NAIROBI, Jan 27: At least 14 people burned to death in their homes on Sunday as ethnic clashes spread to Kenya’s Rift Valley town of Naivasha, overshadowing a push to resolve the post-election crisis by Kofi Annan.

Nine people were killed earlier in clashes between gangs of youths in the slums of the lakeside tourist town, bringing the toll in the western Rift Valley since Thursday to 130.

“We have found 14 bodies burnt in houses,” a police commander said. “It appears the attackers locked them in and set them ablaze.” The former UN chief, on his sixth day in Kenya on Sunday, met in Nairobi with opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of victory in last month’s election which returned President Mwai Kibaki to power.

Close to 900 people have now been killed, according to a tally of police and hospital figures, since the disputed Dec 27 election touched off a wave of deadly rioting and ethnic killings. Some 260,000 people across the country have been forced to flee their homes.

Latent ethnic and land disputes have fuelled revenge killings in western Kenya between Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe and members of the Luo and Kalenjin ethnic groups who supported Odinga. Most of the new fatalities were workers from local flower farms, the police commander said.

“Police experienced difficulties getting into the houses,” he said. “They forced their way in and found bodies of men, women and children burnt beyond recognition.” Gangs armed with machetes and bows and arrows have led clashes throughout the western Rift Valley.

Police confirmed that an unspecified number of people had died in ethnic clashes between scores of youths in Naivasha’s Kabati slums earlier on Sunday.

“We have deaths,” said local police commander Willy Lugusa.

A correspondent there counted five charred bodies in houses, three others that had been hacked to death, and said one policeman had been accidentally shot dead by a colleague.

In Nakuru on Sunday, many residents complained that the police were not doing enough to help them and said they were standing by as machete-wielding youths prepared for more battles.

“The police came here and ordered us to surrender our arms but are not doing anything to protect us. At the moment we are still insecure,” said 22-year-old Cosmas Makori, whose house was burnt down in a Nakuru slum on Friday.

On Sunday, trucks piled with luggage were seen transporting thousands of people who had fled their homes, and a new displacement camp was set up in the town’s biggest sports stadium.

Annan said on Saturday that unrest set off by Kibaki’s disputed re-election had led to “gross and systematic” human rights abuses and called for an investigation.

“Impunity cannot be allowed to stand,” he said, after visiting the violence-wracked Rift Valley with former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and Graca Machel, wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

As Annan continued talks with political officials, Musalia Mudavadi, from Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement, said progress had been made towards preparing talks with Kibaki.

“Our side and the other side will appoint three negotiators and an additional person as a liaison person,” Mudavadi told journalists.—AFP