Kenyan cabinet outlines efforts to curb unrest in troubled eastern region

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The Kenyan cabinet has taken additional steps to end the tribal violence in the coastal region of Tana River, where up to 110 people have been killed in recent skirmishes.

The cabinet, at a meeting chaired by President Mwai Kibaki late Thursday, supported the imposition of a curfew in Tana River and the deployment of additional security personnel in the region.

It said any person found to have participated, funded or issued inciting statements should be arrested and arraigned in court.

A deputy minister from the Tana River region, Dhado Godana, has been fired, arrested and charged to court over the violence.

The cabinet also ordered the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the violence, which has pitched the Pokomo and Orma tribes against each other in a deadly dispute over Orma-owned cattle grazing on land the Pokomo claim. It wants the report of the probe within 30 days.

The cabinet said it supported the measures taken by the President, including the deployment of 1,300 more police personnel to help quell the violence.
-0- PANA AO/SEG 14Sept2012