Kofi Annan to lead Kenya mediation
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - January 10, 2008 President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed
to work with a panel of eminent Africans led by Annan to resolve
their differences over the Dec. 27 election that international
observers said had a flawed vote count, the AU said.
The AU chairman, President John Kufuor of Ghana, also won an
agreement from the two rivals to end violence and any other acts
detrimental to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Ethnic clashes from the dispute have left more than 500 dead and
displaced some 255,000 people from their homes in one of Africa's
most stable democracies and a prized ally in the U.S. war on
terror.
Kufuor prepared to leave Kenya after failing to push Odinga and
Kibaki into talks, and Anyang Nyongo, secretary-general of Odinga's
Orange Democratic Movement, said the AU chairman's mediation effort
had failed.
"The positive aspect is that both sides agree that there should
be an end to violence," Kufuor said.
Odinga held a "tense meeting" earlier Thursday with Kufuor,
Jendayi Frazer - the top U.S. diplomat for Africa - four former
African heads of state and the ambassadors of France and Britain,
said his spokesman Salim Lone.
"There is no indication that something will emerge from this,"
Lone said after the hours-long meeting.
Odinga has said he will only meet Kibaki with outside mediation,
but the president wants direct talks.
Allies of Kibaki were sworn in as Cabinet ministers on Thursday,
further dampening hopes for a power-sharing compromise. Kibaki has
indicated there still was room for Odinga's party in his Cabinet,
but Lone has called the appointments "a slap in the face"
intended to undermine AU-mediated talks.
Odinga's party won 95 parliament seats and Kibaki's party 43 in
legislative elections held the same day as the presidential vote,
meaning it would be difficult for Kibaki to govern without making
some overture to Odinga.
Women from Odinga's party marched in a Nairobi suburb on
Thursday, chanting "No peace, no justice!" and "Kibaki is a
thief!"
Police fired tear gas at the crowd and the women fled.
"We are calling for truth about what happened to our votes and
the votes of Kenyans," said the chairman of the party's women's
league, Jacqueline Oduol.
A newly formed Kenyan civil rights organization demanded that
members of the country's electoral commission be prosecuted, saying
its investigation indicated officials had rigged a disputed
presidential election that triggered clashes that have left more
than 500 dead.
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice, an umbrella group for
civil society organizations formed after the elections, presented
police with documents demanding the prosecution of all 22 members
of the Electoral Commission and some commission staff, including
vote counters.
Commission Chairman Samuel Kivuiti himself has said he is not
sure Kibaki won the election, though Kivuiti officially declared
him the winner by a narrow margin of some 230,000 votes.
While multiparty politics is only 15 years old in Kenya, the
country's democracy has been bolstered by a lively and independent
media and increasingly vigorous civil society.
Kenyans for Peace presented a long list of alleged charges
against the commissioners and some staff, including document
forgery, subverting the rule of law, making out false certificates
and abuse of office.
"The electoral process is so seriously flawed that, until that
is redressed, and until we have truth and justice about the
election, we are not going to have a viable society in Kenya,"
said Shailja Patel of the Kenyans for Peace, which includes the
state-funded Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights and the Law
Society of Kenya.
Kibaki said complaints should be taken to the courts, which he
has stacked with his allies during his five years in power. On
Wednesday, he rejected demands for a new election or recount.
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Associated Press writers Michelle Faul and Elizabeth A. Kennedy
in Nairobi, Katy Pownall in Kisumu and Todd Pitman in Burnt Forest
contributed to this report.