Post Election 2007 Violence in Kenya

Parliament Opens

2008-03-08T13:08:00.001-06:00

Kenyan Parliament Opens on Theme of Unity as Rivals Sit Apart

Benedicte Kurzen for The New York Times

President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, third from left, talked with Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, in Nairobi on Thursday after Parliament’s opening session.

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Published: March 7, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Kenyan Parliament met Thursday for the first time since a power-sharing deal was struck to end a political crisis that had plunged the country into chaos.

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Times Topics: Kenya

Politicians from the governing party and the opposition spoke sweet words of unity — but the top leaders continued to sit apart from one another in the chamber.

“Honorable members, you must now become the ambassadors of peace and reconciliation,” President Mwai Kibaki told the lawmakers. “Please forget the history of what has happened, not because you want to put it aside, but because you want to do something much better.”

The lawmakers — who include 21 women, a record here — now begin the delicate business of carrying out the much-anticipated and possibly awkward power-sharing deal. Under it, the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, becomes prime minister, and the governing party and the opposition divide the cabinet posts.

This was the deal to bring peace back to Kenya, which had been considered one of the most stable countries in Africa before the violence of recent months.

On Thursday, Mr. Kibaki urged Parliament to swiftly pass the legislation needed to turn the political agreement into law. Lawmakers on both sides have predicted more skirmishes over the next few weeks as they negotiate how much power Mr. Odinga actually gets and how cabinet positions are reassigned.

Mr. Kibaki said that once the new government was solidified, it would dive into an ambitious agenda that would include helping the fishing and tourism industries and building better housing for the millions of Kenyans who live in shanties.

“We still have many challenges, but we still have a lot to celebrate,” Mr. Kibaki said.

His speech seemed to be a pep talk for a country that sorely needed one. Kenya erupted into violence in late December after the national election commission declared Mr. Kibaki, the incumbent, the winner of a closely contested presidential race over Mr. Odinga, who claims to have won the most votes. Election observers have been unanimous that the results were tainted, with some saying that the government rigged the tallying of votes to give Mr. Kibaki a slender 11th-hour edge.

The controversy set off fighting across the country between supporters of Mr. Odinga and those of Mr. Kibaki, who are from different ethnic groups, and it stirred up long-festering political, ethnic and economic grievances. More than 1,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands fled ethnically mixed areas, creating a degree of ethnic segregation that had never existed in this country before. The violence has greatly diminished in the past few weeks, but the tension and displacements have continued.

Mr. Kibaki, who has been in Parliament since Kenya’s independence in 1963, said the government would set up a truth and reconciliation commission and address head-on the country’s painful ethnic issues. He also promised to pay for new homes for displaced people and to distribute free seeds to displaced farmers.

Mr. Odinga sat quietly throughout the speech. His party holds a slight edge in Parliament, which has 210 elected members and 12 appointed seats, though two of his colleagues were killed after the election, narrowing the opposition’s majority. Despite all the talk of a new coalition government, Mr. Odinga and his top lieutenants sat on the opposition side of the chamber on Thursday, across the room from Mr. Kibaki’s political allies, who occupied the government seats. There was mingling, though, among some freshmen lawmakers from the different parties.

Kenneth Marende, the Parliament speaker and a member of Mr. Odinga’s party, said, “The recent events have exposed the fault lines in our system of governance.”

“If Parliament descends into anarchy,” Mr. Marende added, “the Kenyan nation will not just sink, it will drown.”

Kenyan Parliament Opens on Theme of Unity as Rivals Sit Apart - New York Times

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has said he expects a new government to be formed in two to three weeks.

Mr Odinga told the BBC he believed "this new beginning has a very good prospect of succeeding".

At Thursday's state opening of parliament in Nairobi, Mr Odinga's erstwhile rival, President Mwai Kibaki, also sounded a hopeful note.

He urged MPs to pass into law a power-sharing agreement aimed at ending weeks of post-election violence.

Under the deal, opposition leader Raila Odinga would become prime minister - but the details of the structure and programme of the new government have yet to be worked out.

Hundreds of people have died in violence following polls in December, which Mr Odinga said were rigged.

Compromise

Mr Odinga told the BBC's Network Africa programme that he and Mr Kibaki had "decided that Kenya is better than all of us, and we must put the interests of the country ahead of our own interests".

KENYA PARLIAMENT

ODM MPs: 102

PNU MPs: 46

Pro-ODM MPs: 5

Pro-PNU MPs: 61

Vacant seats: 6

Difficult tasks await MPs

Q&A: Power-sharing pact

Send us your comments

He said a 10-member team of politicians from both main parties would work together to try to agree a compromise manifesto for government.

Once the necessary bills affirming the power-sharing deal had been passed, "the first task will be to form the government which we expect to do within the next two to three weeks".

He said dealing with those displaced and wounded in the violence that followed the 27 December poll would be a priority for the new government, along with reconstruction.

Constitutional, legal and institutional reforms would follow, he said.

Obstacles ahead

On Thursday, Mr Kibaki told lawmakers that the power-sharing deal would lay "the foundations for peace and stability in our country".

The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi said that from the atmosphere in the parliament, it did seem that the two parties were united, despite their previous animosity.

The outwards signs suggest that Kenya is moving steadily down the path to a unified government, but there will be obstacles along the way, he says.

Under the deal, brokered by UN-backed negotiators, Mr Odinga is to be appointed prime minister - a post that does not currently exist under the Kenyan constitution.

However, it is not yet clear what Mr Odinga's powers and responsibilities will be - with differences of opinion over whether he will wield equal power with the president, or serve under the president.

KENYA ELECTION CRISIS

KEY STORIES

Odinga sees speedy progress

Power-sharing era begins

State 'sanctioned' clashes

Can deal hold?

Kenyan views

Key points: Power-sharing deal

In quotes: Deal reaction

Economy reels

School torched

Hard road for MPs
Tough choices as Kenya's new parliament opens

Kenyan Parliament Opens

2008-03-08T13:03:00.001-06:00

Kenyan Parliament Opens on Theme of Unity as Rivals Sit Apart

Benedicte Kurzen for The New York Times

President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, third from left, talked with Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, in Nairobi on Thursday after Parliament’s opening session.

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Published: March 7, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Kenyan Parliament met Thursday for the first time since a power-sharing deal was struck to end a political crisis that had plunged the country into chaos.

Skip to next paragraph

Times Topics: Kenya

Politicians from the governing party and the opposition spoke sweet words of unity — but the top leaders continued to sit apart from one another in the chamber.

“Honorable members, you must now become the ambassadors of peace and reconciliation,” President Mwai Kibaki told the lawmakers. “Please forget the history of what has happened, not because you want to put it aside, but because you want to do something much better.”

The lawmakers — who include 21 women, a record here — now begin the delicate business of carrying out the much-anticipated and possibly awkward power-sharing deal. Under it, the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, becomes prime minister, and the governing party and the opposition divide the cabinet posts.

This was the deal to bring peace back to Kenya, which had been considered one of the most stable countries in Africa before the violence of recent months.

On Thursday, Mr. Kibaki urged Parliament to swiftly pass the legislation needed to turn the political agreement into law. Lawmakers on both sides have predicted more skirmishes over the next few weeks as they negotiate how much power Mr. Odinga actually gets and how cabinet positions are reassigned.

Mr. Kibaki said that once the new government was solidified, it would dive into an ambitious agenda that would include helping the fishing and tourism industries and building better housing for the millions of Kenyans who live in shanties.

“We still have many challenges, but we still have a lot to celebrate,” Mr. Kibaki said.

His speech seemed to be a pep talk for a country that sorely needed one. Kenya erupted into violence in late December after the national election commission declared Mr. Kibaki, the incumbent, the winner of a closely contested presidential race over Mr. Odinga, who claims to have won the most votes. Election observers have been unanimous that the results were tainted, with some saying that the government rigged the tallying of votes to give Mr. Kibaki a slender 11th-hour edge.

The controversy set off fighting across the country between supporters of Mr. Odinga and those of Mr. Kibaki, who are from different ethnic groups, and it stirred up long-festering political, ethnic and economic grievances. More than 1,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands fled ethnically mixed areas, creating a degree of ethnic segregation that had never existed in this country before. The violence has greatly diminished in the past few weeks, but the tension and displacements have continued.

Mr. Kibaki, who has been in Parliament since Kenya’s independence in 1963, said the government would set up a truth and reconciliation commission and address head-on the country’s painful ethnic issues. He also promised to pay for new homes for displaced people and to distribute free seeds to displaced farmers.

Mr. Odinga sat quietly throughout the speech. His party holds a slight edge in Parliament, which has 210 elected members and 12 appointed seats, though two of his colleagues were killed after the election, narrowing the opposition’s majority. Despite all the talk of a new coalition government, Mr. Odinga and his top lieutenants sat on the opposition side of the chamber on Thursday, across the room from Mr. Kibaki’s political allies, who occupied the government seats. There was mingling, though, among some freshmen lawmakers from the different parties.

Kenneth Marende, the Parliament speaker and a member of Mr. Odinga’s party, said, “The recent events have exposed the fault lines in our system of governance.”

“If Parliament descends into anarchy,” Mr. Marende added, “the Kenyan nation will not just sink, it will drown.”

Kenyan Parliament Opens on Theme of Unity as Rivals Sit Apart - New York Times

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has said he expects a new government to be formed in two to three weeks.

Mr Odinga told the BBC he believed "this new beginning has a very good prospect of succeeding".

At Thursday's state opening of parliament in Nairobi, Mr Odinga's erstwhile rival, President Mwai Kibaki, also sounded a hopeful note.

He urged MPs to pass into law a power-sharing agreement aimed at ending weeks of post-election violence.

Under the deal, opposition leader Raila Odinga would become prime minister - but the details of the structure and programme of the new government have yet to be worked out.

Hundreds of people have died in violence following polls in December, which Mr Odinga said were rigged.

Compromise

Mr Odinga told the BBC's Network Africa programme that he and Mr Kibaki had "decided that Kenya is better than all of us, and we must put the interests of the country ahead of our own interests".

KENYA PARLIAMENT

ODM MPs: 102

PNU MPs: 46

Pro-ODM MPs: 5

Pro-PNU MPs: 61

Vacant seats: 6

Difficult tasks await MPs

Q&A: Power-sharing pact

Send us your comments

He said a 10-member team of politicians from both main parties would work together to try to agree a compromise manifesto for government.

Once the necessary bills affirming the power-sharing deal had been passed, "the first task will be to form the government which we expect to do within the next two to three weeks".

He said dealing with those displaced and wounded in the violence that followed the 27 December poll would be a priority for the new government, along with reconstruction.

Constitutional, legal and institutional reforms would follow, he said.

Obstacles ahead

On Thursday, Mr Kibaki told lawmakers that the power-sharing deal would lay "the foundations for peace and stability in our country".

The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi said that from the atmosphere in the parliament, it did seem that the two parties were united, despite their previous animosity.

The outwards signs suggest that Kenya is moving steadily down the path to a unified government, but there will be obstacles along the way, he says.

Under the deal, brokered by UN-backed negotiators, Mr Odinga is to be appointed prime minister - a post that does not currently exist under the Kenyan constitution.

KENYA ELECTION CRISIS

KEY STORIES

Odinga sees speedy progress

Power-sharing era begins

State 'sanctioned' clashes

Can deal hold?

Kenyan views

Key points: Power-sharing deal

In quotes: Deal reaction

Economy reels

School torched

Hard road for MPs
Tough choices as Kenya's new parliament opens

Healing a nation

2008-03-04T18:15:00.001-06:00

NAIROBI (AFP) — Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki and opposition chief Raila Odinga on Tuesday agreed to unite and heal the nation that was nearly destroyed by deadly post-election violence, the presidency said.

The pair held talks in the president's downtown office for the first time since last Thursday's signing of a power-sharing accord that ended two months of bloody turmoil.

They "agreed to work together towards uniting all Kenyans and accelerating the healing process by holding meetings with different communities with a view to ensuring that wananchi (citizens) live together peacefully," Kibaki's office said in a statement.

Under the accord, which has been welcomed by Kenyans after post-electoral bloodshed, Odinga is set to become the east African country's prime minister, once parliament passes the power-sharing deal into law.

Odinga's claim that Kibaki stole a December 27 presidential poll touched off widespread violence that took on a tribal nature, claimed at least 1,500 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

The two leaders "agreed to ensure that the agreement they signed last week is implemented fully for the benefit of all Kenyans" and also "discussed how their two parties will relate and work together in the coalition government," the statement added.

In Geneva, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon pressed the Kenyan leaders to implement the accord, mediated by his predecessor Kofi Annan.

"His role has brought not only peace and stability in Kenya but also the whole region," he said.

"We need to continue to be engaged in the process," Ban added, saying that the UN will "fully stand behind" Annan's continuing engagement.

Meanwhile, rival negotiators agreed to create a South Africa-style Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, a Commission of Inquiry on Post-Election Violence and another committee to look into the hotly contested 2007 polls.

Former Nigerian foreign minister Oluyemi Adeniji, who replaced Annan as chief mediator as chief mediator, said was "delighted" with the progress and noted "it augurs well for future cooperation within a coalition government."

The negotiations, which adjourned to Tuesday next week, focus on reforms to address historical injustices that touch on electoral, institutional, constitutional and judicial issues, as well as land reforms at the heart of the tribal unrest.

Other issues include measures to address poverty, unemployment, inequity and corruption, and installing a more transparent government.

A separate panel is preparing a bill on the creation of the post of prime minister in a nation that has usually had a powerful presidency to be presented to parliament when it reconvenes on Thursday.

The government lawmakers have agreed to support the bill and entrench it in the constitution while opposition MPs will meet on Wednesday to make a similar move.

Meanwhile, police vowed to take action after 15 people were on Monday in the Rift Valley, the first major act of violence since Kibaki and Odinga signed the accord.

"We are saddened by these unwarranted deaths of civilians who had just returned home from (displaced people's) camps," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told AFP.

"But our officers are currently combing the ground, looking for the attackers. Let them be warned that these acts of brutality must come to an end ..."

Police blamed the attack on the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF), a militia group demanding nullification of a government settlement scheme which it deems unfair because it displaced the small Sabaot tribes from their ancestral land.

The post-poll crisis, which has battered the economy, tapped into simmering resentment over land, poverty and the dominance of the Kikuyu, Kibaki's tribe, in Kenyan politics and business since independence in 1963.

It has also weakened the tourism and agriculture sectors, and tarnished the country's reputation as an island of stability in a region beset by conflicts.

AFP: Kenyan leaders agree to heal nation as talks adjourn

Kenya on a new road...

2008-03-02T08:34:00.001-06:00

The press in Kenya has warmly welcomed the power-sharing deal announced on Thursday.

Several papers are optimistic that the deal signed between President Mwai Kibaki and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga will save the country from "anarchy" and "self-destruction" and heal the wounds of the conflict sparked by the disputed elections.

One commentator greets the development with the simple wish: "Let the party begin!"

EDITORIAL IN KENYA'S STANDARD

The agreement... marks the beginning of a hopeful but challenging period for Kenya. Coming at a time armed militia were reported to be preparing for renewed violence should the talks collapse, it will be remembered as the moment the nation stepped back from the brink of a precipice.

EDITORIAL IN KENYA'S NATION

The agreement... reinforces the adage that behind every cloud, there is a silver lining. Just a few days ago, it was all gloom and foreboding with indications that the talks aimed at pulling Kenya back from anarchy were on the verge of collapse... Signing that deal, along with the concessions each [has made], stands as a true mark of leadership and patriotism... Kenyans who have witnessed death and destruction on a scale they could not have imagined demand speedy implementation of the agreement.

EDITORIAL IN KENYA'S TIMES

The political settlement... helps to heal the wounds that were physically and mentally inflicted on the people following the disputed results of last year's general election... Leaders must therefore never let down the people again.

CHRIS ODWESSO IN KENYA'S TIMES

Kenya yesterday embarked on a journey away from self-destruction to a world that once again promises hope, common sense, patriotism, reconciliation, restoration and dignity.

LUCY ORIANG IN KENYA'S NATION

The shuttle diplomacy between Mr Kofi Annan and the principals of the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement has paid off. There's only one thing to say at this point: Let the party begin!

Deal offers fresh hope to Kenya

By Noel Mwakugu
BBC News, Nairobi

The handshake finally came after a month of talks

Many Kenyans had feared the imminent outbreak of renewed violence when peace talks were suspended on Monday but instead there is now fresh hope after the two rival leaders agreed to share power.

Both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga gave ground under massive international pressure and the intervention of African Union Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

They unveiled a deal that is intended to steer the country towards much-needed reconciliation after allegations of rigging in last December's elections.

However, as chief mediator Kofi Annan said: "The journey is far from over. In fact it is only beginning."

A peaceful destination will only be reached only if Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga show the political will.

After such a bitter dispute, which has cost 1,500 lives, trust between the two men has been in short supply - this is why it took more than a month of tortuous talks for them to reach a deal.

