US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday urged Kenyans to work together to ensure “transparent” elections next year and avoid a repeat of the deadly post-poll violence four years ago. “We urge that the nation come together and prepare for elections that will be a real model for the entire world,” the top US diplomat said after talks with President Mwai Kibaki in Nairobi on the latest leg of her Africa tour. Kenya plunged into violence after the December 2007 election in which Prime Minister Raila Odinga — then opposition chief — accused Kibaki as the incumbent president of having rigged his re-election. What began as political riots soon turned into ethnic killings targeting members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe, who in turn launched reprisal attacks in the country’s worst violence since independence in 1963. Kenya, East Africa’s economic powerhouse, is due in March to hold its first general elections since the violence.
