Post Election 2007 Violence in Kenya: Power-Sharing

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.

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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.