Hurdles ahead

This will not be the first time that the two leaders have formed a joint government - they did it in 2002 but it lasted barely three years before they fell out.

While Mr Odinga looks set to take up the new post of prime minister, it is not clear who prevails in the event of a disagreement between him and President Kibaki.

POWER-SHARING DEAL

New two-party coalition government to be set up

Cabinet posts to be divided equally between the two parties

Raila Odinga to take new post of prime minister, can only be dismissed by National Assembly

Two new deputy PMs to be appointed, one from each member of coalition

Agreement: More detail

Reaction in quotes

If the deal is strong enough to overcome that hurdle, the new optimism will prove well-founded.

All eyes in a country that has been mourning for the past two months now turn to parliament, where MPs convene next Thursday to vote for the National Accord and Reconciliation Act that will usher in these changes.

The first challenge facing the two leaders once the act is operational is to appoint a new cabinet, whose members will be shared out equally.

The violence has left deep ethnic divisions and a new cabinet must be named with a regional balance to appease communities that felt left out in the last administration.

Corruption scandals

Apart from the regional balance, Kenyans are eager to see the parties merge their policies and deliver an equal share of national resources.

Kofi Annan hailed the deal but said there was more work to be done

Economic disparities lie behind much of the ethnic tension which exploded into violence after the disputed election.

One major policy difference is that of decentralising power and therefore wealth.

This was a key campaign pledge of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) but not Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU).

The coalition partners now have to marry these and other areas of disagreement.

President Kibaki is credited with steering economic growth in his first term in office but corruption thrived within his administration, drawing much criticism from foreign diplomats.

This is yet another hurdle for the new coalition - both sides include people linked with corruption scandals in the past.

Many doubt if the leaders will have the courage to sacrifice them and inject fresh blood into the administration since it is clear some of those tainted by scandal helped fund the campaigns and remain very influential.

Political will?

The talks which gave birth to this new power-sharing arrangement have brought to the fore the influence of hardliners on both sides.

Odinga supporters took to the streets as the deal was announced

While Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga may have shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries, observers are sceptical as to whether they will ignore the advice of some of their hardline backers.

But failure to contain their influence may endanger the new coalition.

The power-sharing agreement ends if either partner walks out and this would throw the country back into another phase of uncertainty.

Some argue that the new deal could produce a new breed of leader who would be respected for their political principles and not the wealth they possess, as at present.

But as Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete squarely put at the signing ceremony, it is the political will of the two leaders that remains central if this promise is to become a reality.

Holding fire on Kenya celebrations

For the woman whose husband was burnt alive in a church in the worst of Kenya's post-election violence, it is a little premature to celebrate Thursday's peace deal signed by the country's warring leaders.

These land skirmishes are not about power or politics; it's not ODM and PNU - it's tribal

Displaced farmer

"It's become a habit of saying 'peace, peace, peace' - and then after peace we see flames of fire," the mother of four says in a displacement camp on the outskirts of Eldoret in the Rift Valley Province.

"After peace we see spears; we see arrows; we see bows; we see pangas [machetes]."

The church where her husband died was set ablaze by armed youths in the first few days after President Mwai Kibaki was hastily sworn in as president on 30 December after disputed elections.

Those sheltering inside were from Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu community.

Now some 20,000 Kikuyus, Kisis and Luyhas targeted in the area have taken refugee at the showground where white tents stretch out as far as the eye can see.

'Still suffering'

A man who fled his farm agrees that violence has opened up wounds that the power-sharing agreement in Nairobi will not immediately heal.

Some 600,000 people were displaced by the violence

A coalition is to be set up headed by President Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) with Raila Odinga - whose Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is the largest in parliament - set to take the newly created post of prime minister.

"The relationship won't help us," the farmer says.

"We'll still suffer more and more. Not unless people who fought with us talk to us and we come together with them and we forgive each other.

"You see these land skirmishes are not about power or politics; it's not ODM and PNU - it's tribal."

I don't imagine that I'm going to stay with a person who burned my house - it can't happen because he's still my enemy

Unemployed youth

In Eldoret town itself, where Kalenjins make up the majority of residents, the deal was greeted enthusiastically.

Many feel they will be able to put the clashes that rocked the town behind them.

But an unemployed youth at the show ground camp sees little hope of this.

"Kibaki and Raila have decided. For me I don't see that it is a deal.

"I don't imagine that I'm going to stay with a person who stole my cloth, who burned my house - it can't happen because he's still my enemy," he says, adding that he will not be returning to his home.

Retribution

A recent school leaver wants assurances on the ground about the agreement.

I don't feel it's OK for me to be a refugee in my own country

Kikuyu widow

"For me to accept it, we need stern measures to be taken against the perpetrators so that these things will not recur in our country," he says.

"A lot of agony has taken place in our hearts.

"Families are dead and it is very late for us to say it's a power-sharing deal."

The church widow says she will not be returning to her farm any time soon and will see what happens with the coalition.

"I want to really to see [it work] as a Kenyan. I'll just take a step of faith and just watch them.

"I don't feel it's OK for me to be a refugee in my own country."

Holding fire on celebrations

Kenya press hails deal

Deal offers fresh hope to Kenya

The Agreement and the road ahead

2008-03-01T20:25:00.001-06:00

The deal, which took two days of intense diplomacy by chief mediator Kofi Annan and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, was struck after the two protagonists — President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga — ignored the views of hard-liners in their camps to give Kenyans a coalition agreement that would see the Opposition share power with the government.

At an exclusive meeting in Harambee House, both leaders ceded ground to arrive at a power-sharing agreement that created the position of a prime minister who will exercise some authority on government.

Sources said that Mr Annan decided to deal directly with President Kibaki and Mr Odinga after realising that the two may not have been getting accurate briefs on the progress of the negotiations from their teams.

It is not yet clear what may have prompted President Kibaki’s change of heart over his earlier stated stand on the creation of a PM’s post which he had emphasised only hours before the deal was sealed on Thursday.

However, a source close to the President said on Friday: “A time comes when a leader must take the hard decisions on his own and what happened yesterday (Thursday) was one such moment. The President rose above party interests to make a decision for Kenya.”

Mr Annan with fellow mediators, Graca Machel and Benjamin Mkapa: Their work done, Wako is now the point of focus.

Chief mediator Kofi Annan leaves the country on Sunday as the task of transforming the historic Harambee House deal into law shifts to Attorney-General Amos Wako and Parliament.

Mr Annan, the man who for 41 days embodied Kenya’s hopes peace, leaves subsequent mediation efforts in the hands of former Nigerian foreign minister Oluyemi Adeniji.

The AG and four other lawyers, who are part of the Serena mediation process, will now draft the necessary Bills to amend the Constitution and accommodate the National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008 signed on the steps of Harambee House into the country’s statute books.

Both PNU and ODM have scheduled meetings ahead of the opening of Parliament Thursday to marshal their troops behind the deal struck between President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga on Thursday, setting the stage for a major reorganisation of the government structure.

The five draftsmen are Mr Wako, Ugenya MP James Orengo, his Mbooni counterpart Mutula Kilonzo and the mediation team’s joint secretaries Karoli Omondi and Dr Gichira Kibaara.

The team will identify the sections of law that require amendment and how those that run counter to the Annan deal can be adapted to accommodate the new changes.

The team is expected to draft the necessary Bills in a manner that will require only minimum debate and publish them before the State opening of Parliament.

As the spotlight turned on the Wako team, representatives of the European Union and the African Union appealed to parliamentarians not to let Kenyans down but to ensure that the delicate process is completed.

After the signing of the accord, it is now necessary to amend certain sections of the Constitution to accommodate the establishment of the offices of prime minister and two deputies and define the character and functions of those offices.

The creation of the new posts is inconsistent with the current Constitution, hence the reason for the amendment. Lawyers who have scrutinised the agreement told the Sunday Nation that if enacted under the current charter, the Accord Agreement would be null and void.

It is expected that debate will start with the proposed changes to the Constitution before Parliament turns to those dealing with ordinary Acts of Parliament affected by the deal.

However, for the purposes of these Bills and the fact that the President has already convened the House earlier than anticipated, it is clear to every player that the two Bills are being given priority.

Kenya Today: Nationmedia.com

KENYA ELECTION CRISIS

2008-02-29T08:50:00.000-06:00

Links from the BBC ...

Kenyan views

Can deal hold?

Key points: Power-sharing deal

In quotes: Deal reaction

Economy reels

Not all roses

School torched

Too soon to sing
Eldoret homeless wary of celebrating deal while still in camps

EYEWITNESS

In pictures

'Targeted for Kikuyu wife'

'Forcibly recruited to fight'

Children scarred

Violence: In pictures

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

Kenya's rift

Poor at each other's throats

Militia strike back

Githongo on the violence

Aids patients hit by crisis

Rape risk

Rigged election

Q&A: Kenya peace deal

PROFILES

Kenya's 'mafia' Raila Odinga Mwai Kibaki Kenya

VIDEO AND AUDIO

Kenya witnesses describe the violence

Kenya: What went wrong?

HAVE YOUR SAY

What does the deal mean?

Voters' views

RELATED BBC LINKS

Network Africa

RELATED INTERNET LINKS

Electoral Commission of Kenya

Mwai Kibaki

Raila Odinga

Kalonzo Musyoka

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TOP AFRICA STORIES

Deal-broker Annan leaves Kenya

BBC NEWS | Africa | Kibaki: Dream or nightmare?

Kenya leaders reach deal

2008-02-29T02:59:00.001-06:00

Kibaki agrees to share power with Odinga, who will get new post of prime minister and half of the Cabinet seats.

By Edmund Sanders
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 29, 2008
NAIROBI, KENYA — Kenya's presidential rivals agreed Thursday to share power in a coalition government aimed at ending postelection chaos that has killed 1,000 people and brought this once-promising East African nation to the brink of political and economic collapse.
Under the terms of a deal signed by President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, the men will divide Cabinet posts 50-50 and amend the constitution to create the office of prime minister for Odinga, who will share power with the president.
The agreement marks a significant step toward resolving Kenya's political crisis and alleviates fear that failed negotiations would trigger more violence. The news brought praise from the United States and other Western governments, which had come to count on Kenya as an economic partner and source of regional stability.
But many also said they would have to wait and see whether the rivals were genuinely committed and willing to work together. They noted that Kenya still faces sizable challenges, including 350,000 displaced people, a shattered economy and heightened ethnic tensions.
"They are solving their political problems, but not our problems yet," said Alfonse Mutuku, 24, who is living in a camp near Limuru, north of Nairobi.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leading the mediation effort, said the deal was the only way to break Kenya's stalemate.
"Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country," he said. But he cautioned that the work must continue to resolve the nation's social and humanitarian issues. "The journey is far from over. In fact, it is only beginning."
After the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election that both Kibaki and Odinga claimed to have won, Kenya erupted into weeks of rioting and ethnic violence as long-simmering disputes over land and power boiled over. In one of the most gruesome attacks, at least 17 people seeking shelter in a Rift Valley church were burned alive Jan. 1
Underscoring tensions that still grip the country, moments after the signing ceremony was completed in Nairobi, the capital, police fired tear gas at Odinga supporters celebrating in the streets.
The compromise marks a turnaround from three days ago, when Annan disbanded bickering negotiating teams and said the talks had reached an impasse. With help from visiting Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Annan began direct discussions with Kibaki and Odinga on Wednesday.
Key details of the coalition government have yet to be determined, including how the president and prime minister will share powers, how Cabinet posts will be divided, how disputes will be resolved and what happens if the coalition falls apart. Parliament is scheduled to convene Thursday to begin revising the constitution.
In the final hours of negotiation, Kibaki made significant concessions: agreeing to give Odinga authority to "coordinate and supervise" the government and to a constitutional amendment that a day earlier he had ruled out.
His change of heart came amid intense pressure from the United States and others in the international community, who voiced increasingly strong warnings about possible sanctions and isolation for those perceived to be blocking a deal.
In addition, neighboring countries, including Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, pushed Kibaki to settle because their economies rely heavily on Kenyan ports and have suffered during the unrest.
After signing the agreement, Kibaki called upon Kenyans to put the ethnic clashes of the last two months behind them and live together in peace.
"Kenya has room for all of us," he said.
Public reaction to the deal varied, often depending upon ethnicity and political persuasion.
In Odinga strongholds, including the western city of Kisumu and the Nairobi slum of Kibera, crowds danced and sang in the streets. "Raila is the man," shouted supporters in downtown Nairobi.
The mood was darker in a camp north of Nairobi, where displaced Kikuyus, of the same tribe as Kibaki, gathered under a plastic tarp to watch the signing ceremony in silence on a television donated by a local church. None of the nearly 200 people living in tents said they expected it would be safe enough to return home anytime soon and some blamed Kibaki for giving away too much power.
"In my opinion, I think Kibaki was very soft," said Steven Nderito, a pastor from the Rift Valley who was chased from his home by members of rival tribes. "I don't see how they can work together. I think Kibaki is going to rethink this and may change his mind next week."
Public support for the agreement will be crucial to its success, Annan said.
Experts said Kibaki is facing growing criticism from his supporters. Hard-liners in his administration bitterly opposed making concessions, whereas displaced Kikuyus complain that the president has done little to assist them.
"He's been taken hostage, not just by hard-liners, but by the Kikuyu community, who feel that since he failed to protect them in the first place, now the least he can do is keep power," said Ngunyi Mutahi, a Nairobi political analyst.
For Odinga, who has worked a lifetime as an opposition leader and at times found himself imprisoned in government torture chambers, the deal ends a long struggle for political power.
Though he originally demanded that Kibaki resign and hold new elections, Odinga reached out Thursday, referring to Kibaki for the first time since Dec. 27 as "president" and "my countryman."
He said the election crisis had provided an opportunity to push for government reforms.
"The crisis has taught Kenyans a serious lesson that has helped form a foundation for a united country," he said.
Annan said he would begin today working on the final phase of his mediation effort, addressing some of the underlying issues, such as land disputes, economic marginalization and ethnic discrimination.
Government leaders are preparing to launch a truth and reconciliation commission, similar to one set up after the Rwanda genocide.

Los Angeles Times: Kenya leaders reach coalition deal

Kenyans celebrate historic deal

2008-02-29T02:54:00.001-06:00

Kenyans celebrate historic deal

The power-sharing deal was greeted with jubilation in Kenya

Kenyans have been celebrating the power-sharing deal to end the country's two-month political crisis.

Thousands of dancing and cheering people poured onto the streets of Kisumu, the home town of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

He is set to become prime minister in a coalition with President Mwai Kibaki.

The deal to end the crisis which saw some 1,500 people killed and 600,000 left homeless has also been warmly welcomed elsewhere in the country.

Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki signed a power-sharing agreement, brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday.

Negotiations between the government and opposition lasted more than a month, stalling several times.

Relief

Mr Odinga told the BBC he wanted fresh elections within two years.

He said the deal he signed with Mr Kibaki gave him genuine powers as prime minister, and there was agreement to fast-track amendments to the constitution so that he could take up office as soon as possible.

POWER-SHARING DEAL

New two-party coalition government to be set up

Cabinet posts to be divided equally between parties

Raila Odinga to take new post of prime minister, can only be dismissed by National Assembly

Two new deputy PMs to be appointed, one from each member of coalition

Agreement: More detail

Reaction in quotes

Deal offers fresh hope

The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says there is a huge sense of relief that a deal to end the country's most damaging crisis since independence 48 years ago has been signed, but also some nervousness about how lingering resentment from weeks of unrest will be defused.

Mr Odinga said he was robbed of victory in December's polls.

He said he would push through reforms so the horrors of the past eight weeks could not be repeated - get rid of, he said, the ugly face of ethnicity in the country.

The post-election violence saw thousands of people targeted because they belonged to ethnic groups seen as either pro-government or pro-opposition.

Compromise

The new coalition will be headed by President Kibaki, with Mr Odinga - whose Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is the largest in parliament - set to take the newly created post of prime minister.

Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country

Kofi Annan

Each party will nominate a deputy prime minister, with other ministerial portfolios being divided equally between the two parties.

Correspondents say both parties are now likely to begin wrangling over who gets what position in the new government, with the post of finance minister likely to prove the most contentious.

After the deal was reached, Mr Annan said: "Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country."

He urged all Kenyans to support the agreement, saying: "The job of national reconciliation and national reconstruction is not for the leaders alone. It must be carried out in every neighbourhood, village, hamlet of the nation."

'New chapter'

Speaking after the signing, Mr Kibaki said: "This process has reminded us that as a nation there are more issues that unite than that divide us...

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After 8 weeks of uncertainty in the political atmosphere as well as peace, there is somehow a glimpse of hope and light to the beautiful land of Kenya.

Edward, Nairobi

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"We've been reminded we must do all in our power to safeguard the peace that is the foundation of our national unity... Kenya has room for all of us."

