September (Web-only) 2002

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Anglican Archbishop of Kenya says government is trying to kill him as he retires
After a potentially deadly car crash with a police cruiser, the Anglican Archbishop of Kenya says the national government is trying to kill him. "I am now asking President Moi to say who wants me dead. It is only through the grace of God that I am alive today," David Gitari said during a Nairobi church service Sunday. "I will not be cowed by anyone."

Gitari, who retires later this month, has been very critical of the national government, especially President Daniel arap Moi. He was also the victim of an apparent assassination attempt in 1989 — and the government inquiry into the attack was never made public.

However, Gitari also suspects that it may have been an issue of local revenge: the police car hit him at the same spot where he had earlier busted police officers for taking bribes from motorists.

The description of the accident by Gitari's driver makes it sound deliberate: "I was in the inner lane and the police car was on the outer one. The police car was a few meters ahead and the driver suddenly swerved into my lane without flashing the indicator."

And indeed, there have been other recent troubles in the country. Anglican pastor Francis Keya Mukhwana was shot dead by police officers last Wednesday in a reported drug raid gone bad.

But Friday's accident could have been merely another of the country's tragic traffic mishaps. Attendees of a convention by the Anglican Mothers' Union last month, for example, experienced two serious collisions. In one, six women were killed.

Police Commissioner Philemon Abong'o says the police officer driving the car was to blame, but that the accident wasn't part of any plot against Gitari.

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