NAIROBI, Kenya, JAN. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A bishop in strife-torn Kenya said one of the most urgent needs in the country is burying the many dead, victims of political and ethnic violence that erupted after the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election..
Bishop Cornelius Kipng'eno Arap Korir of Eldoret in West Kenya informed the charity organization Aid to the Church in Need that most of the estimated 100 people killed in his diocese during the riots have still not been buried.
According to a statement from the charity organization, Bishop Arap Korir reported that "the people are afraid of recovering the dead because they would be in danger. […] So many bodies are still lying around in houses."
The victims in the Diocese of Eldoret are just one-fifth of those who have died in the post-election violence; one-sixth according to some estimates, as numbers keep rising.
President Mwai Kibaki, who claims he was re-elected in the Dec. 27 contest, told citizens that the election issue was settled and there would be no new vote or recount. But as he named a Cabinet mostly of his supporters Tuesday, rioting and tribal clashes continued, and residents continued fleeing to refugee sites.
Bishop Arap Korir urged the government to keep open the roads leading to Eldoret, so that humanitarian aid could reach the city. The 57-year-old prelate explained that in his diocese alone, some 100,000 had fled their homes, walking miles to seek refuge in churches.
According to Aid to the Church in Need, "The Church has nowhere near enough room to cope with all the refugees."
"People are spending the night out in the cold," Bishop Arap Korir lamented. "Some children have even died of exhaustion."
