Kenya needs political unity

The clashes in Kenya may have been sparked by the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki but they have now changed grotesquely into a raw ethnic conflict pitting mainly Kalenjins and Luos, who supported the opposition, against Kibaki's Kikuyu community.

A vicious cycle is in play which the security forces are stretched to contain. It may soon be beyond the scope of political leaders to influence.

This is despite the efforts of Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, who brought Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, a Luo, together in public for the first time since the election.

The violence that we are witnessing is rooted not just in the disputed election but in decades-old tension over land and access to resources. And also in political power. If a solution to the crisis does not emerge quickly then the entire country faces a spiral into violence that will make the terrible events we have seen so far seem tame by comparison. The European Union has suggested a power-sharing agreement which the African Union say will only exacerbate an already tense situation. Kenyan leaders must put aside their tribal loyalties and realise that the country needs political unity to curb the violence before any agreement can be struck.