African Union leader John Kufuor, held talks with Kenya's president and opposition leader in Nairobi in a bid to break a post-election deadlock that has inflamed ethnic tensions to violent levels. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Nairobi reports there is growing mistrust and anger among Kenyans that is threatening to leave the country ethnically divided.
African Union Chairman Ghanaian President John Kufuor, left, with Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga, right, arrive for their meeting at a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, 9 Jan. 2008
Media reports from the western town of Kisumu say that hundreds of people belonging to the Kamba tribe are fleeing the area, terrified militiamen who support the opposition party of Raila Odinga will kill them.
The opposition accuses incumbent President Mwai Kibaki of stealing the December 27 presidential vote and is demanding fresh elections. The vote took place peacefully, but was subsequently marred by irregularities in the vote counting process.
In Kisumu, a stronghold of Mr. Odinga's Luo tribe, ethnic Kambas are reportedly being targeted, because one of the defeated presidential candidates, ethnic Kamba politician Kalonzo Musyoka, dropped his neutrality in the post-election dispute by accepting the position of vice-president in Mr. Kibaki's government.
African Union Chairman John Kufuor (L) is welcomed by Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki upon his arrival at Nairobi airport, 08 January 2008
Thousands of people from the president's majority Kikuyu tribe and other supporters of Mr. Kibaki have already been chased out of Kisumu and other parts of Kenya by angry supporters of Mr. Odinga.
More than a week of rioting and ethnic clashes has killed hundreds of people throughout the country and more than 250,000 Kenyans have been uprooted.
Residents of the western Rift Valley town of Eldoret tell VOA that thousands of ethnic Kikuyus there, who up until two weeks ago had lived peacefully with neighbors belonging to other tribes, have all left, mostly for the central highlands, the traditional homeland of the Kikuyus.
Hospitals in highland towns such as Nyeri say their wards are full of Kikuyu men suffering from wounds from axes, machetes, and bows and arrows. The Kikuyu people say they are being unfairly targeted, because the tribe, the largest of about 40 in Kenya, has dominated the country's politics and economy since independence from Britain in 1963.
In a worrying sign, Vincent Murunga, a member of the Luhya tribe from Nyeri, tells VOA that non-ethnic Kikuyus are fleeing their homes in the central highlands, because they fear revenge attacks by Kikuyu mobs.
"In Nyeri town, people from outside of Kikuyu [tribe] have been forced to run away to look for security, because these fellows want revenge for what has happened to their tribesmen in other parts of the country," he noted.
President Kibaki announced his new Cabinet late Tuesday in a move the opposition has called a slap in the face designed to undermine international mediation efforts. A leading Kenyan newspaper, the Daily Nation, voiced concerns that the appointments had the potential to poison the atmosphere before the African Union-mediated talks.
A bank employee working in Nyeri, Godfrey Biketi, tells VOA that most Kenyans are deeply disturbed about the political dispute and the violence it has ignited. He says many are frightened about what may happen to the country if it is not resolved quickly.
"We just hope the politicians are going to settle this down so that we can continue with our normal life," he said.
Raila Odinga is a former political prisoner, who helped President Kibaki win his first five-year term in 2002. The two men became bitter political rivals after Mr. Odinga was fired from government in 2005.
VOA News - Kenya Factions in AU Mediated Talks
Kenya Factions in AU Mediated Talks
By Alisha Ryu
Kenya
09 January 2008
Ryu report - Download MP3 (750k) 
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Additionally Masire to Mediate in Kenya Conflict
Former President, Sir Ketumile Masire, is in Nairobi as part of an elder statesmen's delegation that is seeking to act as mediators in the post-election conflict.
The other members of the delegation are Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa, Mozambique's Joachim Chissano and Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda.
The group intends to meet and work in concert with President John Kufuor of Ghana, the current Chairperson of the African Union. President Kufuor is now also expected to travel to Nairobi.
Meanwhile, opposition leader, Raila Odinga said Tuesday he was prepared to meet President Mwai Kibaki to resolve Kenya's political deadlock but only if the African Union chief acted as mediator.
"He will not meet Kibaki for negotiations unless Ghanaian President Kufuor is there," said Odinga's spokesman, Salim Lone.
Kufuor was expected in Nairobi yesterday evening to help mediate an end to Kenya's political crisis after presidential elections that triggered an eruption of violence.
Kibaki's contested re-election victory over Odinga in last month's polls sparked nationwide riots that tore at Kenya's multi-ethnic fabric and left at least 600 people dead.
Attempts to bring the rival leaders together have so far failed, although Kibaki extended an invitation on Monday to Odinga for face-to-face talks.
The opposition leader had previously made any negotiations conditional on the president acknowledging that the December 27 vote count was rigged.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis have accelerated in recent days, with a number of former African presidents now in Nairobi following up on a mediation mission by the top US Africa envoy, Jendayi Frazer.
Newspapers reflected public relief at the increasing diplomatic activity, a day after Odinga cancelled nationwide protest rallies that many feared would reignite the clashes.
"It is indeed welcome if both sides are abandoning intransigent positions and edging towards the negotiating table," the Daily Nation said in an editorial.
The Standard newspaper lamented the images of tribal clashes last week that prompted a UN-backed panel to compare the manner of the killings with ethnic cleansing and genocide.
"Apart from the temporary disruption, the ongoing crisis will cast a shadow over the economy for years to come," The Standard said.
"This has worked to dampen foreign investors' interest with potentially enormous and devastating economic implications," it added.
According to the United Nations, 250, 000 Kenyans have been displaced by the violence and aid groups have warned of a potential health emergency in makeshift camps in schools, hospitals and churches in the isolated and still tense Rift Valley region of western Kenya, as well as Nairobi's slums. (Mmegi-AFP)
Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
NEWS
9 January 2008
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