Mr Odinga said: "With the signing of this agreement, we have opened a new chapter in our country's history - from the era or phase of confrontation to the beginning of co-operation.

"We, on our side, are completely committed to ensuring that this agreement will succeed."

Both men thanked those who had stood by Kenya in what Mr Odinga called its "hour of need", including Mr Annan, the African Union, the European Union, the United States and the UN.

They also urged Kenyans to move forward together without ethnic divisions.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Kenyans celebrate historic deal

Kenya talks on Track

2008-02-24T02:30:00.001-06:00

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki (r) meets AU chairman Jean Ping

African Union Commission chairman is hopeful of a quick resolution to the Kenyan political crisis amid talks over a power-sharing deal.
Jean Ping, who arrived in the country on Thursday, held talks with former UN Secretary General and chief mediator Kofi Annan as well as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

He also met with opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in absence of party's leader Raila Odinga, who was on a visit to Nigeria.
"I am confident. I think that the mediators will succeed in their mediation. I want to say that we give to the team the full support of the commission," Ping told reporters at a press conference.
"We are satisfied with the progress made on the Kenya national dialogue and reconciliation," he added, stressing that the weekend would be 'crucial' and expressing hope that the negotiator teams would reach an agreement.
The rival sides have agreed in principle to create the post of a prime minister, but are yet to agree on its terms and responsibilities. The ODM insists on a powerful premier while the government has offered a non-executive office.
Meanwhile, Odinga left for Nigeria for 'consultations', according to officials who did not indicate the nature of his unannounced visit to the west African nation.
The ODM parliamentary group also renewed threats to launch protests, saying it would call for mass civil disobedience if Annan-lead team failed to reach a tangible outcome by Feb. 27.
Kenya's political crisis came on the heels of Kibaki's controversial victory in the December 27 presidential vote, which Odinga maintains was rigged. The disputed vote followed by massive street protests, which later turned into tribal fighting, leaving at least 1,000 people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:33:44

Press TV - AU chief satisfied with Kenya talks

Signs of Progress

2008-02-22T03:12:00.001-06:00

There are Signs of Progress in Kenya Power-Sharing Talks

Negotiations aimed at resolving Kenya's political deadlock are showing signs of progress, as the government and opposition party discuss a power-sharing arrangement built on the creation of an office of prime minister. Derek Kilner reports from Nairobi, where negotiators say they expect an agreement to be reached in a few days.

Government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo told reporters the government had agreed to the creation of an office of prime minister, but that the powers the office would hold have not been worked out.

The creation of the prime minister position has been a key demand of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, whose leader Raila Odinga would likely take the job.

In this photo released by Kenya's Presidential Press Service, Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, left, meets opposition leader Raila Odinga at his Harambee House office, in Nairobi, Kenya, 24 Jan 2008

President Mwai Kibaki's team had earlier said any power-sharing arrangement must follow the current constitution, which would not allow a prime minister. The government appears to have relented on this position, though it remains unclear what level of power it would accept for the office. The opposition has called for the prime minister to share executive powers with the president.

Speaking outside the negotiations, which are set to resume Friday, Kilonzo said he expected an agreement would be reached in the next few days.

"I think at the very latest by the end of the weekend. We have resolved that if we do not finish tomorrow, we work over the weekend. Even if you have looked at my friends from ODM ... walking out, they have been walking with a smile, everybody has a smile," Kilonzo said.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki (l), former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, center, and opposition leader Raila Odinga (r) observe a minute of silence for the victims of the recent violence, in Nairobi, 29 Jan 2008

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leading the mediation effort, issued a statement saying he is "beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel." There have been previous moments during the negotiations when a deal had seemed imminent, but failed to materialize. The mediation effort is in its third week.

Even if a solution is reached soon, Kenya will still face a challenge in avoiding a return to the unrest that killed some 1000 people following a disputed presidential election on December 27.

The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based analysis organization, released a report saying negotiations aimed at tackling the broader issues underlying the violence - including economic policy, constitutional reform, and the disbandment of militias - must begin immediately.

VOA News - Signs of Progress in Kenya Power-Sharing Talks

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
21 February 2008

Kilner report - Download (MP3)
Kilner report - Listen (MP3)

Kenya to get Prime Minister

2008-02-21T21:09:00.001-06:00

By TOM MALITI – 8 hours ago

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's government tentatively agreed Thursday to create a prime minister's post to be filled by the opposition, moving the East African country a step closer to ending weeks of deadly clashes over the disputed presidential election.

A political deal was expected Friday after weeks of international pressure on both sides to share power, government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said.

"We have more or less agreed on a non-executive prime minister but with some substantial meaningful responsibilities," he told The Associated Press.

Kilonzo said there were several other elements of a power-sharing deal to be resolved, but he could not give details.

Calls to the opposition were not immediately returned.

"I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel," former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who has been mediating in the political negotiations, said in a statement.

Both sides "outlined a joint proposal, that had been largely agreed, on the governance structure," Annan said.

The Dec. 27 election returned President Mwai Kibaki to power after opposition leader Raila Odinga's lead in early vote counting evaporated overnight. Foreign and local observers said the count was rigged, and ensuing violence has stirred up ethnic grievances over land and poverty that have bedeviled Kenya since independence in 1963. More than 1,000 people have been killed.

On Wednesday, Kenya's opposition had threatened mass protests unless serious work to put power-sharing into the constitution started within a week. It was the latest sign the country remains delicately balanced on the edge of violence despite weeks of peace talks.

Much of the bloodshed has pitted other ethnic groups against Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, long resented for dominating politics and the economy.

On Thursday, a man was hacked to death in a Nairobi slum, police said. Witnesses said the fight started when a group of young Luos — the same ethnic group as Odinga — began taunting Kikuyus.

"They started hurling insults then throwing stone at the Kikuyus, who are their neighbors," said a woman selling vegetables in the slum.

The Kikuyus then attacked, killing a Luo man, said the woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution.

A think tank said Thursday that armed groups on opposing sides of the political and ethnic strife are mobilizing for new attacks and serious violence could erupt again if peace talks fail.

"Calm has partly returned but the situation remains highly volatile," the Brussels, Belgium-based International Crisis Group said in a report. "Armed groups are still mobilizing on both sides."

Talks between Kibaki and Odinga have focused on how to create a broader-based government to end the crisis. In particular, Odinga and his backers have demanded that the president share power.

The country remains caught between a desire to move on from waves of ethnic attacks and a fear that any compromise could spark new fighting.

The African Union's new chairman, Jean Ping, flew into Kenya on Thursday to add diplomatic pressure to the crisis talks. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Kenya's rival politicians to share power during talks in Nairobi.

Associated Press writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Tom Odula contributed to this report.

The Associated Press: Kenya OKs Prime Minister for Rivals

Rice urges Kenyan leaders

2008-02-20T04:26:00.001-06:00

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is urging Kenyan leaders to share power, threatening to hold back American aid money if no deal is reached.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki discussed peace deals in Nairobi on Monday.
(Kenyan Presidential Press Service/Associated Press)

Rice, on a one-day visit to the volatile eastern African country on Monday, met with the President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

"The time for political settlement was yesterday," she said after the meetings. "The current stalemate and the circumstances are not going to permit business as usual with the United States or I think with any other part of the international community."

Kibaki and Odinga have been at odds since a Dec. 27 election returned Kibaki to power for a second five-year term. Foreign and local observers say the vote was rigged and violence has raged in the country ever since, much of it pitting Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe against other ethnic groups.

Rice urges Kenyan leaders to strike power-sharing deal Last Updated: Monday, February 18, 2008 | 9:13 PM ET CBC News

More bloodshed in Kenya as crisis talks drag on

2 hours ago

NAIROBI (AFP) — At least five people have died in clashes in recent days in western Kenya, police said Wednesday, as former UN chief Kofi Annan pressed for a deal to end the crisis sparked by December's elections.

"In the last four days, three people have been killed in Molo and two others in Cherangani area," a police commander told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Police said they had boosted security in volatile western areas of the east African country that were the scene of some of the worst fighting set off by the disputed December 27 re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, in which more than 1,000 people died and some 300,000 were displaced.

Annan has spent more than a month in Kenya leading talks between the camps of Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of victory in the widely-contested polls.

Launched by the African Union, Annan's mediation is seen as Kenya's best hope for a political solution to move beyond the violence which saw Kenyans killed by machete-wielding mobs, burnt in churches and driven off their land.

"We are working very hard to ensure that there is preservation of peace," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told AFP Wednesday.

The crisis has tapped into simmering resentment over land, poverty and the dominance of the Kikuyu, Kibaki's tribe, in Kenyan politics and business since independence from Britain in 1963.

Rice with Kibaki

2008-02-19T06:20:00.001-06:00

Peace talks: Ms. Rice shook hands Monday with President Mwai Kibaki She's pushing both sides to agree on a power-sharing deal.

Radu Sigheti/Reuters

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Kenya Monday to press for a power-sharing agreement.
By Rob Crilly | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 19, 2008 edition

Reporter Robert Crilly discusses the latest developments between the government and opposition leaders in Kenya.

Kisumu, Kenya - The pile of stones blocking the road here in this western Kenyan city is part tribute to a fallen comrade and part challenge to Kenya's politicians as they talk peace.

"We cannot remove the stones until we know that [opposition leader Raila Odinga] is the president," says Eliazar Otieno Oluga, one of the unemployed youths who hang out in a corrugated iron shed at the edge of a slum.

This area is the heartland of support for Mr. Odinga, who narrowly lost the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election that most observers say was deeply flawed.

Odinga has made conciliatory statements during recent peace talks brokered by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Kenya Monday to urge both sides to agree to powersharing measures that diplomats hope will stem the violence that has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 600,000. But Odinga faces pressure from his own supporters not to be too accommodating.

Angry youths don't want to compromise

The youths from his Luo ethnic group who burned buildings in Kisumu in the wake of the election say they will accept little in the way of compromise. The stones in the road – marking the spot where one their friends was shot by riot police – could quickly become missiles.

"We voted for a president, not a prime minister," says one. "The least we can accept is an interim government with a revote in six months."

The young men, who spend their days drinking or smoking bhang, the local name for marijuana, are typical of the dispossessed from whom Odinga draws much of his support.

He campaigned on a policy of majimbo – a form of devolved government that promised to share the benefits of Kenya's booming economy with those who felt they were missing out to members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.

In short, he offered his supporters hope.

Jaguba Nyabanda Anyango, a mechanic, says: "[Mr. Kibaki] has taken his people to the government. Now we want [Odinga] to take all Luos to government and provide jobs."

Without Odinga in the State House, they all say they will rip up their voting cards and turn their backs on Kenya's political system.

But first, they will burn what is left of Kisumu's once pretty city center.

"That is automatic if [Odinga] betrays us," says one of the young men.

Angry opposition youths oppose Kenya compromise | csmonitor.com

Rice demands 'real power sharing'

2008-02-18T07:07:00.001-06:00

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Kenya to support efforts to reach political reconciliation, said Kenya's opposing factions must form a "grand coalition" that provides "real power sharing."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks Monday to the press alongside Kenya crisis mediator Kofi Annan at a local hotel in Nairobi.

Rice was meeting with President Mwai Kibaki Monday afternoon and was expected to meet later with opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The country erupted in ethnic violence after its December 27 presidential vote, in which President Mwai Kibaki kept his post. His opponent, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga, blasted the results, saying the election was rigged, and he and his supporters declined to recognize the election as valid.

Sec. Rice, who arrived in Nairobi for a brief visit Monday morning, told reporters she would "emphasize the positive" when meeting with President Kibaki and Odinga.

"There needs to be a governance arrangement that would allow real power sharing that could allow a coalition, indeed, a grand coalition, so that Kenya can be governed," Rice said.

"To President Kibaki, I will say power sharing means real power sharing and the United States, as a friend of Kenya, expects that power sharing to take place to show that you can make the electoral and constitutional reforms that frankly should have been made several years ago," Rice said.

Rice said she would tell Odinga that while the United States understands there were problems with the elections, he is going to have to "get along" and support "a coalition government that is going to have to make sure that the country can function."

Rice's first meeting was with former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan who is there mediating talks between the two groups.

"What must be foremost in the mind is that it's not about individual politicians, but about the people of Kenya," Annan said after his one-hour meeting with Rice.

Don't Miss

Annan: Progress being made in forging deal in Kenya

Deal to create joint government

School torched in violence

Annan said Friday that major progress is being made in forging a political deal that will end the crisis.

He said mediators "have defined a reform agenda of a new government" and have made strides toward making constitutional and electoral reforms and building a truth and reconciliation commission.

Earlier Friday, a senior official from Kenya's opposition party says its camp is "frustrated with the pace of the negotiations" to settle the political crisis in Kenya.

The official, from the Orange Democratic Movement, said the government mediation team has not put details of a "power-sharing agreement" on the table and could be "stonewalling Kofi Annan to tire him out."

That assertion was given some weight by a Kenyan TV report that the government mediation team on Thursday asked for a seven-day recess from the negotiations. The report said Annan told the mediators they had to continue their work.

Alfred Matua, spokesman for the government, told CNN that "those statements are incorrect" because the government team has come up with three political framework options.

The Orange Democratic Movement said it proposed a separation of powers plan with a prime minister and the president retaining significant powers.

CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report

Rice demands 'real power sharing' in Kenya - CNN.com

Rice in Nairobi

2008-02-18T05:02:00.001-06:00

Rice in Nairobi to push for deal

Ms Rice is the highest-ranking US official to visit since the election

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Kenya in an attempt to end the political crisis which has led to widespread unrest.

Ms Rice is expected to push President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to agree a deal to share power, following December's disputed election.

She will also hold talks with the lead mediator, former UN chief Kofi Annan.

On Friday, both sides agreed to set up an independent panel to review the vote, which Mr Odinga says was rigged.

The dispute has led to political and ethnic violence in which at least 1,000 people have been killed and 600,000 have fled their homes.

Ongoing mediation

Ms Rice became the highest-ranking US official to visit Kenya since the election on 27 December when she flew into Nairobi on Monday from neighbouring Tanzania, where she had been accompanying President George W Bush.

We encourage our friends to support us and not make any mistake of putting a gun to anybody's head and saying 'either/or', because that cannot work

Moses Wetangula
Kenyan Foreign Minister

The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says it was hoped Ms Rice would arrive to endorse a decision taken by government and opposition negotiators to agree on a way out of the election crisis.

But the mediation process is still going on and the White House said she did not expect to come away with a "final deal", our correspondent says.

The talks are due to resume on Tuesday, after being adjourned last Thursday.

Considerable progress has been made but there is no agreement ready to be signed and there remains considerable opposition in the government to an imposed solution, he adds.

"We encourage our friends to support us and not make any mistake of putting a gun to anybody's head and saying 'either/or', because that cannot work," Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula warned on Sunday.

"Even if we get visitors to help us in any way possible, the answer to the problem in Kenya lies with Kenyans themselves."

Mr Bush had said he favoured a power-sharing deal at the start of his tour of Africa on Saturday, although he later stressed the US was looking only at "how best we can help the process".

Election panel

At the talks in Nairobi, Ms Rice is expected to discuss the progress made so far by mediation team led by Mr Annan.

Kofi Annan has said the two rivals are very close to a deal

On Friday, the former UN secretary general announced that the government and opposition had agreed to set up an independent panel, including Kenyan and non-Kenyan experts, to investigate "all aspects" of the disputed election.

The committee is due to start work on 15 March and submit its report within three to six months, he added.

"We are there, we are very close, we are moving steadily," Mr Annan said after two days of secret talks to end the crisis.

The government negotiator, Mutula Kilonzo, said on Thursday that the two sides had agreed to write a new constitution within a year.

Correspondents say this could pave the way for the creation of the post of prime minister, which Mr Odinga could take, although the opposition team said the issue of power-sharing needed to be resolved first.

Other details still reportedly needing to be worked out include the division of ministerial portfolios in any coalition.

Foreign diplomats have warned representatives of both sides of dire consequences if they scupper the process.

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Rice in Nairobi to push for deal

The Government and ODM have set their terms for Monday’s meeting with chief mediator Kofi Annan as top US diplomat is scheduled to arrive in the morning to push for a power-sharing formula aimed at ending the political crisis.

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice walks out of Tanzania’s State House in Dar es Salaam on Sunday. She is expected to meet President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga in Nairobi on Monday and convey President George Bush’s message. Photo/ MPOKI BUKUKU

As public anxiety builds and international pressure intensifies, it has emerged that both sides in the political conflict are agreeable to a coalition government. The difference, however, lies in its structure and the powers of the President in the new arrangement.

On Sunday evening, Government and ODM negotiators were locked in briefing sessions with their principals to fine-tune the positions that would be placed before Mr Annan Monday.

The chief mediator is scheduled to meet President Kibaki and ODM’s Raila Odinga Monday.

The former UN secretary-general is expected to prevail upon the two to give directions to their negotiators to strike a deal on some form of coalition government.

