. Government ministers, however, have claimed that genocide is occurring against Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group. The finance minister, Amos Kimunya, described the opposition leaders and supporters as "warlords" and "fundamentalists." Mwalimu Mati, a Nairobi civil society leader, said: "The language of the government does not indicate the mindset of a negotiator. I don't see any way out of this soon." Hundreds of thousands of people have already been displaced, mostly in western Kenya, and thousands have crossed over the border to Uganda. The turmoil in east Africa's biggest economy is being felt across the region. Landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi rely heavily on road freight from Mombasa. Since the election few trucks have made it across the country due to hundreds of checkpoints erected by opposition supporters, as well as the police blockades on the main road through Nairobi. Fuel rationing has already been introduced in Rwanda, while the World Food Program warned that essential relief destined for Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan had been delayed.