By Jack Kimball
Solomon Muhandi dips his brush again into a small cup, his hands dotted with irregular white spots.
Messages like "Keep Peace" and "Kenya Needs Peace" decorate speed bumps and corrugated iron walls in the Kibera slum, scene of some of the most intense violence as police clashed with opposition protesters and rival tribes fought last month.
Hundreds of thousands more have fled their homes.
Muhandi said he started painting missives on shacks and shops after ethnic gangs looted and burned shops and churches.
Gutted buildings and burned-out churches dot the main road to Kibera, remnants of violence that engulfed the slum in the post-election bloodletting.
What started as a dispute over the vote has since opened up divisions over land, wealth and power that date from British colonial rule and have been stoked by Kenyan politicians.
The opposition says the government rigged the election -- a charge Kibaki's administration dismisses.
Surrounded by canvas paintings in his small studio, Muhandi says Kenya must first have peace before it tackles its deep social wounds and inequalities.
(For special coverage from Reuters on Kenya's crisis see: http://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/)
