Kibaki snubs Kofi Annan mediation

Jan 15, 2008

THE Kenyan government yesterday rejected a mediation mission by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to try to end political unrest and sent a stern warning to the opposition ahead of nationwide protests.

By Vision reporter and agencies

THE Kenyan government yesterday rejected a mediation mission by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to try to end political unrest and sent a stern warning to the opposition ahead of nationwide protests.

Annan was due in Nairobi today, two weeks after President Mwai Kibaki’s contested re-election sparked violence, which claimed the lives of over 600 people and displaced at least a quarter million.

But Kibaki’s government again rejected international mediation of the crisis.
“If Kofi Annan is coming, he is not coming at our invitation,” roads and public works minister John Michuki, a hardline member of Kibaki’s new cabinet, told reporters in Nairobi.

“We won the elections so we do not see the point for anyone coming to mediate power-sharing.”

International mediation efforts have so far failed to bring Kibaki to the negotiating table with opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says the December 27 election was rigged.

Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) accuses Kibaki of not being interested in finding a way out of the impasse, and using delaying tactics to entrench himself in power.

“It shows that all this is a charade,” ODM spokesman Salim Lone told The New Vision yesterday.

“The same happened to (AU chairman) John Kufuor. Kibaki repeatedly said no mediation was needed, which delayed his coming for eight days, and a cabinet was announced just as he was landing.”
Top US Africa envoy Jendayi Frazer, who spent a week in Kenya, said afterwards she was “deeply disappointed” that the two rivals had been unable to reach agreement on how to hold direct discussions.

Frazer also warned that the United States could not “conduct business as usual in Kenya.”

The EU, in its third statement on the Kenyan crisis, yesterday urged both sides to embrace the mediation efforts by the African Union.

“The EU expresses its full support for the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, headed by Kofi Annan, which will work with the Kenyan parties to resolve their differences and all other outstanding issues, including constitutional and electoral reforms,” a statement yesterday said.

Graca Machel, wife to Nelson Mandela, and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa are also on the panel.

“The EU calls on all parties to engage fully and constructively with this process and stresses their responsibility to ensure an immediate cessation of violence, to resort to dialogue and to secure a solution according to democratic standards,” it added.

In similar terms as the US, the European Union made it clear it would not engage with the Kenyan Government until there is a “political compromise which leads to a lasting solution that reflects the will of the Kenyan people”.

Recalling that the findings of its electoral observers cast serious doubts on the results of the presidential elections, the EU further called for all allegations of election irregularity to be pursued “through the proper democratic and legal channels”.

More trouble is expected as the Kenyan Parliament officially opens today. Neither ODM nor Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) managed to secure a majority in parliament, prompting a fight between both sides to woo smaller parties.
Odinga has vowed that his party will sit down on the government’s side on the parliament benches.

“We expect rough times and a major showdown in parliament, dominated by patronage, vendettas and unproductiveness if the situation remains as it is,” Kenyan political analyst Evans Manduku said yesterday.

Senior ODM official William Ruto denied that by attending the opening of parliament, convened by Kibaki, the opposition would be recognising the legitimacy of his presidency.

“We are not going to sit back and allow them install a speaker who will pave the way for the illegitimacy to continue,” he said.

The police and opposition supporters brace for further clashes tomorrow as the opposition plans three days of nationwide rallies to protest Kibaki’s re-election.

A police ban on rallies has fueled fears of fresh violence, after the force cracked down with tear gas and water cannons on previous opposition demonstrations.
“Kenyans should be warned that anyone participating or organising a rally will be held personally responsible and will have to face the law,” interior minister George Saitoti warned at a press conference yesterday.

Over 700 Kenyans have been killed in the wave of violence across the country. More than 6,000 have sought refuge in Uganda.

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