The meeting coincides with the arrival of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to give urgency to the mediated talks.

Dr Rice will meet President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to convey President George Bush’s message that a solution must be found quickly to prevent the country from collapse.

President Bush, who is in neighbouring Tanzania, has said Dr Rice’s mission in Kenya: “(Is) all aimed at having a clear message that there will be no violence and there ought to be a power-sharing agreement.”

The US Foreign Secretary will first be briefed by Mr Annan before meeting the two.

She will address a press conference at 4.50pm at the Muthaiga residence of ambassador Michael Ranneberger.

Political crisis

The US sentiments have been echoed by the United Kingdom, Germany, European Union and the UN who have all stated that Kenya would not be allowed to go up in smoke.

While acknowledging the need for a solution to the political crisis and the violence in which more than 1,000 people have been killed, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula was categorical that the Government will not allow the international community to usurp its sovereignty and arm-twist it into a governance structure that fails to respect the Constitution.

“We have a country, we have a Constitution and laws. Whatever agreement reached must be in line with the Constitution and meet the interests of Kenyans,” he said.

The former UN boss has proposed a coalition government as the best option to end the seven-week-old crisis.

Ambassador Oluyemi Adenije from Nigeria is also expected to arrive Monday to assist Mr Annan in the mediation.

The envoy is a former Cabinet minister and UN official.

We learnt that while the Government side was not opposed to a new coalition arrangement, it would insist that it must be in line with the provisions of the current Constitution.

This is based on the thinking that the political crisis, which arose from the disputed presidential elections, does not, in any way, subvert the Constitution.

That is why they are advancing the argument that President Kibaki should retain his slots as the Head of Government and Head of State with executive authority.

They will also maintain that Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, in addition to retaining his position in Parliament as the Leader of Government Business, will assume the position of the principal deputy of the President.

In line with Section 16 of the Constitution, they propose that the position of a Prime Minister, who in reality would serve as the chief minister, be created and given to ODM.

The holder of the position, will oversee the running of government ministries.

Number of ministries

Under the same section, they would propose that an Act of Parliament be passed to fix the number of ministries from which the President can appoint to his Cabinet.

The Government will also hold that the coalition will come into being on condition that President Kibaki serves his full term.

They will also demand that the coalition arrangement stops when the life of the current Parliament comes to an end and the country prepares for fresh elections.

ODM are pushing for a new coalition government in which it will share equal powers and slots with PNU. They will push for a Prime Minister’s position in a governance arrangement in which the functions of the President and the premier are separated.

While the President retains the position of the Head of State, the Prime Minister will serve as the Head of Government.

The ODM team will also push for creation of two slots of the deputy prime minister, and that Mr Musyoka be edged out of that arrangement.

This means that the PM will be the Leader of Government Business in the House, a position which is currently held by the VP.

They will also demand for half of the ministerial positions and that high profile slots like Finance and Internal Security be shared equally with the PNU.

This arrangement, they argue, has to be replicated even to the lowest ranks in public service jobs.

See related : Long fight for change and link to crisis

Published on February 18, 2008, 12:00 am

By Standard Team

The ghost of constitutional reforms — which two successive regimes failed to deal with — has re-emerged to haunt the political leadership in the middle of a post-election crisis, The Standard can report.

And this on the eve of the high profile arrival today of US Secretary of State Ms Condeleezza Rice and the return of Dr Jendayi Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, to add impetus to the ongoing mediation talks.

Rice, an emissary of US President George Bush, will carry this message from him to President Kibaki and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Mr Raila Odinga, "…The US desires to see that there be a power-sharing arrangement that will help this nation resolve its difficulties".

Power-sharing, now at the centre of the ongoing talks to broker a deal out of the crippling political impasse — and which could entail shifting some of the imperial powers of the presidency to another institution — is, in fact, a child of the much sought-after reforms.

Tragically, few lessons have been learnt after many years of false starts dating back to 1997, and billions of shillings gone down the drain, including a referendum on the draft Constitution which the Government lost.

But after failing to reform its constitution in peacetime, Kenya is now confronted with a fresh and even more urgent need to reform its constitution in the middle of a crisis.

Prof Yash Pal Ghai, a consultant during the search for a new constitution in the Kibaki-led National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) government, once remarked at the height of his frustration that if Kenya failed to reform its supreme document in peacetime, it somehow would still have to do so in turmoil.

The need for reforms is also in cognizance of the fact that while the mayhem that engulfed the country was a spontaneous response to the Electoral Commission of Kenya’s (ECK) declaration of Kibaki as winner of the 2007 presidential elections, a plethora of other underlying issues that have remained unresolved since Independence helped fuel it.

Mediators have conceded that the crisis cannot be resolved by merely dealing with the puzzle of who won the presidency and sharing out Cabinet positions.

With the international community backing the idea of power sharing, that has also strongly featured on the mediation table, there was no doubt at the weekend that a deal was shaping up along these lines.

New hardliners emerge

A political settlement that could usher in a new government is expected to be announced anytime this week. The talks, led by former UN secretary-general Dr Kofi Annan, former South African First Lady Mrs Graca Machel and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, resume tomorrow.

But a new breed of status quo proponents similar to those who blocked change in Kanu’s last days of a 24-year hegemony and another that frustrated reforms for the most part during Kibaki’s first tenure as President emerged in the form of Party of National Unity (PNU) hardliners.

Power-sharing, which the international community has openly backed and is pressuring the protagonists to accept as the most viable political settlement, appeared to be deeply unsettling for PNU.

In a seemingly well choreographed fight-back, Foreign Affairs minister Mr Moses Wetangula fired the first salvo at US President George Bush — who has backed power-sharing and which idea he branded as a constitutional landmine.

"It is not possible to reach an agreement in affront to the Constitution. We have a country, laws and a Constitution. Whatever we reach as an agreement must be within the law," Wetangula told journalists.

"Kenya will not take the road of agreements through hurried processes influenced by foreign states. We want a fully thought-out process because this is a Kenyan problem."

In a direct response to Bush’s call for power-sharing, Wetangula lashed out: "We will not be led, guided or given conditions by foreign states on how to reach a solution to solve the political impasse in Kenya."

And taking the cue was a group of 10 MPs from PNU and allied parties, who gathered at Hotel Boulevard and dismissed proposals on power sharing.

The MPs also told off President Bush and several envoys, including British High Commissioner Mr Adam Wood, over what they termed as, "infringing on Kenya’s sovereignty".

"It is unacceptable that close to 45 years after independence, we shall allow foreign domination to steal the dream we had at Independence," said part of the statement read at the press conference attended by Mr Peter Munya (Tigania East), Mrs Beth Mugo (Dagoretti), Mr Peter Mwathi (Limuru), Ms Wavinya Ndeti (Kathiani) and Mr Dick Wathika (Makadara), among others.

ODM has proposed a power sharing arrangement that will make the President head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, but cede his role as head of government to an executive prime minister, who has two deputies.

In the proposal, the President and premier are to share executive authority with proportionality at all levels of government.

PNU, however, wants the President to remain head of State and government in the event of a grand coalition, with the President appointing members of the Cabinet as he/she wishes.

The party also insists that positions already filled in the Cabinet must not be tampered with, reflecting a hardline position.

Today will represent another busy day on the talks trail, with Rice scheduled to land at 10.30am and thereafter meet with Annan at the Serena Hotel.

She will later meet President Kibaki, ODM leader Raila, and members of the civil society and business community.

Rice is expected to later brief the media before winding up her tour of Kenya.

Bush starts Africa trip

2008-02-16T09:54:00.001-06:00

Bush starts Africa trip with call for Kenya deal

Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:10am EST

By Tabassum Zakaria and Samuel Elijah
COTONOU, Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush began a visit to Africa on Saturday with a call for a power sharing agreement in Kenya to end the post-election conflict there that has killed 1,000 people.
Bush, whose five-nation trip does not include Kenya, is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Nairobi on Monday to back mediation efforts between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his opponents by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan.

U.S. officials stressed that Rice's trip was intended to back, not upstage, Annan's efforts in Kenya. But they warned the United States was ready to sanction any individuals who sought to obstruct the peace moves in the East African state.
"Kenya's an issue ... that's why I'm sending Secretary Rice there to help with the Kofi Annan initiative," Bush told reporters after arriving in Benin on the first stop of his six-day tour, his second to the world's poorest continent.

Rice's mission was "all aimed at having a clear message that there be no violence and that there ought to be a power sharing agreement," Bush said after holding talks with Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi in a brief stopover at Cotonou airport.

Bush starts Africa trip with call for Kenya deal | International | Reuters

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Rice Visit To Kenya

2008-02-15T04:26:00.001-06:00

Rice visit to Kenya 'welcome'

Bush and Rice begin a visit to Africa
on Friday [AFP]

Raila Odinga, Kenya's opposition Orange Democratic Movement leader, has said that the US secretary of state's forthcoming visit to the country is a positive move to help restore peace.

Salim Lone, a spokesman for Odinga, said on Friday that his party "welcomes the decision… to assist in the full restoration of democracy" and end post-election violence.

US President George Bush announced Condoleeza Rice's visit on Thursday.

In a visit to UN headquarters in New York, Lone said: "The Americans have been so waffly about the election outcome, that this decision today by the president is a very welcome development.

"Free and fair elections are at the core of democratic practice, and we are greatly encouraged by the US determination to take the lead.''

Bush wants Rice to demand an immediate end to fighting in the East African nation.

Violence since the disputed December 27 elections has led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people and displaced 300,000.

Lone said the move showed the recognition that "international pressure is essential" to ensure a peaceful resolution.

'Constitution rewrite'

Rice is expected to assist peace negotiations currently being mediated by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general.

Rice will talk to Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's president, Odinga, and possibly civil society leaders.

Bush and Rice begin a visit to Africa on Friday. A spokesman for Annan said on Thursday that an agreement to rewrite the constitution had

been made.

In Focus

Naivasha's 'Camp Darfur'

This includes a power-sharing deal between the parties.

Government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said: "The two parties agreed to write a new constitution."

This was not confirmed by the opposition.

Lone said: "We should not be fooled by the current relative calm to believe that peace is around the corner.

"Already we can see that the government has consistently tried to undermine the negotiations on this core issue and even if Mr Annan succeeds in forging a settlement, the world will have to be very vigilant in insuring the government implements it.

"But the key issue was and is remains today: the stolen election and the need to share power to overcome the anger amongst Kenyans. Maximum pressure needs to be put on the government to insure that an agreement on power-sharing is reached quickly."

Talks have been adjourned until Monday, but an announcement on the deal is expected at 5pm (1400GMT) on Friday.

from Al Jazeera English - News - Rice Visit To Kenya 'Welcome'

Power-Sharing

2008-02-10T15:52:00.001-06:00

Kenya leaders discuss power-sharing

Holmes said that he is optimistic that a political solution can be found in Kenya [AFP]

Kenya's feuding political parties are preparing to discuss a power-sharing agreement aimed at ending the unrest that followed the disputed re-election of Mwai Kibaki, the president.
Last week at talks mediated by Kofi Annan, the former UN chief, the rivals agreed an initiative to deal with the crisis that has seen more than 1,000 people killed.

"We are advocating for power-sharing, if need be," Japhet Kareke, an MP from Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) coalition, said on Sunday.
"The president and honourable Raila [Odinga] are talking. For the sake of peace, let them sit down and agree the way forward."

Raila Odinga, the opposition leader and head of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has accuses Kibaki of rigging the December 27 poll, triggering ethnic violence that shattered Kenya's image as a peaceful business, tourism and transport hub.
Power-sharing talks

When negotiations resume on Monday, both sides will discuss what form power-sharing might take over a two- to three-year period.
Annan's mediation team is then due to brief legislators during a special session of parliament on Tuesday.

Your Views

How can Kenya resolve the crisis over the elections?

Speaking outside a Nairobi cathedral on Sunday, Odinga said that his party supported a political settlement, but gave no details.
"We will not carry out mediation talks through the media," he said.
The ODM is no longer calling on Kibaki to step down, while PNU has dropped its demand that the opposition take any grievances over the polls to court.
Both sides have agreed on principles to end violence and help refugees.
Annan had given them until mid-February to resolve a third issue, what should be done about the disputed election.
The former UN secretary general also hopes debate on the deeper underlying issues, such as land grievances, will be tackled within a year.
'Humanitarian crisis'
John Holmes, the UN's top emergency relief official has said that there is a "very serious humanitarian problem" in Kenya after the weeks of violence.

Annan helped the rival camps reach a deal
aimed at solving the crisis[AFP]

But he expressed hope that a political deal can be reached soon.
"It's clear from what I saw and the people I talked to there's a very serious humanitarian problem," he said at the end of a three-day fact-finding mission.
"It is our hope that a political solution will be found in the short term so that the violence can stop."
Holmes told Al Jazeera that peace was possible.
"If we can get some calm in the situation, which a political settlement can achieve then it can give everyone a chance to tackle some of the underlying problems which have been ignored in the past."
"They cannot be ignored any longer - I think that's the real message."
However, Holmes also said that Kenyans who lost their homes in the upheaval, some of whom were chased out of areas in tribal violence, should not expect to return in the near future.

Al Jazeera English - News - Kenya Leaders Discuss Power-Sharing

Political Compromise in Kenya?

2008-02-10T03:54:00.001-06:00

Kenyan President Mwai Kibai (left), former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan (center), and opposition leader Raila Odinga (right) pose prior to a meeting at Harambee house in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Feb. 8, 2008.

Presidential Press Service / AP

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Friday that Kenya's government and the opposition are close to reaching a power-sharing deal to resolve the political deadlock that sparked weeks of bloodshed. But after the chaos in which more than 1,000 people were killed and 300,000 have been displaced, it remains open to question whether a deal among politicians will be enough to restore the peace.

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Annan, who has been mediating between the political rivals for more than a week, provided no details, but urged patience from those who have become increasingly pessimistic about Kenya's fate since the violence touched off by the disputed December 27 poll. While both sides showed some flexibility, it remains unclear how the deal brokered by Annan will address the central crux of the disagreement: President Mwai Kibaki says he rightfully won re-election in the December 27 vote, while Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga claims the vote was stolen from him.

"I think everyone realizes that we have a serious problem in the country," Annan said. "We also accept that we have to find a way of uniting and reconciling the nation."

The post-election chaos has effectively redrawn Kenya's demographic map, as tens of thousands of President Kibaki's fellow ethnic Kikuyus were forced to flee the fertile Rift Valley and further west including the city of Kisumu, which has, according to local accounts, come to govern itself entirely.

In retaliation, Kikuyus in other communities have driven out members of the Luo, Luhya and Kalenjin tribes, deemed to support Odinga, and these tensions continue to escalate. The United States has backtracked from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer's characterization of the violence as "ethnic cleansing," but many Kenyans agreed with her.

Analysts say that the proposal on the table is one familiar in Kenyan political circles: amend the constitution to run more along the lines of a parliamentary democracy, with the president ceding many of his powers to the person who occupies the newly created post of prime minister. That would strip Kibaki of most of the awesome control he has over the state and make parliament more than just a talking shop. An attempt in 2005 to change the constitution failed, but observers believe the recent crisis may finally be concentrating the minds of Kenya's politicians.

"Kenya will have to accept that the constitution is not cast in stone, it was written by men, it can be changed by men and the radical situation we are in now requires very exceptional steps to hold the country together," says political analyst Ojwang Agina.

Constitutional change may be the only way out of the deadlock. The opposition has repeatedly called for a new vote, but it's difficult to see how that could occur now that so many tens of thousands of people have fled the towns where they once voted. A power-sharing deal is another option, but that might only work as a stop-gap measure to pave the way for more fundamental constitutional changes.

Annan's announcement may be a sign that pressure on the main parties to compromise after weeks of intransigence may finally be beginning to tell. On Friday, President Kibaki's government lifted a ban on public rallies that had been decried as unconstitutional. He has also backed off the rather peremptory argument he had made at an African Union summit in Ethiopia: that the opposition should seek redress from Kenya's judicial system, which happens to be firmly in the president's pocket.

And Odinga has shown at least a modicum of flexibility too, perhaps realizing that it may no longer be sufficient to insist that the presidency was stolen — which many observers say it very well may have been — and accept that Kibaki, whether elected legitimately or not, is still the president of the country, with all its resources behind him.

"We are saying that we are willing to give and take," Odinga told reporters Friday. "Initially our stand was that we won the elections, and Mr. Kibaki lost the elections, he should resign, and we should be sworn in, but we have said that we are not static on that point." Friday, Feb. 08, 2008 By NICK WADHAMS/NAIROBI

A Political Compromise in Kenya? - TIME

Kibaki, Raila break fresh ground

2008-02-09T11:39:00.001-06:00

President Kibaki (second left) and Mr Raila Odinga (second right) after the ground breaking talks with former UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan (centre), Mrs Graca Machel and former Tanzanian president, Mr Benjamin Mkapa. They had just concluded the third round of joint peace talks at Harambee House, Nairobi, on Friday.

from the Standard | Online Edition

Hope as Kibaki, Raila break fresh ground, Published on February 9, 2008, 12:00 am, By Ben Agina and Peter Opiyo And Agencies

President Kibaki and Orange Democratic Movement leader Mr Raila Odinga have agreed to a negotiated a political settlement to the current crisis.

