Over 6,000 Kenyans have fled to eastern Uganda from the on-going violence after last month's disputed general election that saw incumbent president Mwai Kibaki re-elected for a second term, UN and government sources said Saturday.

Most of the displaced are huddled in camps around the border towns of Malaba and Busia and aid agencies are planning to relocate them to one encampment near the industrial town of Tororo, 200 kilometres east of the capital Kampala.

According to the office of the prime minister, on January 9 the refugee population numbered 6,130. Renewed efforts at registration will clarify the real numbers, a statement from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.

The displaced Kenyans are sheltered in school buildings, hospitals and in open places where UN agencies, government and the Uganda Red Cross are providing them food and other relief items.

Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Musa Ecweru told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Saturday that the Kenyans are still fleeing the violence which has turned ethnic and targets members of the majority Kikuyu tribe to which president Kibaki belongs.

Apart from the two main border entry points used by the displaced at Malaba and Busia, the refugees are also entering Uganda through the border villages further north around the mountain Elgon area, Ecweru said.

The situation is serious and the refugees are still moving in. The number is well over six thousand but the situation is at the moment manageable, he said by telephone.