Rights activist says UN must push for reforms in Kenya

Kenya will collapse into explosive violence and become a "new Somalia" unless the international community pushes for internal reforms in the country, a leading human rights activist has predicted. Mr Maina Kiai, director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, who is due to speak today at the publication of a new report by Amnesty International on human rights abuses in Kenya, said that the challenge facing the President, Mrs Robinson, in her new job with the United Nations was to ensure that human rights concerns were incorporated in every UN agency.

"You cannot just bring food and then say that your job is done. Economic and social rights must form part of the development agenda. When food aid was stolen recently, the agencies said nothing."

In Kenya, he said, the performance of many UN agencies had been "awful". Some officials were more interested in buying LandRovers and computers than in human rights.

Kenyan people had made the "mental adjustment" that the next stage of their struggle for democracy would be a violent one, Mr Kiai told a well-attended meeting in Dublin on Monday night. "People have seen the dreadful impact of power in Kenya: the tribalism, the corruption, the growth of a millionaire class. Now they're saying `it's our turn to eat'."

Mr Kiai blamed the police for recent violence which had led to 50 deaths and had severely affected the tourism industry around Mombasa. He accused the government under President Daniel arap Moi of refusing to talk to civil rights leaders, who have continued to press for constitutional reforms.

Kenya has been judged the third most corrupt country in the world, after Nigeria and Pakistan. In spite of growing unrest, President Moi is widely expected to win the elections later this year. According to Mr Kiai, the government has rigged the procedures to ensure it is re-elected.