If the plan pulls off, modalities for either an interim government pending fresh elections, or Government of National Unity under President Kibaki, would be out next week.

The international mediating team led by former UN Secretary General, Dr Kofi Annan, announced the Government’s notable climbdown so far, on Friday, following joint talks with the two protagonists. Annan’s announcement came along with the caution that it was still premature to conclude a peace deal had been struck.

The deal, however, was a far cry from the Government’s long-standing position that the aggrieved should "go to court".

It also was a major shift from Kibaki’s team’s insistence that the President won and that a political settlement of whatever nature was out of question.

Asked about speculation Raila’s team had agreed to join the Kibaki Government under the banner of a negotiated power-sharing deal, Annan said the claim "was jumping the gun’’.

"We are all agreed that a political settlement is needed, that a political settlement is necessary and we are working out the details of such a settlement," the former United Nations chief told The Saturday Standard.

"Issues are still on the table and we will go back to them on Monday," he said, after meeting Kibaki and Raila.

Annan added: "I think everyone realises that we have a serious problem in the country … we also accept that we have to find a way of uniting and reconciling the nation."

"I sincerely hope that we will conclude our work on item three, the settlement of the political issues, by early next week," he added.

Signs that ODM and PNU may have moved closer to a settlement emerged when Annan called for an informal session of Parliament to convene as early as Tuesday, "so that we can brief them on the process where we are and where we are going".

"This (special session of Parliament) should probably be on Tuesday, but this is up to the President on when he will reconvene Parliament," Annan, told an international news conference attended by co-mediators, former South African First Lady Graca Machel and former Tanzania President Mr Benjamin Mkapa.

Though the parties recognised the need for a political solution to the crisis details of the scope of the political settlement and its implementation remained scanty.

However, the urgency and speed with which the process is expected to move was apparent with the mediation team hinting that by Tuesday all the issues touching the political crisis will have been finalised and an amicable agreement reached.

The Agenda Three

"Both parties have agreed that what is needed is a political solution to the crisis. We hope that we will reach a political settlement by next week on Agenda Three," Annan announced.

The third point, which includes sensitive political issues such as power-sharing, has proven the most problematic, with few concrete steps reported so far.

He added: "We have made useful discussion with the two principals and impressed upon them to support the process. I want the two leaders to support the men and women working on the negotiation process to strike a deal."

Earlier, Annan was emphatic that they cannot afford to fail in Kenya saying, "I’m not ready to contemplate failure. I’m not ready to give up now, and the team working with me are of the same spirit."

BBC radio quoted the respected diplomat and chief mediator asserting that they cannot afford to fail.

"It always begins with intransigence. But then one begins to encourage them to move and shift. And there have been some shifts. Perhaps not enough, but we will get there. They will have to shift. They will shift," Annan said.

Annan was referring to the joint efforts to reach a settlement on the crisis that engulfed the country soon after Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) chairman Mr Samuel Kivuitu declared Kibaki the winner of the December 27 presidential elections. The announcement was followed by a swift swearing-in of Kibaki for a second and final term; a few minutes after the disputed win.

"If anyone remains recalcitrant and difficult, I don’t think the population would accept it," Annan said.

"The average citizen of Kenya will know whom to blame and I don’t think people who are ambitious and believe they have political future would want to place themselves in that situation."

Quick to put out the news the international Press variously described the outcome, which the mediators played close to their chest as, "breakthrough" and "power-sharing".

The Associated Press quoted Eldoret North MP Mr William Ruto, a member of the ODM negotiating team saying: "We have finally agreed that there is a problem and neither side can proceed on its own.

"We have agreed to form a joint government. Details of that government, its time and how to share it are under discussions."

"Breakthrough," the BBC reported, but added that details remained as Annan was expected to make an announcement later in the day.

The post-election violence has led to the death of about 1,000, displaced at least 350,000, and led to massive destruction of property.

Quoting sources, Reuters reported that negotiators for President Kibaki and Mr Odinga had achieved a "breakthrough" in their dispute over the December 27 presidential election, local media and a source close to the talks said on Friday.

"Yes, it’s a big one. Dr Kofi Annan will come out soon and tell you all about it." To this Annan replied, "Please don’t pay to much attention to the rumours. Have faith and stay the cause." He appealed to the media to avoid speculating about the talks, but have faith and stay the course.

Speaking at Serena Hotel, Annan stated the urgent need for a political settlement.

"We have made great progress. We want to bring this issue to closure," Annan, who was flanked by Eminent Persons Mkapa and Grace, said.

Convene Parliament

The chief mediator, who also said he had met the Speaker of he National Assembly Mr Kenneth Marende said there was need for him to convene an informal session of Parliament (kamukunji) at the earliest opportunity to brief the MPs on the progress made.

Sources within the negotiating team noted that PNU wanted a recount of the presidential voter, expressing confidence that Kibaki would win with a majority.

On its part, ODM dismissed the recounting saying the ballot boxes would have been tampered with.

While PNU insists on a political settlement based along the lines of Government of National Unity, ODM wants a transitional government with an early election.

In the political settlement, we learnt ODM wants the functions of the State and the Government be separated. At one point Annan took a break from the morning session to meet the two teams separately to find a common ground.

Speaking after Annan and Mkapa, Graca said: "We have already made considerable progress. We acknowledge the country is divided and bleeding and it needs a process of healing and all parties must be engaged and that is why a political solution is the only way forward."

On his part, Mkapa, said the political solution will have different key issues and that the mediation teams had made considerable progress on the various issues in the Third Agenda.

Earlier, Annan met Kibaki and Raila and their negotiation teams at Harambee House, the Office of the President.

The teams emerged out of the Office of the President after meeting for about an hour.

Raila, Pentagon members, Musalia Mudavadi, Ms Charity Ngilu, Najib Balala and Ugenya MP, James Orengo, emerged together came with the Kibaki and Annan’s teams. But the President did not accompany them.

In the President’s team was Justice minister, Ms Martha Karua, Education minister, Prof Sam Ongeri, Foreign Affairs minister, Moses Wetangula and Mbooni MP, Mutula Kilonzo.

The Kibaki team then went back inside the building only to emerge, again without the President, close to an hour later.

Looking at the curious journalists, Mutula asked: "Are you waiting for us or the boss?" To which a journalist responded: "The boss. Will he be out soon, in about five minutes?"

Signs that the president would not address the media then became evident when the Presidential Press Service (PPS), disabled the public address system, while his security detail asked journalists to create room for the president’s motorcade.

Kibaki, came out at 6.17pm, 20 minutes after his team left the venue, he went straight into his waiting car.

Kenyan Peace deal expected next week

2008-02-08T21:20:00.001-06:00

Annan hopes for Kenyan deal next week

11 hours ago

NAIROBI (AFP) — Kenya's political leaders on Friday agreed to negotiate a settlement to end weeks of bloodshed, with chief mediator Kofi Annan saying he hoped a deal could be reached early next week.

After negotiations failed to yield a breakthrough, Annan met with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who have been locked in a dispute over the December presidential elections.

"I sincerely hope that we will conclude our work on item three, the settlement of the political issues, by early next week," Annan told reporters.

"I hope, next week, we will have firm news for you," he said.

Negotiations led by the former UN secretary general entered a crucial stage this week, with the government and the opposition tackling head-on their dispute over the presidential polls.

The government on Friday lifted a ban on public rallies, saying security had improved, but the internal security ministry said politicians must use demonstrations to "promote peace and national reconciliation".

More than 1,000 people have died in rioting, police raids and clashes between rival tribes since the election, which the opposition claims was rigged.

International observers have also cited flaws in the tallying.

Four people were killed overnight in tribal violence in the Kisii region of Nyanza province in western Kenya, two of whom were "hacked to death", police said.

Nearly 50 people have been killed in violence in western Kenya this week, some of them shot by police cracking down on gangs who have torched houses and other property.

"I think everyone realises that we have a serious problem in the country," Annan said. "We also accept that we have to find a way of uniting and reconciling the nation.

"We are all agreed that a political settlement is needed, that a political settlement is necessary and we are working out the details of such a settlement," Annan said.

For weeks the government had maintained a hard line, arguing that if the opposition wanted to challenge the results of the December 27 ballot, it would have to do so through the courts.

The opposition had rejected a legal challenge, saying the courts were not independent and called on Kibaki to step down, refusing to recognise his legitimacy.

In talks with Kibaki and Odinga, Annan said he "appealed to them to support their negotiators and give them instructions to cooperate and to settle."

Launched on January 29, Annan's mission is seen as Kenya's best hope for resolving one of its worst crises since independence in 1963.

The violence has forced some 300,000 people to flee their homes, with relief groups saying the upheaval could affect food security and the health care system.

"In hospitals or clinics, the staff have been victims of violence and they have trouble getting into work," said Filipe Ribeiro, the emergency aid coordinator in Kenya for Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

"The indirect consequence of the violence is that a child suffering from cerebral malaria cannot be treated because there are no nurses in the hospital," Ribeiro told AFP.

UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes began a three-day mission to assess the humanitarian crisis and was due to travel over the weekend to the Rift Valley, the epicentre of the violence.

The conflict has caused disruption in several landlocked neighbouring countries which receive fuel and other supplies through Kenya's transport routes.

The turmoil has delivered a crippling blow to Kenya's tourism industry, the top foreign currency earner, while tea production and agriculture have also been hard hit.

AFP: Annan hopes for Kenyan deal next week

Kenya, government urges foreigners to Come back

2008-02-07T19:36:00.001-06:00

Come back to Kenya, government urges foreigners

By Andrew CawthorneThu Feb 7, 3:03 AM ET

Information Minister Samuel Poghisio said on Thursday the violence in Kenya was diminishing and that most of the country was unaffected, so investors and tourists should not take fright.

"Come in and hold hands with Kenyans and say 'We are with you' and let not the images beamed internationally be the ones to guide you," Poghisio said in an interview with Reuters.

But he acknowledged Kenya had been through what he called a dark period in its history.

More than 1,000 people have been killed -- mostly in ethnic clashes and some by police during protests -- and about 300,000 displaced since violence erupted after a disputed December 27 election in which President Mwai Kibaki was returned to power.

The violence has prompted tourists to shun Kenya and some businesses have made contingency plans to relocate should the bloodshed between government and opposition supporters go on.

Poghisio said the world had an exaggerated image of the violence as most of Kenya was not affected, life was back to normal for many, and political foes were now talking.

"The international community needs to know that it is still very possible to travel to Kenya," he said.

"It's not what you hear and what you see."

But Poghisio said he was under no illusion about the gravity of events.

"It is a period in our country that will always remain as a black hole. It is a dark period in history," he said.

"We went into elections very normally. Turnout was good and everything looked good. And then bang, the announcement, and almost all hell broke loose literally. Neighbor turned against Neighbor, friend against friend."

HATE RADIO

Nevertheless, political polarization among local media and the repeated use of gruesome images by foreign media had worsened the impact on Kenya's reputation, said Poghisio.

"If on a daily basis they show pictures of demonstrations, and riots and mutilated bodies, of war and burning houses ... that has tended to give a bad image," he said.

"What's going on in Kenya is an isolated case of some politically instigated violence ... If you put it in perspective, 80 percent of Kenya's land mass is not experiencing violence. There are many people going about business as normal."

Poghisio, who has just lifted a government ban on live broadcasting introduced when trouble first flared, said his ministry was preparing legal action against provincial radio stations accused of inciting violence.

Recalling Rwandan broadcaster Radio Television Libres del Milles Collines' incitement prior to that country's 1994 genocide, he said some Kenyan radio stations had been playing war songs and stirring communities to action.

"I have understood the Rwanda situation ... And we're saying let's be careful as a country that we do not have this repeated," he said.

"When you go into the realm of crime, directing people even on how to punish somebody else, how to burn houses and do all these things ... it is crime."

Poghisio said the world should give Kenya a chance to resolve the election dispute rather than rushing to condemn it and "push it down."

Violence was slowing, mediation led by former U.N. head Kofi Annan was progressing, and some government and opposition legislators were going out together to preach peace, he said.

"Knowing Kenya's history, and the way that Kenya has been gradually climbing and not declining, sometimes a small valley is a prelude to a very good, steep climb ahead."

(Editing by Bryson Hull and Ralph Gowling)

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Security Council on Kenya Violence

2008-02-07T04:51:00.001-06:00

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday deplored the widespread violence in Kenya and urged political leaders to resolve the crisis over disputed elections through "dialogue, negotiation and compromise."

The statement was the first response by the U.N.'s most powerful body to the fighting that erupted after the Dec. 27 presidential election, which has killed more than 800 people in a country once considered among the most stable in Africa.

The council statement expressed concern at the "dire humanitarian situation" in the country, where some 310,000 people have fled their homes, and gave strong backing to negotiations led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to end the violence.

"The council emphasizes that the only solution to the crisis lies through dialogue, negotiation and compromise and strongly urges Kenya's political leaders to foster reconciliation," the statement said.

Supporters of President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have been clashing over who won the presidential vote. Odinga is demanding a new election, but Kibaki has refused, arguing his re-election was fair.

Protests since the election have turned violent and deteriorated in many cases into ethnic clashes, with much of the anger aimed at Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, long resented for dominating politics and the economy.

The council welcomed the announcement of progress in negotiations between Kibaki and Odinga on Feb. 1, including the adoption of an agenda and timetable for action to end the crisis.

It urged the two leaders to implement the actions they agreed to without delay, "including by meeting their responsibility to engage fully in finding a sustainable political solution and taking action to immediately end violence."

The council said this means ending ethnically motivated attacks, dismantling armed gangs, improving the humanitarian situation and restoring human rights.

"Recalling the need to avoid impunity, the council calls for those responsible for violence to be brought to justice," the statement said.By EDITH M. LEDERER – 7 hours ago

The Associated Press: Security Council Deplores Kenya Violence

Kenya’s Rift Valley Tragedy | Newsweek International | Newsweek.com

2008-02-06T06:23:00.001-06:00

the Valley of Death

With Kenya's crisis showing no signs of easing, the Rift Valley is bearing the brunt of the destruction. An on-scene report.

Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP-Getty Images

On Patrol: A Kalenjin group armed with bows and arrows takes to the streets after a surge of violence in nearby Eldoret

By Andrew Ehrenkranz and Alexandra Polier | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Like dusty and deserted cowboy towns in an American western, the empty villages crop up one after another along the cracked roads of Kenya's Rift Valley. Some, like Mau Summit, once a bustling community, have been reduced to ramshackle assemblages of burned-out shacks, broken storefronts and empty streets littered with the detritus of weeks of violence. In Mau, all that remains of the Good Start Nursery School is a neatly lettered sign. Kalenjin youths from the neighboring town of Kericho came in early Saturday morning and torched the town's main square and most of the surrounding buildings. A few arrests were made, but they came as little condolence to the 3,000 Kikuyus huddled into St. Kizitos Catholic Church down the road, where buses were being organized to relocate people lucky enough to have somewhere to go. Loading furniture and other household goods onto a waiting truck, Joseph Kariuki, the church's harried chairman, explained, "These are the things from the people affected by this war."

With Kenya's disputed election crisis showing no signs of easing, the once serene Rift Valley is awash with disturbing signs of mayhem and destruction. Amid the verdant greenery of the plains and the picture-postcard views of lush pastures is the debris of countless homes and shops burned to the ground by gangs of angry, vengeful men whose loyalty appears to lie largely in the chaos that has descended over much of this part of the country. Kalenjin tribesmen roam the countryside armed with bows and arrows, spears and other makeshift weaponry. According to several locals they are hunting Kikuyus—any Kikuyus. In the village of Mkutano, two small boys standing at an intersection warned a passerby of just what was happening. "Don't pass this way," the older of the two hissed, "There are roadblocks ahead—Kalenjins are killing Kikuyus there."

Overall, the violence that has left more than 1,000 dead in postelection turmoil seems two-pronged, split between the organized aggression of gangs and the spontaneous eruptions of angry, ethnically based flash mobs fighting over resources and political divisions. The tribal targeting of the killings—which mostly pits the opposition Kalenjin and Luo tribes against the Kikuyu majority of President Mwai Kibaki—led U.S Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer to describe the Rift Valley violence as "ethnic cleansing." Signs of hope are few. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has announced yet another protest for Wednesday in a bid to rally supporters behind him as he tries to oust Kibaki from the presidency he claimed after the deeply flawed election of Dec. 27.

