Excerpt
SUMMARY: After the disputed presidential election of December 2007, Kenya fell into chaos as neighbors from different tribal ethnic groups turned on each other in violence. Five years later, Kenyans are worried that history may repeat itself as they prepare for new elections. Special correspondent Kira Kay reports.
GWEN IFILL (Newshour): .....to the East African nation of Kenya. It's a close ally of the United States in a very unstable region, a partner in the war on terror and an economic ray of hope on the continent.
Kenyans go to the polls Monday to elect a new president for the first time since 2007, and it's an election that will be watched far beyond the nation's borders.
Special correspondent Kira Kay was in Kenya recently and filed this report.
KIRA KAY: Near Eldoret, Kenya, there is a cemetery that is small in size, but large in meaning. Mary and Haron Macharia have come to visit the grave of their daughter Joyce.
MARY MACHARIA, (through translator): I feel weak when I remember my child. It is easier to forget when I am far away from here.
KIRA KAY: On New Year's Day 2008, Mary, two-year-old Joyce, and hundreds of others fled to the church that once stood here, as an angry mob descended on them.
MARY MACHARIA (through translator): They stabbed us with spears and threw stones at us. We scrambled into the church, but they lit it on fire.
KIRA KAY: The Eldoret church burning was the worst case of the violence that spread across Kenya following disputed presidential elections in December 2007. Neighbors of different tribal ethnicities turned on each other, and this nation of 42 million people plunged into chaos.
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