KENYA: Ghana's president John Kufour says Kenya's president and the opposition have agreed to work with a panel of "eminent Africans" to resolve the election dispute

Record ID: 361007

  • Title: KENYA: Ghana's president John Kufour says Kenya's president and the opposition have agreed to work with a panel of "eminent Africans" to resolve the election dispute
  • Date: 10th January 2008
  • Summary: (W3) UNITED NATIONS (FILE - DECEMBER 14, 2006) (AGENCY POOL) ANNAN ADDRESSING GENERAL ASSEMBLY (SOUNDBITE) (English) KOFI ANNAN, THE OUTGOING UN SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAYING: "I depart convinced that today's United Nations does more than ever before. It does it better than ever before. Yet, our work is far from complete. Indeed, it will never be. It falls to my successor to
  • Embargoed: 25th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6SRHSVSMCSYHIGE8YIPNFPI55
  • Story Text: Kenya's feuding president and opposition leader have agreed to work with a panel of African personalities to seek resolution to a dispute over the Dec. 27 election, the head of the African Union said on Thursday (January 10).

    "I would say we have launched the talks, and it has been very hectic two days and the positive aspects is that both sides agree there has to be an end to the violence. They both condemn violence and they also agreed that there should be dialogue and the dialogue should be under the auspices of a panel of eminent Africans and through the dialogue all issues must be put on the table for discussion and that should be the way forward," John Kufuor told reporters.
    Kufour said former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was named by both parties to head the panel.
    Post-election violence has spawned a humanitarian crisis in a country more used to hosting refugees from conflict in nearby states and acting as a conduit for international aid in Africa.

    "It is very sad. It's a beautiful country, it's a great country and everybody should be able to live in together happily. Everybody talks of democracy; democracy entails that even when you disagree, you agree to disagree, you don't shoot each other, you don't kill," Kufuor added as he left the hotel for the airport.
    Earlier on Thursday, President Mwai Kibaki presided over a swearing-in ceremony of the country's newly appointed ministers at the State House.
    The cabinet announcement two days ago, which the opposition said was an attempt to cement President Kibaki's controversial victory, reduced the scope for a national unity government, which he had offered earlier.
    Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said Kibaki's announcement had no legal basis and made a mockery of his agreeing to serious negotiations with Kufuor mediating.
    Among those being sworn in were new Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka who had initially run against his boss in the disputed December 27 elections.
    Musyoka who won just over 800,000 votes, was the third major contender in Kenya's presidential race and had often challenged Kibaki for failing to tackle poverty in east Africa's biggest economy.
    Kibaki retained several figures hated by the opposition, including former hardline Interior Minister John Michuki, who moved to the roads ministry.

    "We have a big task ahead of us, to serve Kenyans in all areas of this country and we all belong to one country, we have no other country, all our ministers serve our country," said Kibaki after the swearing in.
    Despite huge international pressure, especially from Western powers, Kibaki and Odinga have still not met face-to-face since violence erupted when Kibaki was sworn in on Dec. 30.
    When Kibaki made the televised address to the nation to announce his cabinet, he did not mention the crisis.
    Finance Minister Amos Kimunya was reappointed and was also sworn in on Thursday to the new cabinet. He had earlier in the week told Reuters the turmoil could have cost the economy around 1 billion U.S. dollars.
    Odinga had looked on course to win the election until Kibaki, 76, was handed a narrow victory. Both sides alleged widespread rigging and international observers say the poll fell short of democratic standards.
    The opposition party on Thursday said negotiations had been "intense."

    "Clearly when the negotiations are intense there is a possibility of something emerging, but at the same time there is no indication that something will emerge from this," Odinga's party spokesman, Salim Lone, told reporters.
    The crisis has dented Kenya's reputation for stability in a turbulent corner of Africa, hurt key economic sectors like tourism and tea, and tainted Kibaki's previous reputation as a gentlemanly leader.
    Kibaki has implied he could bring opposition figures into government and invited Odinga to a face-to-face meeting on Friday. But the opposition leader has declined, saying such a meeting would be a "sideshow"
    without an international mediator.
    The official death toll from election-related political and ethnic violence is 486, although aid workers put it at more than 500, and the opposition say the toll could be nearer 1,000.
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