And former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan's attempts at mediation hit a snag over the weekend when Kibaki's government rejected the intervention of South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa as a possible intermediary in talks with the opposition. Ramaphosa, a prominent trade union leader during the struggle against apartheid, was instrumental in mediating his country's transition to democracy. As the political stalemate continues in Nairobi, the violence elsewhere is becoming more generalized, broader and, many believe, much more difficult to control. "Kalenjins and Luos are burning cars and usually killing any Kikuyu who pass," said a Masai police officer escorting vehicles through a risky stretch of highway in the Rift Valley earlier this week. Pointing at the smoking remains of a double-axel trailer truck that had been torched the previous night, he said the victims had been Kikuyu. "Anything can happen at any time."

Certainly, Kibaki and Odinga's clumsy handling of the botched election has done little to reduce tensions. On a recent Sunday morning outside the town of Eldoret, scene of some of the worst clashes in the days after the election, Pastor Joel, a priest from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, monitored a highway roadblock. Many of the displaced, now estimated to number around 350,000, were from Eldoret. Now they live in U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees tents and eat Red Cross food. The Kikuyu, who were brought in during the 1950s by white farm owners to work the land, have come to consider this vast region home, having lived and worked the land for generations. But among the Kalenjin, who claim ancestral, precolonial rights to the area, resentment against the Kikuyu runs deep.

Joel believes the election served as the "spark," but that widespread anger and resentment about land distribution are now the primary drivers of the violence. "The people have no faith in any other way, so they do this," he said.

Scenes of heartbreak are everywhere. In devastated Mau Summit, at the top of the Rift Valley escarpment, stood Ester Njenga, a 44-year-old mother of five. Four days after a fire left her and thousands of other Kikuyus in this small province homeless and destitute, Njenga still stood there, staring blankly at the charred plot before her, immobilized in disbelief.
As for so many others, once-ignored ethnic origins had suddenly become a matter of life and death. A Kalenjin, Ester had lived with her Kikuyu husband and their Kalenjin neighbors here peacefully for many years, only to be driven away last week when mob violence resulted in the killing of a local Kalenjin man and subsequent retaliation for his death. "He was our neighbor," remembers Njenga, shaking her head and crying. The Kalenjin torched the entire area, burning and looting hundreds of homes and businesses. "I am worried about my children. Where will we go? How will I feed them?" she asked. For the last several nights she has been squatting in the Kenya Power and Lighting Company office down the road.
"This fighting will continue until President Kibaki offers Raila the post. Otherwise this will continue for years," said Peter Kirui, 30, a Kalenjin who saw the bodies of two Kisii men carried off his farm the next day. "We don't want Kisii and Kikuyus here, because they are helping each other to kill Kalenjins. No Raila, no peace."
"This happened in 1992 and 1997, but it was never this bad," said one resident of the town of Londiani who was salvaging scraps of metal from a still-smoldering yard. Picking up a piece of corrugated tin roof, once a ceiling, now a weapon, his look of hurt turned to anger. "This isn't about the election anymore. It has gone too far." For mediators trying to find a political settlement, that's a disturbing prospect.

© 2008 Newsweek, Inc.

Kenya’s Rift Valley Tragedy | Newsweek International | Newsweek.com

Feb 5, 2008 | Updated: 6:17 p.m. ET Feb 5, 2008

Kenya talks resume as regional ministers arrive

2008-02-06T06:08:00.001-06:00

A group of Kisii men and women try to put their furniture on top of a truck in the town of Chepilat February 5, 2008. Kenya's opposition on Tuesday threatened new street protests if a meeting of regional foreign ministers chaired by the government goes ahead this week while the two sides are locked in political negotiations. (REUTERS/Peter Andrews)

February 6, 2008

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's political rivals resumed crisis talks on Wednesday despite preparations for a meeting of east African foreign ministers which has angered opposition leaders.

The opposition has threatened more street protests if the government chairs Thursday's planned meeting of the regional body IGAD, which is headed by Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki.

The opposition, which accuses Kibaki of rigging December 27 elections, says chairing the meeting would legitimize Kibaki's position "through the back door."

But former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who is mediating between the foes about a disputed election, said there would be no mass action while talks continued.

Some ministers from the seven-nation bloc arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said.

"If they government goes ahead and holds the IGAD meeting, we will protest peacefully. We will march, carry placards, show our messages," one opposition official said.

Kenyan police have banned all protests since the polls, and earlier demonstrations have triggered violence and looting.

What started as a dispute over President Mwai Kibaki's disputed December 27 re-election has since laid bare divisions over land, wealth and power that date from colonial rule and have since been stoked by politicians.

More than a thousand people have been killed and around 300,000 displaced in one of Kenya's darkest moments since its independence from Britain 44 years ago.

Most of the deaths have come from cycles of ethnic killings, adding to protesters shot dead by the security forces.

On Tuesday, Annan said the opposition had been wrong to threaten more protests while talks were ongoing under the terms of an mediation agreement signed up to by both sides.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) says Kibaki's team rigged the vote and has insisted on external mediation. That led to Annan's mission which has so far produced commitments to end violence and help the displaced.

On Tuesday, Annan pushed the two sides to focus on the third item on their agenda -- the political crisis ignited by the disputed election results.

International observers have said the vote counting was so chaotic that it was impossible to tell who won.

The government says Kibaki was elected fairly and has pressed that position through African diplomatic channels including the African Union and IGAD, where it has goodwill from its role brokering peace for Somalia and Sudan.

The bloodshed has damaged Kenya's image as a stable and prosperous nation in a turbulent part of the continent, and seriously harmed the economic boom Kibaki won wide credit for nurturing with a business-friendly approach.

Business leaders met Annan on Tuesday and urged action to stop the downward slide that has seen the currency drop at one point to near a three-year low, slammed the $1 billion-a-year tourism industry and choked exports.

(For special coverage from Reuters on Kenya's crisis see: http ://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/)

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Wangui Kanina and Dominic Evans)

Kenya talks resume as regional ministers arrive - Boston.com

The Showdown

2008-02-01T18:16:00.001-06:00

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his political rival Raila Odinga

From the air, Kenya is a country on fire. Plumes of blue smoke rise from villages across the Rift Valley. More fires burn in the sprawling townships on the edge of the capital, Nairobi. On the ground, the city is gripped by fear. Police officers man roadblocks across its main arteries and sirens wail on its outer edges. Violence is sporadic, and sudden. In the slum of Karobongi, witnesses said the feared Mungiki sect — a group that weaves Kikuyu tribal mythology with gang rule in the slums — hacked to death several people from rival tribes in reprisal killings, leaving the roads strewn with limbs. Clashes between tribes also erupted in the tin-shack slum of Mathare, preventing aid workers from delivering daily drops of food and medicine.

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The tribal violence that erupted across the country in the wake of a disputed general election has now killed more than 300 people in four days, according to Kenya Human Rights Commission and the International Federation for Human Rights. Tens of thousands have left their homes, with many others pouring over the border into Uganda. On Tuesday, a mob set fire to a church where hundreds of Kikuyu were sheltering in the town of Eldoret, burning 50 alive. The fear is that the last four days may be a taste of worse to come. Thursday will see an unprecedented showdown between the government and the opposition in Nairobi's city center. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for a million of his supporters to converge on Uhuru Park and anoint him the "people's President," to protest an election he claims was rigged by the incumbent, President Mwai Kibaki. Kibaki's government has banned the rally, and in the past few days security forces have not hesitated to shoot rioters dead on sight.

Between the two leaders, this is a power struggle. Little separates them politically, but the two have been intense rivals since Odinga fell out with Kibaki after the President reneged on political promises to the man who was then his coalition ally in the 2002 election. The wave of tribal killings erupted during counting that followed a Dec. 27 general election. At one stage on Sunday in this nation of 36 million, Odinga was one million votes in the lead. Election officials in Kibaki's strongholds then disappeared with the ballot boxes, only to reappear with dramatically enhanced tallies for the President, who was promptly declared the winner and sworn in less than an hour later. Kibaki's first act was to ban live TV and radio broadcasts of the resulting unrest. With the U.S., U.K. and Kenya's own Electoral Commission questioning the result, Odinga is demanding that Kabika admit that he lost.

On the streets, the violence is about tribal score-settling. Kibaki is a Kikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe with 22% of the population. Odinga is a Luo, Kenya's third largest at 13%. The Kikuyu have dominated Kenya's politics, business and land ownership since independence in 1963, provoking simmering resentment from the Luo and other smaller tribes. That has only increased in recent years. Kibaki's government was elected on an anti-corruption ticket, and the economy has since grown at a steady 5%, fueled by a thriving tourism sector. But the benefits have not been enjoyed by all. Corruption has reserved much of Kenya's riches for the government and its cronies, and unemployment and poverty have actually increased, so that today more than half the country lives on less than $2 a day.

On Wednesday, the government said of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement: "It is becoming clear that these well-organized acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were well planned, financed and rehearsed by Orange Democratic Movement leaders prior to the general elections." That charge made explicit the specter now haunting what has historically been one of Africa's most stable and tourist-friendly nations — that it might descend into the kind of ethnic slaughter seen in Rwanda in 1994. On Thursday, Kenya will confront those fears.

Kenya on the Verge of a Showdown - TIME

Ban throws weight behind Kenya peace drive

2008-02-01T15:25:00.001-06:00

U.N.'s Ban throws weight behind Kenya peace drive

By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in Kenya to give clout to diplomatic efforts to end a month of post-poll turmoil, urged Kenyans on Friday to immediately stop violence that has killed at least 850 people.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (R) shakes hands with Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki after a closed door meeting during the 10th African Union Summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 31, 2008. (REUTERS/Kenya's Presidential Press Service/Handout)

Ban met negotiating teams for Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga trying to reach a deal to end the crisis in what had until the election been one of the continent's more stable nations and strongest economies.

"What is important at this time is to maintain peace and security," he told reporters. "The killing must stop."

But even as he spoke, violence continued in flashpoints all over western Kenya, where rival tribes are locked into a cycle of ethnically-motivated killings and lootings.

"I saw around 20 torched houses including shops and two policemen with arrow wounds, one in the leg, one in the shoulder," said a local journalist who had visited the area and did not want to be named.

"At least 10 people have died from both sides," he said.

Leaders at an African Union summit in Ethiopia want urgent action. Ban flew in from there for a one-day visit intended to bolster mediation led by his predecessor Kofi Annan.

Kenya descended into political and ethnic killing after Kibaki's disputed re-election in a Dec. 27 poll.

"You have lost already too much in terms of national image, economic interest, you lost many tourists ... This is unfortunate for a country that has been enjoying freedom and stability," the U.N. chief said.

More than 300,000 Kenyans are living as refugees.

Odinga says Kibaki stole the vote, while Kibaki says he is the legitimately elected leader. International observers said the count was so chaotic it was impossible to tell who won.

KIBAKI BLAMES RIVALS

At a meeting of an east African regional grouping, President Mwai Kibaki accused his rivals of instigating the bloodshed and told them again to challenge his disputed re-election in court.

"Regrettably, although the election results reflected the will of the majority of Kenyans, the leaders in the opposition instigated a campaign of civil unrest that resulted in over 800 deaths," he said in comments likely to anger the opposition.

Kibaki also urged Odinga to go to court to challenge the result, saying "The accepted rule is to resort to the established constitutional mechanisms."

Odinga says he would not get a fair hearing in court because the judiciary is biased toward Kibaki. The opposition however has challenged legislative elections in the courts.

Media and civil society groups urged leaders to bury their differences for the sake of national peace.

Even if they do, "there's no way we can buy back the lives of the dead," wrote columnist Lucy Oriang' in the Daily Nation.

The unrest has taken the lid off decades-old divisions between tribal groupings over land, wealth and power, dating from British colonial rule and stoked by Kenyan politicians during 44 years of independence.

The United States and European countries have pledged their support for Annan's mediation efforts. Donors have said aid programmes to Kenya are under review.

Many in the country fear what will happen if Annan fails to clinch some sort of power-sharing deal.

But lead negotiators for both Kibaki and Odinga's teams pledged their commitment to dialogue at their meeting with Ban.

Fresh protests, in which witnesses said at least two people were killed, broke out on Thursday after a police officer in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret shot dead an opposition legislator.

He was the second killed in a week.

The officer who shot the legislator and also a female police officer with him, appeared in court on Friday.

Police are treating the killing as a "crime of passion", but Odinga has called it a politically-motivated assassination.

Soldiers fired into the air to disperse angry mobs in Eldoret after the killing. Hospital sources said at least 20 people were wounded in the fighting.

Lying in a hospital bed with a bullet still lodged in his back, mason James Musire said he was walking back from a school meeting when security forces shot him. "I tried to put up my hands in surrender, but they just shot," he said.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne, Bryson Hull and Tim Cocks in Nairobi, David Lewis in Eldoret)

U.N.'s Ban throws weight behind Kenya peace drive

Kenya peace talks in disarray

2008-01-31T23:59:00.001-06:00

Opposition supporters stand by a burning vehicle set on fire in Kisumu, following the shooting of Kenyan opposition lawmaker David Too by a police officer in Eldoret. Photograph: AP

The first day of international efforts to negotiate an end to Kenya's bloody election crisis were thrown into disarray yesterday after a policeman shot dead an opposition member of parliament, the second MP to be killed this week, in what his party called a "political assassination".

The leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, Raila Odinga, described the shooting of David Kimutai Too in the town of Eldoret as part of a political strategy to weaken his party's hold on parliament. "I condemn this second execution of an ODM member of parliament. The purpose of this killing is to reduce the ODM majority," he said.

The police said the killing was the result of a domestic dispute. Earlier this week, another opposition MP, Melitus Were, was shot dead outside his home in Nairobi. Yesterday, Salim Lone, the ODM spokesman, said the party was concerned about the safety of its MPs and was urgently reviewing security arrangements.

News of Too's death prompted more violence in the Rift Valley, including the burning of the homes of what are seen as rival ethnic groups to the Kalenjin majority there, while at least two people were killed by police shooting at the mobs.

The MP's killing also forced the postponement of a meeting between the government and opposition mediated by the former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, and added to the urgency of a warning yesterday by his successor at the UN, Ban Ki-moon, that Kenya faces a looming "catastrophe".

Ban is expected to arrive in Nairobi today to give added international weight to the mediation efforts to end the violence that has already killed about 850 people since President Mwai Kibaki claimed victory in highly disputed circumstances in the December 27 election.

Odinga is demanding a new ballot. Kibaki has ruled it out. Annan has said the talks could take months, but Ban warned a meeting of the African Union in Ethiopia yesterday that the killing needs to be swiftly brought to an end. "Violence continues, threatening to escalate to catastrophic levels," he said. "I call on the Kenyan people: stop the killings and end the violence now before it's too late."

The AU's chairman, Alpha Oumar Konare, told 40 of the continent's leaders at the opening of the summit that they must take action. "If Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow," he said. "Kenya is a country that was a hope for the continent. Today, if you look at Kenya you see violence on the streets. We are even talking about ethnic cleansing. We are even talking about genocide. We cannot sit here with our hands folded."

Too was killed in Eldoret, an opposition stronghold in the Rift Valley that has seen some of the worst ethnic violence since the disputed election. Witnesses said he was with a female traffic constable. They were looking at land that Too was considering purchasing, according to Beatrice Chepkemboi, 23, speaking at the scene yesterday afternoon. When the pair arrived back at their car, a traffic officer on a police motorbike sped up to them.

"The MP had climbed into the car and the lady was about to open the door when the officer shot her," said Chepkemboi, who watched the scene from a house about 30 metres away. "She put up her hands in surrender and pleaded with the officer but he shot her again."

The officer went round to the driver's side of the car and shot Too several times, Chepkemboi said. Photographs taken on a mobile phone showed him slumped over the driver's window. The officer then sped away. He later gave himself up to police.

As soon as the news reached town, people began running back to their homes, fearing another outburst of violence. Shops were shuttered up as youths set up roadblocks in the streets and military helicopters flew overhead. In the Kapsoya Estate, where the officer comes from, at least one house was burned down.

In the late afternoon, several dozen people were still clustered around the murder scene. The police explanation that this was a "crime of romance" was flatly rejected by many in the town. Some residents said they believed the killing was political.

Kevin Juma, a 33-year-old mechanic, said: "Why are you even asking if it is political? We have lost two opposition MPs in three days. After this, there will never be peace if Kibaki does not go - that is not a plea, it's a promise."

At a glance

Dec 27 2007 Kenya's elections

Dec 30 Riots over Mwai Kibaki's disputed presidential victory.

Jan 1 2008 Thirty Kikuyus killed in church fire.

Jan 4 The UN says the unrest has uprooted 250,000 people.

Jan 7 John Kufuor, the African Union chairman and president of Ghana, arrives for fruitless mediation.

Jan 17 Police fire teargas and bullets on banned opposition rallies.

.Jan 24 Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan brokers meeting between Kibaki, below, and Odinga, far left.

Jan 28 At least 64 killed in four days of fighting.

Feb 1 UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to arrive in Nairobi.

