Kenyans seek justice for election violence

Nairobi - Most Kenyans want a handful of senior politicians and business figures accused of masterminding post-election violence earlier in 2008 to be prosecuted, a poll published on Thursday said.

About 1 300 people were killed and 300 000 driven from their homes in turmoil triggered by a disputed presidential election, but rooted in long-standing ethnic and land issues and the huge gulf between rich and poor.

The Waki Report, the result of an official inquiry into the bloodshed, accused ten unidentified senior individuals in October of systematically planning murderous tribal attacks.

The names were placed in a sealed envelope and handed to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who led foreign mediation efforts. If a special tribunal to try them was not set up by the end of January, the inquiry said, the envelope would be passed on to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The opinion poll published in the Daily Nation newspaper said 55,8 percent of Kenyans asked wanted to see the Waki Report implemented in full, while just 17,6 percent opposed it.

Others were wary, it noted, saying the report's recommendations should be implemented cautiously to avoid a return to violence that blighted east Africa's biggest economy.

It said 40,7 percent believed those identified should be offered amnesty, but only after they had confessed their crimes. The poll was conducted among 3 011 people in 22 districts.

The Waki Report has caused a political storm at a time when President Mwai Kibaki and former opposition leader Raila Odinga, now prime minister, have been working well together.

The economy has started to recover as foreign investor confidence is revived and tourists begin to return. Experts say, however, only measures to tackle the causes of the bloodshed, including constitutional and land reforms, will avoid a repeat.