On 15 January, Kenya's opposition won the post of speaker of parliament, confirming its supremacy in the house and signalling legislative problems for President Mwai Kibaki after his disputed presidential election.

After three rounds of votes, Kenneth Marende, candidate of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), achieved the required simple majority to become speaker in the first session of parliament since disputed presidential election results.

Marende won 105 votes against 101 for the government candidate, outgoing speaker Francis ole Kaparo. The close vote indicated there could be a deadlock in parliament and Kibaki would have difficulty passing essential bills.

In the 222-seat parliament, despite losing the presidential elections, ODM is the largest party in the parliament after it won 99 seats. Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) won only 43 seats but it will try to garner enough support from other parties to overcome ODM obstruction. The vote indicated the opposition has the upper hand for now.

In the aftermath of the election, rioting left more than 600 people dead and scores of persons injured and their property destroyed. Just before the announcement of the results by the electoral commission of Kenya, the ODM alleged the government had rigged the elections and altered some of the figures from the constituencies in favor of president Kibaki. As a result Kibaki ‘won’ the elections with 4.5 million votes against Raila Odinga’s 4.3 million. The votes were immediately disputed by the opposition and sporadic riots begun throughout the country (except in central and eastern Kenya where the president has a large support).

Staff in the JRS regional and country offices face difficulties moving around the capital Nairobi. For instance, they come to work when transport is available. The normal pattern of life has been badly affected in Nairobi, as it has in many other parts of the country, and this is likely to continue for some time.

JRS Kenya Director, Anne Wangari, recently returned from field visits in Limuru, on the outskirts of Nairobi, and in Eldoret and Kitale dioceses in the west of the country, where respectively an estimated 45,000 and 43,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) presently reside.

In Kitale, some 17,000 IDPs have found temporary shelter in a school. However, as the school year begins, they will have to be relocated. Bishop Crawley described the situation as enormously problematic, exacerbated by long-running separatist movements in the Mount Elgon area.

For further information on the unrest in Kenya see www.jrs.net/alerts

January 20, 2008