Kenya peace talks in disarray after killing of second opposition MP | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Xan Rice in Eldoret and Chris McGreal in Nairobi
Friday February 1, 2008
The Guardian

Ethnic Cleansing in Kenya

2008-01-30T21:24:00.001-06:00

NAIROBI, Kenya — The top American diplomat for Africa said Wednesday that some of the violence that has swept across Kenya in the past month has been ethnic cleansing intended to drive people from their homes, but that it should not be considered genocide.

Jendayi Frazer, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, who visited some of the conflict-torn areas this month, said she had met with victims of the violence who described being ordered off their land.

“If they left, they were not attacked; if they stayed beyond the deadline, they were attacked,” said Ms. Frazer, while attending an African Union meeting in Ethiopia on Wednesday.
“It is a plan to push people out of the area in the Rift Valley.”

The Rift Valley, one of the most beautiful slices of Africa, has been the epicenter of Kenya’s postelection problems and is home to ethnic groups that have long felt others do not belong.

The violence, fueled by decades-old tensions over access to wealth and power, exploded on Dec. 30, after the electoral commission said the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, won an election that observers said was deeply flawed. Ethnic groups like the Kalenjin, who were supporting Kenya’s top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, burned down homes and hacked to death Kikuyus, Mr. Kibaki’s ethnic group.

In the past week, Kikuyus have been taking revenge and violently expelling other ethnic groups from Kikuyu-dominated areas. Kenya seems to be tearing itself apart along ethnic lines, with more than 800 people killed and at least 300,000 displaced.

The State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said Ms. Frazer had made the assessment based on “her firsthand view of the situation,” but did not say whether the department would adopt her use of the term ethnic cleansing. Rather, he said the department was collecting information on “any atrocities that may have occurred.”

The term gained currency during Yugoslavia’s civil war in the early 1990s. There are many definitions, but it is widely used to mean creating an area that is ethnically homogenous by using force or intimidation to remove people from another ethnic or religious group.

That seems to be the case in many towns and neighborhoods in Kenya, and it shows no signs of letting up. On Wednesday, Kikuyu residents of a town called Kikuyu massed in the streets and demanded that Luos, Mr. Odinga’s ethnic group, leave. Dozens of Luos were hiding in a government building. Police officers put them in a bus and escorted them away. Many residents cheered.

Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, is brokering talks between Kenya’s opposing politicians and has emphasized that time is running out. Residents across Kenya have talked about meetings where community elders have mapped out plans to kill and drive out members of rival ethnic groups.

Ms. Frazer is one of the first high-ranking Western officials to apply the term ethnic cleansing to Kenya. Many diplomats have shied away from it, saying its use could increase tensions and give the impression that the diplomats were taking sides. The government accuses opposition leaders of orchestrating mayhem and engineering ethnic cleansing of groups that back the president; the opposition counters that the violence was spontaneous outrage over a rigged election.

Government officials seemed pleased by Ms. Frazer’s statement. “This is what we have been saying all along,” said a spokesman, Alfred Mutua.

He said that government lawyers were collecting evidence against ringleaders for use before the International Criminal Court. “We don’t want this to seem political,” Mr. Mutua said.

Salim Lone, a spokesman for Mr. Odinga, disagreed with using the term. “Most knowledgeable observers have characterized these killings as political rather than ethnic,” he said. “But there is no doubt that their terrifying scale and brutality have engendered deep communal hatreds on both sides. That is why it is so vital that both sides to the electoral dispute do everything possible to make Mr. Kofi Annan’s mediation efforts succeed by making an uncompromising and unconditional commitment to peace.”

Mr. Lone said that the negotiations, which began formally on Tuesday, had gotten off to a good start and that Mr. Kibaki helped eased tensions by allowing Mr. Annan to sit in the middle of a dais, which sent the signal that Mr. Annan, not Mr. Kibaki, was leading the meeting.

The country, meanwhile, seemed to be in a tense simmer on Wednesday, with few major episodes of violence reported but standoffs continuing between gangs of opposing ethnic groups.

Government officials said that they were continuing to investigate the killing of Melitus Mugabe Were, a freshman member of Parliament, who was shot to death in his driveway on Tuesday morning. But it seems that the case is only getting murkier.

A local newspaper reported that his wallet was stolen, implying a possible robbery, but his brother-in-law, Vincent Nyabeii, said that was not true. “Nothing was taken, nothing,” he said. “This was an assassination.”

Many supporters have said Mr. Were, a self-made businessman who was revered in the slum where he grew up, was killed by thugs employed by the government because he was a member of the opposition. If he was eliminated and a new election was held, his supporters said, his seat would probably go to a member of the government’s party.

But it is not clear how solid an opposition member he was. He was a moderate by all accounts and was seen as a potential peacemaker. Members of Mr. Kibaki’s party said Mr. Were was even considering defecting, which could have tipped the balance of power in Parliament, where the opposition has a slight edge. On Wednesday, one government official said that right before the killing, Mr. Were made an appointment to meet with the president and that he might have been slain by people in his own party who saw him as a traitor.

Several of Mr. Were’s friends have said that he was disillusioned with his party’s response to the disputed election, especially the calls for protests, which have resulted in many people being killed, including some shot by police officers. “He was not in thick of his party’s politics,” said George Kimani, a friend.

As for the possibility of defection, Mr. Kimani said, “Yes, he was considering it.”

Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN Published: January 31, 2008

Official Sees Kenyan Ethnic Cleansing - New York Times

Violence erupts in western Kenya

2008-01-29T05:06:00.001-06:00

While Blade-carrying gangs terrorize the Rift Valley

Luo tribe members enforced a makeshift roadblock as they searched vehicles yesterday for fleeing Kikuyus in Kisumu, Kenya. (Ben Curtis/associated press)

KISUMU, Kenya - Thousands of machete-wielding youths hunted down members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe yesterday in western Kenya's Rift Valley, torching homes and buses, clashing with police, and blocking roads with burning tires.

Witnesses described seeing two people pulled from cars and stoned to death, while another was burned alive in a minibus - the latest victims of a month of escalating violence triggered by a disputed presidential election. The death toll has soared to more than 800.

Kibaki has said he is open to direct talks with opposition leader Raila Odinga, who is from the Luo tribe, but that his position as president is not negotiable. Odinga said Kibaki must step down and only new elections will bring peace.

"The road is covered in blood. It's chaos. Luos are hunting Kikuyus for revenge," said Baraka Karama, a journalist for independent Kenya Television in Kisumu.

In an attack early today that could increase the unrest, two gunmen shot opposition lawmaker Mugabe Were to death as he drove up to his house in suburban Nairobi, police said. "We are treating it as a murder but we are not ruling out anything, including political motives," Kenya police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said. "We are urging everyone to remain calm."

There was no sign of relief from international mediators trying to persuade politicians to resolve the crisis that has erupted over Kibaki's Dec. 27 reelection balloting that international and local observers say was marred by a rigged vote tally.

Columns of smoke rose from burning homes in Kisumu, according to journalists who flew into the town.

"We wish to find one, a Kikuyu. . . . We will butcher them like a cow," said David Babgy, 24, who was among 50 men stopping buses at a roadblock of burned cars and uprooted lamp posts.

In Nakuru, provincial capital of the Rift Valley, 64 bodies were counted yesterday at the morgue, according to a worker who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Over the weekend, a gang of Kikuyus chased 19 people through a slum in Naivasha, eventually trapping them in a shanty that was set on fire, said Police Commander Grace Kakai. The victims were Luos. At least three other people were killed in the town over the weekend, District Commissioner Katee Mwanza said.

As youths set buses ablaze at Kisumu bus station yesterday, police used tear gas, then opened fire. A morgue attendant said one man had been shot in the head. A school janitor was killed by a stray bullet fired by a police officer, said Charles Odhiambo, a teacher at Lion's High School.

Fred Madanji, a gas station attendant, said he saw two protesters shot in the back and killed as they ran from police.

In villages around the town of Eldoret, gangs of Kalenjin youths hunted Kikuyus and killed six. Four were slashed with machetes and two were pulled from the cars and stoned to death, according to witnesses. A military helicopter tried to land at the village of Cheptiret but was prevented by youths who set grasslands ablaze.

Naivasha, Kenya's flower-exporting capital on a freshwater lake inhabited by pink flamingos, became a war zone where some 2,000 people from rival tribes faced off, taunting one another with machetes and clubs inset with nails.

The Rift Valley is home to the Kalenjin and Masai ethnic groups. British colonizers seized large tracts of land to cultivate fertile farms there. After independence in 1963, President Jomo Kenyatta, who was Kikuyu, flooded reclaimed farmlands with Kikuyu people, creating deep-seated resentment that exists to this day.

Kikuyus also are resented for their domination of politics and the economy, a success cemented by endemic corruption and a patronage system.

Violence spreads to western Kenya - The Boston Globe

Ethnic Violence in Rift Valley

2008-01-26T22:57:00.001-06:00

Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Kikuyu-owned store in Nakuru was set on fire by Luos, after Kikuyus had burned down Luo homes and businesses.

Published: January 27, 2008

NAKURU, Kenya — Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, may seem calm, but anarchy reigns just two hours away.

Kenya’s Political Rivals Meet (January 25, 2008)

Enlarge This Image

Evelyn Hockstein for The New York Times

A Luo mother and daughter fleeing the fighting in Nakuru waited to be evacuated by the Kenyan Red Cross on Saturday.

Walter Astrada/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Violence in Nakuru is driving Luos west and Kikuyus east.

In Nakuru, furious mobs rule the streets, burning homes, brutalizing people and expelling anyone not in their ethnic group, all with complete impunity.

On Saturday, hundreds of men prowled a section of the city with six-foot iron bars, poisoned swords, clubs, knives and crude circumcision tools. Boys carried gladiator-style shields and women strutted around with sharpened sticks.

The police were nowhere to be found. Even the residents were shocked.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said David Macharia, a bus driver.

One month after a deeply flawed election, Kenya is tearing itself apart along ethnic lines, despite intense international pressure on its leaders to compromise and stop the killings.

Nakuru, the biggest town in the beautiful Rift Valley, is the scene of a mass migration now moving in two directions. Luos are headed west, Kikuyus are headed east, and packed buses with mattresses strapped on top pass one another in the road, with the bewildered children of the two ethnic groups staring out the windows at one another.

In the past 10 days, dozens of people have been killed in Molo, Narok, Kipkelion, Kuresoi, and now Nakuru, a tourist gateway which until a few days ago was considered safe.

In many places, Kenya seems to be sliding back toward the chaos that exploded Dec. 30, when election results were announced and the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, was declared the winner over Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging.

The tinder was all there, even before the voting started. There were historic grievances over land and deep-seated ethnic tensions, with many ethnic groups resenting the Kikuyus, Mr. Kibaki’s group, because they have been the most prosperous for years.

The disputed election essentially served as the spark, and opposition supporters across Kenya vented their rage over many issues toward the Kikuyus and other ethnic groups thought to have supported Mr. Kibaki.

In the Rift Valley, local elders organized young men to raid Kikuyu areas and kill people in a bid to drive the Kikuyus off their land. It worked, for the most part, and over the past month, tens of thousands of Kikuyus have fled.

More than 650 people, many of them Kikuyus, have been killed. Many of the attackers are widely believed to be members of the Luo and Kalenjin ethnic groups.

What is happening now in Nakuru seems to be revenge. The city is surrounded by spectacular scenery, with Lake Nakuru and its millions of flamingos drawing throngs of tourists each year. The city has a mixed population, like much of Kenya, split among several ethnic groups including Kikuyus, Luos, Luhyas and Kalenjins.

On Thursday night, witnesses and participants said, bands of Kikuyu men stormed into the streets with machetes and homemade weapons and began attacking Luos and Kalenjins.

Paul Karanja, a Kikuyu shopkeeper in Nakuru, explained it this way: “We had been so patient. For weeks we had watched all the buses and trucks taking people out of the Rift Valley, and we had seen so many of our people lose everything they owned. Enough was enough.”

In a Nakuru neighborhood called Free Area, hundreds of Kikuyu men burned down homes and businesses belonging to Luos, Mr. Odinga’s ethnic group. The Luos who refused to leave were badly beaten, and sometimes worse. According to witnesses, a Kikuyu mob forcibly circumcised one Luo man who later bled to death. Circumcision is an important rite of passage for Kikuyus but is not widely practiced among Luos.

The Luos and the Kalenjins, who have been aligned throughout the post-election period, then counterattacked, resulting in a citywide melee with hundreds wounded and as many as 50 people killed.

By Friday night, the Kenyan military was deployed for the first time to intervene. Local authorities also placed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Nakuru, another first.

Many people in Free Area, which is now almost totally Kikuyu, say it will be difficult to make peace.

“We’re angry and they’re angry,” said John Maina, a stocky butcher, whose weapon of choice on Saturday was a three-foot table leg with exposed screws. “I don’t see us living together any time soon.”

That is the reality across much of Kenya, and it seems to be nothing short of so-called ethnic cleansing. Mobs in Eldoret, Kisumu, Kakamega, Burnt Forest and countless other areas, including some of the biggest slums in Nairobi, have driven out people from opposing ethnic groups. Many neighborhoods that used to be mixed are now ethnically homogeneous.

Kofi Annan, the former secretary general of the United Nations, visited the Rift Valley on Saturday. He called it “nerve-racking.”

“We saw people pushed from their homes and farms, grandmothers, children and families uprooted,” said Mr. Annan, who is in Kenya trying to broker negotiations between Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga.

He called for the Kenyan government to investigate the attackers and increase security.

On Saturday, Kenyan soldiers in Free Area escorted Luos back to their smoldering homes and stood guard with their assault rifles as the people sifted through the ruins and salvaged whatever they could before leaving.

Many Luos said they had no choice but to go to far western Kenya, the traditional Luo homeland, just as many Kikuyus who have been displaced said they would resettle in the highlands east of Nakuru, their traditional homeland.

Mr. Macharia, the bus driver, who is Kikuyu, conceded that many Kikuyus were feeling vengeful. But he said it does not mean they actually want to fight. “I saw it myself,” he said. “The elders called ‘Charge!’ but not all the boys charged.”

Still, enough did charge that the Luos who used to live in Free Area were not taking any chances. On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people carrying trunks on their heads and bags of blankets streamed toward a government office that was protected by a few soldiers.

Nancy Aloo, a Luo, was guiding four frightened young children.

“God made all of us,” Ms. Aloo said. “We need his help.”

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

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Past Coverage

Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned (January 21, 2008)

Kenya Kikuyus, Long Dominant, Are Routed From Rivals' Land (January 7, 2008)

FIRE SET BY MOB AT KENYA CHURCH, KILLING DOZENS (January 2, 2008)

Almost All the News on Kenya Is Turning Out Bad (February 15, 1998)

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Ethnic Violence in Rift Valley Tears Kenya Apart - New York Times

Kenyan President holds talks with opposition

2008-01-25T20:27:00.001-06:00

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have met for the first time since the December's disputed election.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, centre,
shakes hands with opposition leader Raila
Odinga as former U.N. secretary-general
Kofi Annan, left, applauds outside the
presidential office in Nairobi, Kenya,
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008.
(AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)

On Thursday, they were in the capital Nairobi along with former UN chief Kofi Annan.

This is the meeting observers believe is the first round, in efforts aimed at achieving political reconciliation in Kenya.

After their one-hour closed-door talks, Kibaki and Odinga met the public.

Both sides promise to seek an end to weeks of unrest through dialogue.

Raila Odinga, Leader of Orange Democratic Movement, said, "Today we have taken the first vital steps in resolving the electoral dispute and conflict that has ravaged this country for nearly a month now."

Kibaki has promised to personally lead Kenya to unity and peace.

Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan President, said, "As government we are determined to get to the underlying causes of these unprecedented events and to lead the nation in a process of healing reconciliation and lasting harmony."

The former UN chief Kofi Annan describes the meeting as encouraging.

Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General, said, "I think we begun to take fair steps towards a peaceful solution of the problem and as you can see the two leaders are here to underline their engagement to dialogue and to work together."

Kenya's Electoral Commission announced Kibaki won the country's presidential elections at the end of last month.

But the opposition party refused to accept the result, accusing the election as a fraud.

Widespread riots erupted afterwards in the East African country.

So far, about six hundred people have died and another two hundred thousand have been left homeless.

CCTV International ...

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 01-25-2008 09:11

Mediation Efforts

2008-01-25T18:34:00.001-06:00

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, left, meets opposition leader Raila Odinga at his Harambee House office, in Nairobi, Kenya, 24 Jan 2008

Kenya’s main opposition party is criticizing President Mwai Kibaki for trying to undermine mediation efforts aimed at resolving the country’s political crisis. The Orange Democratic Movement, led by Raila Odinga, says it rejects Mr. Kibaki’s statement that he is the duly elected president of Kenya. He made the statement after what appeared to be a breakthrough meeting with Mr. Odinga and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Nairobi. Kenya has been mired in turmoil and violence since the election of December 27, in which the incumbent president was declared the winner. Mr. Odinga and his supporters accuse the government of rigging the polls to ensure a Kibaki victory. International observers also say the election was serious flawed.

