US says Kenyan parties start talks on election crisis

The top US envoy for Africa urged Kenya’s rival leaders Saturday to acknowledge election irregularities that led to an eruption of violence and to drop all preconditions for talks.

January 12, 2008 (NAIROBI) — US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said in a statement that it was “imperative” for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to sit down together “directly and without preconditions.”

“Both should acknowledge serious irregularities in the vote tallying which made it impossible to determine with certainty the final result,” she added.

Odinga says he was robbed of victory in last month’s presidential ballot by a rigged vote count, and he has refused to recognise Kibaki’s re-election or sit down with him until he admits to fraud.

Kibaki on Saturday stressed the importance for political leaders to serve all Kenya’s citizens.

“As leaders in modern Kenya, we must be committed to serving all Kenyans without discrimination,” Kibaki said, addressing mourners for a deceased party official in central Kenya.

The violence that followed Kibaki’s swearing-in on December 30 claimed at least 600 lives and displaced 250,000 people, with the UN warning that half a million will need humanitarian assistance in the coming weeks and months.

In her statement, Frazer said she was “deeply disappointed” that the two men had been unable to reach agreement on how to hold direct discussions.

She also called for the restoration of media rights and the freedom of peaceful assembly and said the only way forward was through equitable power-sharing, an end to violence, reconciliation, and agreement on electoral reform.

“In the meantime, the United States cannot conduct business as usual in Kenya,” she said.

Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has called for three days of mass rallies across the country beginning Wednesday — a move that has raised concerns of fresh clashes.

The planned protests have been banned by Kenyan police, who say the demonstrations would attract criminal elements.

The ODM said on Saturday that the real threat came from organised gangs belonging to Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe.

The gangs intend to “wreak havoc on ODM supporters as a way to terrify them from participating in rallies,” party spokesman Salim Lone told AFP.

Police said they would open 32 new police stations in the country, mainly in the Rift Valley region where the worst of the recent violence has taken place.

The state-run Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has said the violence had seen the re-activation of the Mungiki, a quasi-religious criminal organisation notorious for a string of gruesome murders in 2007.

Frazer’s appeal for dialogue echoed that of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who warned Kibaki and Odinga on Friday that the absence of a negotiated solution would be disastrous.

“The potential for further bloodshed remains high unless the political crisis is quickly resolved,” Ban had said in a statement.

His predecessor at the UN, Kofi Annan, who was expected in Kenya to take over mediation efforts from Ghanaian President and African Union chairman John Kufuor, has also appealed for restraint.

He called on all sides to “avoid any measures or steps that would further compromise the search for an amicable solution.”

The ODM’s announcement of fresh protest rallies came after African Union-mediated talks ended Thursday with no sign of any breakthrough.

Kibaki has pressed on with his agenda, swearing in a partial cabinet that the opposition has labelled as “a joke.”

Kenya was once considered a beacon of democracy and stability in East Africa and the latest crisis has rattled the country’s image and its economy.

The tourism industry, Kenya’s main source of foreign currency, has been badly hit, with 90 percent of January bookings cancelled.

While a lull in the violence has allowed road transport companies to resume deliveries to the entire region, experts fear that Kenya may lose out on investment if political instability continues.

(AFP)