KENYA:Riots hit Kenya's western city of Kisumu last night after President Mwai Kibaki unveiled part of his new cabinet in an apparent attempt to cement his position after flawed elections, writes Rob Crillyin Nairobi.
Witnesses said protesters built burning barricades and stoned cars in the city which is a stronghold of the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. Police fired into the air to disperse crowds. There were similar scenes in Nairobi slums where rioters brandished machetes.
The violence dashes hopes that the country was returning to calm after a week of violent clashes that had killed about 600 people. It comes as John Kufuor, the Ghanaian president, arrived in the country as part of an African Union mediation effort. The opposition, which says Mr Kibaki holds power illegally after rigging the election, had earlier rejected meeting with the government to end the violence.
Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), said Kibaki's announcement had no legal basis and made a mockery of his agreement to enter serious negotiations with Mr Kufuor mediating.
"This is the latest and most serious of many efforts by Mr Kibaki to undermine the Kufuor mission," a statement said.
Kenya, long seen as east Africa's most stable country, has been engulfed by violence since elections at the end of last year.
Early results had put Mr Odinga ahead before Mr Kibaki secured a narrow victory. But it came after suspicions of vote rigging. The UN has launched an emergency relief effort and estimates that about 250,000 people have been displaced during the unrest. Mr Kibaki briefly met Mr Kufuor at the airport last night after naming part of his new cabinet in a televised address.
"In naming the cabinet, I have considered the importance of keeping the country united, peaceful and prosperous and a strong broad-based leadership," he said.
It included two members of ODM-Kenya, whose leader Kalonzo Musyoka came third in the ballot. He was named vice-president. The appointments include Kiraitu Murungi and George Saitoti who have been implicated in corruption scandals.
It also emerged yesterday that US presidential hopeful Barack Obama had taken time off his crucial campaigning in the New Hampshire primary to urge Kenyan leaders to seek peace.