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan orchestrated the meeting between Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga

Earlier attempts at outside mediation failed, and many analysts are skeptical that Mr. Annan will ultimately be successful, according to Richard Cockett, Africa editor for The Economist magazine. Speaking with host Judith Latham of VOA News Now’s International Press Club, Mr. Cockett notes that previous attempts at mediation by several high-level dignitaries, including the head of the African Union and a U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, proved disappointing.

But Kenyan journalist Tom Mshindi, managing editor of The Monitor, says that the outcome of Kofi Annan’s visit is extremely difficult to predict, and he points out that Mr. Annan is held in “very high regard” by both the Kenyan government and the opposition. Nonetheless, VOA Nairobi correspondent Alisha Ryu says she is skeptical about the chances for success. She observes that people on all sides are worried because having so much turmoil in Kenya is “very destabilizing” for the entire region. For example, Kenya is a major transit country for goods coming from the port of Mombassa into Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo.

Nearly 700 people died in turmoil and violence following Kenya's deeply flawed presidential election

Nearly 700 people in Kenya are now dead, 250,000 are displaced, and the economy is now imperiled in what had been East Africa’s fastest growing economy. There are reports of machete-wielding mobs hacking people to death and burning women and children alive. Much of the bloodshed, Alisha Ryu notes, has been between the Kikuyu and Luo tribes. Mr. Kibaki is Kikuyu, while Mr. Odinga is Luo. She says a lot of the ethnic problems going on in western Kenya today are the result of the land redistribution that Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, made after independence from Britain 45 years ago.

Tom Mshindi of The Monitor says that the United States and Britain find themselves in a particularly delicate situation. Both countries have much at stake in Kenya and have actively encouraged both sides to the negotiating table. He says the opposition would like to see the U.S. government “demand” that the Kenyan government either have a rerun or another tally of the vote, or agree to share power.

But Washington needs to have a good relationship with Kenya because of its strategic position in the region, and as Alisha Ryu notes, Mr. Kibaki’s government has been a “prominent partner” in the war against terror in the region, especially in neighboring Somalia. U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger says that, despite the rocky start of the Kibaki-Odinga talks, he remains “hopeful” that Kofi Annan can bring the two sides together. However, a new flare up of violence has killed more people as ethnic clashes broke out in central Kenya, just hours after Mr. Annan held the first direct talks between the two principals.

VOA News - President Kibaki Trying to Undermine Mediation Efforts, Says Kenya's Opposition Party

Kenyan Tribal Gangs Clash

2008-01-25T18:18:00.001-06:00

NAIROBI, Kenya — The political bickering continued in Kenya on Friday, and so did the violence, with young men in gangs from opposing ethnic groups killing one another in the streets with machetes and bows and arrows.

Enlarge This Image

Walter Astrada/AFP--Getty Images

Ethnic clashes in the central Kenyan town of Nakuru.

Kenya’s Political Rivals Meet (January 25, 2008)

Nakuru, one of the biggest towns in the troubled Rift Valley, seems to be the new trouble zone. Witnesses said fighting erupted there late Thursday when mobs of Kikuyus, the ethnic group of Kenya’s president, mobilized to avenge attacks suffered at the hands of other ethnic groups.

Witnesses said Kikuyu gangs built roadblocks to stop police officers from entering certain neighborhoods and then burned homes and businesses belonging to two other groups, Luos and Kalenjins. Those groups sent out their young men to confront the attackers, resulting in a citywide riot with hundreds of homes burned, dozens of shops destroyed and at least 10 people killed. Some witnesses said dozens of bloody corpses filled the town’s morgues.

The situation had gotten so out of hand by Friday evening that the authorities had imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

“It’s totally unsafe here,” said Peter Geche, a taxi driver in Nakuru, on Friday afternoon. “So many people have been killed by arrows.”

More than 650 people have been killed in Kenya since a disputed presidential election in December, and the latest clashes show how the violence has taken on a momentum of its own, which the authorities appear unable to stop.

Police officials have sent reinforcements to Nakuru, which is about 100 miles northwest of Nairobi, the capital. Officers have dismantled some of the roadblocks and fired tear gas to disperse the mobs, but witnesses said any calm that might have been achieved would be short-lived.

In Nairobi, politicians continued to hurl accusations about who was at fault for spoiling what could have been a breakthrough moment the day before.

Mwai Kibaki, Kenya’s president, who won re-election by a thin margin, and Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, who says the election was rigged and that he in fact won, met Thursday for the first time since the vote. The two have been under enormous pressure to negotiate. Many Kenyans were hoping that they would strike a compromise and end the turmoil, which has battered the economy and threatened to reverse decades of stability.

But immediately after the meeting, Mr. Kibaki gave a short speech in which he referred to himself as Kenya’s “duly elected president,” and opposition leaders then held a news conference denouncing what he said.

On Friday, government officials accused the opposition of trying to torpedo the peace effort.

“It’s very sad,” said Alfred Mutua, a government spokesman. “We were giving them the benefit of the doubt. And for them to issue a condemning statement after the two leaders had just talked about reconciliation, that’s hypocritical.”

Salim Lone, a spokesman for the opposition, fired back that “the whole world knows who ruined the event yesterday.”

“The president’s words certainly eliminated what we thought would be a feel-good atmosphere,” Mr. Lone said.

The two sides spent Friday holding separate meetings and preparing for more negotiations, which are being brokered by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general. No doubt, there is a lot of thorny ground to cover.

Mr. Odinga is insisting on a new election and to be an equal partner in a transitional government. Mr. Kibaki has scoffed at those demands and moved ahead with appointing the most powerful ministers in his government. Western diplomats have said there was such widespread cheating on both sides that it is impossible to tell who really won the vote in December.

The next step in the talks will be for the two sides to agree on a framework for substantial discussions. But even that will be difficult. The government is saying that it will not entertain the creation of a special post for Mr. Odinga, or the idea of a new election, unless ordered by a court. The opposition says the flawed election must be addressed if there are to be any negotiations at all.

Kenyan Gangs Clash in New Trouble Spot - New York Times By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN Published: January 26, 2008

New Kenya clashes amidst negotiations

2008-01-25T18:09:00.001-06:00

President Mwai Kibaki (centre) shook hands with opposition leader Raila Odinga after a meeting organised by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan (left). Photograph: Karel Pinsloo/AP

At least seven people have been killed in clashes in Nakuru, a town in Kenya's volatile Rift Valley, witnesses said today. The killings come despite a meeting between government and opposition leaders.

In the latest violence prompted by last month's disputed presidential election, ethnic Kikuyu supporters of the president, Mwai Kibaki, fought with ethnic Luo and Kalenjin groups, who back the opposition leader, Raila Odinga.

"We can no longer stand back and watch as our brothers are killed in Eldoret while the Luos and Kalenjins have fun in Nakuru," bus conductor Dennis Kariuki told Reuters, referring to past killings of Kikuyus around Eldoret town, also in the Rift Valley.

"We have vowed that for every Kikuyu killed in Eldoret, we shall kill two Kalenjins who are living in Nakuru town."

At least 700 people have died and 250,000 displaced in the violence following the contentious re-election of Kibaki amid opposition charges that the vote was rigged.

According to independent observers, extensive tampering in the ballot made it impossible to determine who won the vote.

The government and opposition have blamed each other for the ensuing violence but Human Rights Watch, based in New York, has accused opposition party officials and local elders of organising violence in the Rift Valley.

The rights group warned that the attacks, which have been targeting mostly Kikuyu and Kisii people in and around Eldoret, would continue until the government and opposition act to stop the violence.

"Opposition leaders are right to challenge Kenya's rigged presidential poll, but they can't use it as an excuse for targeting ethnic groups," said Georgette Gagnon, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

"We have evidence that [the opposition Orange Democratic Movement] politicians and local leaders actively fomented some post-election violence, and the authorities should investigate and make sure it stops now."

Odinga, meanwhile, has ruled out taking the new post of prime minister in Kibaki's government as a solution to the crisis.

"I never said I was considering taking up a position of prime minister under Kibaki," Odinga told Reuters.

Odinga said the only three acceptable options would be Kibaki's resignation, a re-run of the vote, or power sharing leading to constitutional reform then a new election.

The 63-year-old leader of the ODM met Kibaki for the first time in the crisis - thanks to the mediation of the former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, yesterday.

But Odinga said he was offended by Kibaki's comments afterwards that he was Kenya's "duly-elected" president.

"Those remarks were unfortunate, calling himself duly-elected and sworn-in president. That is the bone of contention. We want negotiations with integrity," he said.

Asked if he would, however, meet Kibaki again, Odinga replied: "Yes, sure. But I would ask him to desist from making those kind of embarrassing remarks, which will definitely undermine the process of mediation."

Seven killed in new Kenya clashes | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Kibaki and Raila Meet

2008-01-24T23:24:00.001-06:00

Evelyn Hockstein for The New York Times

President Mwai Kibaki, center, with his rival, Raila Odinga, right, and Kofi Annan, their mediator, in Nairobi on Thursday.

NAIROBI, Kenya — For the first time since Kenya plunged into postelection chaos four weeks ago, the nation’s warring political leaders met face to face on Thursday, but afterward opposition leaders accused the president of being a fraud.

President Mwai Kibaki, who won re-election by a suspiciously thin margin, and the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who says the election was rigged, talked for about an hour in Mr. Kibaki’s office. It was just the two of them, along with Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, who is overseeing the negotiations.

The chat went fine, opposition leaders said, and was mainly an ice-breaker to start a long process of negotiation. But Mr. Kibaki stirred up tempers with a short speech afterward.

Mr. Kibaki pointed out that he was “the duly elected president” and emphasized that any reconciliation would be on his terms. “I will personally lead our country in promoting tolerance, peace and harmony,” he said.

These comments seemed to drain the enthusiasm from the moment, and opposition leaders immediately called a news conference to criticize the president.

“True to his fraudulent character, Mr. Mwai Kibaki abused the occasion by attempting to legitimize his usurpation of the presidency,” opposition leaders said in a statement.

Salim Lone, an opposition spokesman, added: “This was supposed to be an event to build good faith. Kibaki politicized it.”

Mr. Kibaki’s spokesman did not return calls for comment.

It seems that the much-anticipated talks are falling victim to the same cycle of action and reaction that has sent Kenya into a tailspin since the elections, on Dec. 27. Since then, more than 650 people have been killed and 250,000 driven from their homes in a burst of violence that has ethnic and socioeconomic roots but has been fueled by politics.

The talks were supposed to be a breakthrough moment, and maybe they will prove to be. For weeks, Western diplomats and African leaders had been urging the two sides to meet, which they had refused to do.

But clearly the political standoff is not over. Western diplomats have warned that both sides are still far apart and that Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga are surrounded by entrenched backers who do not seem inclined to give an inch.

Both men claim to have won the election. Numerous election monitors have said there were so many irregularities, especially in counting votes, that it is impossible to tell who really won.

Mr. Odinga is demanding a new election and wants to be an equal partner in a transitional government. Mr. Kibaki has rejected those demands, indicating that the most he is willing to offer is a few minor cabinet posts. He has already made appointments to the most powerful posts.

On Wednesday, Michael E. Ranneberger, the American ambassador to Kenya, warned that any dialogue could be slow and difficult. “What the end result of that process of dialogue is going to be, I think it’s just too early to tell,” Mr. Ranneberger said. “There are really a number of hard-line people on both sides. And frankly it’s not clear what the president’s and what Raila Odinga’s real bottom lines are at this point.”

Mr. Annan used his influence and diplomatic seasoning to corral Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga into at least meeting each other. The plan for moving forward is for their lieutenants to hammer out a framework over the next few days that will cover all the issues to be discussed.

Peace advocates in Kenya said any meeting was better than none. “It’s a good beginning,” said George Wachira, a member of a group called Concerned Citizens for Peace. “Symbolically, it sends the right message. If people feel this is going to be resolved at a political level, people will realize there is no need to keep fighting in the streets.”

The worst fighting has been in the Rift Valley Province, where local elders and possibly higher-ranking politicians seem to have organized mobs of young men to attack along ethnic lines.

Several elders and young men who took part in the Rift Valley killings have admitted that they held meetings shortly after the election and plotted to burn homes and hunt down members of rival ethnic groups. Most of the perpetrators were supporters of Mr. Odinga and members of the Kalenjin ethnic group. Most victims were members of Mr. Kibaki’s group, the Kikuyu, who largely voted for the president.

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said that “opposition party officials and local elders planned and organized ethnic-based violence in the Rift Valley.”

Human Rights Watch said the attacks “could continue unless the government and opposition act to stop the violence.” On Thursday, police reports indicated that at least another 10 people had been killed.

Mr. Kibaki’s allies have accused opposition leaders of ethnic cleansing. Opposition leaders have denied that, saying the violence was spontaneous outrage at the election being stolen.

Reuben Kyama contributed reporting.

Reuben Kyama contributed reporting.

Kenya’s Political Antagonists Meet - New York Times By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN Published: January 25, 2008

Options for mediation

2008-01-23T21:27:00.001-06:00

NAIROBI, Kenya — The American ambassador to Kenya said Wednesday that his deepest worries about the postelection crisis here were not about Kenyans rampaging in the streets or killing one another because of ethnic hatreds, both of which have claimed hundreds of lives.

Possibly even more dangerous, he said, were the deep rifts among the country’s opposing politicians, who seem “entrenched” and surrounded by “hard-liners.”

“You can never underestimate the ability of just a couple of people to tear a place apart,” said Michael E. Ranneberger, the ambassador, during an interview at his home in Nairobi, the capital.

He said his chief concern was whether Mwai Kibaki, the president, and Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, were “prepared to rise above themselves and put the interests of the nation ahead of their own personal or their group’s political interest.”

“That is still an unanswered question,” he said.

The politicians need to sit down and compromise, the ambassador added, because “we’re in the middle of a very serious crisis.”

It has been four weeks since Kenyans went to the polls in record numbers, and the country is still reeling from the aftershocks of a disputed tally in which Mr. Kibaki was declared the winner over Mr. Odinga, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging. The Kenyan government has said that more than 650 people have been killed, though Western diplomats and aid workers say the death toll is several hundred higher.

On Wednesday, Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, met with Mr. Odinga and persuaded him to call off another round of protests that had been scheduled for Thursday. Mr. Annan was also supposed to meet with Mr. Kibaki, but the president postponed the get-together until Thursday and chose instead to meet with Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s president and a close political ally who is pushing his own peace plan.

So far, Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga have said they are willing to negotiate, but neither has offered substantial concessions, despite pleas from Kenyans and other African dignitaries. The two men have yet to talk face to face.

Mr. Annan, who arrived on Tuesday, seems to have created more buzz and hope than any visitors involved in the previous mediation efforts.

“I think everybody knows that if this mission fails, there are no others in the offing,” said Salim Lone, a spokesman for the opposition. The stakes are clearly high. Killings driven by ethnic strife continue in the Rift Valley, one of Kenya’s most scenic provinces but also the most violent because of historic tensions over land that have been ignited by the election controversy. On Wednesday, two more people were killed there by poison arrows.

In Nairobi, street clashes are becoming the norm. A funeral on Wednesday degenerated into a riot. Opposition protesters pelted cars with stones and set a government building on fire. Last week, protesters sabotaged a crucial railway line running to Uganda. It is still out of commission.

The violence has been a mix of ethnically driven killings, fighting in Nairobi’s slums and battles between the police and protesters. Mr. Ranneberger, who has been ambassador here for about a year and a half, said he was “outraged” when he saw television reports last week showing what appeared to be a police officer shooting an unarmed demonstrator. The protester had been dancing in the street and making faces when one officer leveled an assault rifle and shot him at close range. The officer, who is under investigation, was then shown on television kicking the protester, who later died.

Mr. Ranneberger said the fighting, even in the Rift Valley, was not purely ethnic but “politically, economically and socially motivated,” stemming from tensions over land and the perception that Mr. Kibaki’s ethnic group, the Kikuyu, had marginalized others. He said the violence in the Rift Valley after the election appeared to have been organized because of the involvement of large numbers of heavily armed men who seemed to strike just minutes after the disputed results were announced.

Mr. Ranneberger said the American government, which gives more than $600 million in aid to Kenya annually, was frustrated at the political impasse but was not at the stage where it was ready to cut assistance.

“It’s counterproductive,” he said. “And it’s way too premature to talk about anything punitive.”

The way forward, he said, was for the Kenyan government to be more inclusive and to address the long-simmering grievances over economic and political inequality. He also said officials should investigate the postelection violence and fix Kenya’s election system, which has been badly discredited by the balloting on Dec. 27.

“I really am fundamentally optimistic about the future of the country,” he said, citing Kenya’s strong middle class, its high literacy rates and its independent media. “There are all sorts of reasons why Kenya can overcome this.”

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