Speaking to AfricaNews.com, Steve Oudo, a resident of Mathare slum said the attackers who struck at night were dressed in black and were armed with machetes. It is reported that young Kikuyu youths have been recruited to evict non-Kikuyu's from houses in the slum.

In Kibera and Huruma slums, residents continue to live in fear as gangs of marauding youth continue to man streets in no-go zones for members of the rival community. The Luo have assembled the Bagdad boys, Taliban youth, Sakina youth, Dallas youth all drawn from the Luo community while the Kikuyus are relying on the Mungiki to manage affairs in the slums.

“We are moving from door to door asking people to identify themselves because we do not want outsiders in here. We now own everything within our space and they (Kikuyus) who originally lived here have surrendered their houses to us since they had to move to their territory. Everyone here must respect the Gaza Strip in Kibera and Mathare", Owino a member of Taliban told AfricaNews.com

At least two people were reported killed and a dozen sustained injuries when violence erupted in the slum on Tuesday nights. Police have mounted a door to door search of members of the out-lawed Mungiki sect who have been terrorizing residents.

"They were over hundred youths armed with bows and arrows, many of them were dressed in black, they told us that they are under instruction not to kill anybody but to force us out of our houses",  Oudo told AfricaNews.com.

Schools in the slums have also been temporarily suspended due to lack of security for pupils and teachers.

Despite the progress so far achieved in the mediation talks and the latest boost from the United States, tension built up over the delay to reach a political settlement. President Mwai Kibaki yesterday announced that any form of deal must conform to the existing constitution casting doubt for an agreed deal in the nearest time possible.

In the areas that were most affected by the post-election violence, fear is raising over the uncertainty of a power-sharing deal between ODM's Raila Odinga and PNU's Mwai Kibaki who have come under international pressure to resolve Kenya's political crisis.

Fears of a plot to recruit militias in Rift Valley and in Nakuru are being confirmed as both parties maintain hard-line positions.

"We are watching at the pace of the talks and hope that they will succeed. However, in case they fail, we have a plan B that will lead to regime change in Kenya. Kibaki should pave the way for credible leadership or prepared to take the responsibility", said a militiaman who spoke anonymously to AfricaNews.com

During the post-election violence, Kericho and Eldoret were swept through by a wave of systematic ethnic cleansing pitting the Kikuyu tribe against the Kalenjin.

The opposition Orange Democratic Movement of Raila Odinga accuses President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, for stealing the December 27 vote..

Analsyst including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is chairing the mediation talks aimed at brokering peace between ODM and PNU, described the attacks against the Kikuyu community as 'ethnically motivated cleansing' and called for the UN involvement in investigating the killings.

Kenya stands divided along ethnic lines, and perhaps the worst is yet to happen as the talks hang on the balance.

Across the political divide, expectations are high that a power-sharing arrangement would be reached soon as most Kenyans struggle with the fragile economy which has witnessed its almost recession peak in the last one month.

See the whole Tip-to-Annan series

See videos on post-election Kenya and on the whole election coverage
See the Kenya Protest - Day One photo gallery
See The Kenya Protest - Day Two photo gallery
See the Nakuru displaced photo gallery
See the burial of violence victim photo gallery


Keywords: kenya_elections