A government minister pleaded innocent in court on Wednesday to charges of inciting violence in which over 100 people have been shot, hacked and burnt to death in strife over land and water in Kenya's coastal region, according to Reuters. The scale and sudden intensity of the unrest over the past month has led many Kenyans to believe the bloodshed was instigated for political reasons and raised fears of serious tribal unrest ahead of elections next March. Assistant Livestock Minister Dhadho Godana pleaded not guilty to incitement, was freed on bail and is to reappear in court on Oct. 2. Magistrate Lucy Nyambura ordered Godana to refrain from making public comments about the violence. Godana, whose constituency is located in the Tana Delta that was engulfed in the violence, had accused a political rival, acting Internal Security Minister Yusuf Haji, of whipping up the unrest, according to local media. The charge sheet said that Godana, "without lawful excuse, uttered words which were meant to cause deaths or physical injury to residents of Tana Delta". Local media alleged that Godana made the comments in the village of Kilelengwani a day after hundreds of assailants killed at least 38 inhabitants and torched houses. Haji, who is also the defence minister, represents another constituency flanking the Tana River and is from a different tribe to Godana. Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists have clashed intermittently for years over access to grazing, farmland and water in the coastal region. An influx of weapons in past years has upped the stakes. -- SPA
