Kenya Sides Reach Peace Deal

2 Feb 2008 CNN

The Kenyan government and its main opposition group have reached a four-point plan to end violence that has wracked the country for more than a month, Kofi Annan announced at a news conference .

His successor, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has also been involved in the mediation, said he was ""reasonably encouraged" by the political leaders' commitment to resolving the crisis. He said he told both Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Orange Democratic Movement Leder Raila that the violence "has to stop."

The peace plan's first three items, to be completed within a 15-day period, are: stopping the violence and restoring fundamental rights; taking measures to address the humanitarian crisis; and promoting "reconciliation, healing and restoration," The fourth item, which could take up to a year, aims for a resolution to the political crisis, said Annan,

The two sides also signed an 18-point plan to implement the promise to end the violence, Annan said.

The plan includes an agreement to disband illegal armed groups, to refrain from making "irresponsible and provocative" statements, and to hold joint meetings to promote peace and reconciliation. It also calls on police to end "brutality" and "excessive force."

"We expect to be able to conclude our work in a year," Annan said, adding that the negotiations' current pace could allow the sides to complete their work in a shorter time frame. "But the timetable is one year."

Meetings between the two sides will resume Monday and continue through the week, Annan said.

After Annan's announcement of the deal, Odinga urged his supporters to turn away from violence.

At least 863 people have been killed and 261,000 driven from their homes since the turmoil began, according to the Kenyan Red Cross.

Violence Follows Kenya Peace Plan

2 February 2008 BBC

Firemen work to extinguish a fire at a Pentecostal church which was set ablaze in Eldoret, Kenya

More than 20 people have died in fresh violence in western Kenya, since Friday's agreement by government and opposition on a framework peace plan.

Some were killed by police, others were hacked to death by gangs or shot with poisoned arrows.

A Pentecostal Church was burnt down by youths near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the rival parties had agreed a four-point framework for talks which should end the violence within the next two weeks. But so far there is little sign that Mr Annan's optimism is having much effect in the streets. Further clashes were reported in the western Nyanza province and in Anaimoi. In Kericho itself, mobs set fire to slum dwellings inhabited by members of the Kikuyu tribe. Near Eldoret, youths set fire to the Great Harvest Evangelical Church. Two people inside at the time are thought to have escaped.

World Watches Every Step Kenya Makes

3 Feb 2008 The Standard (Kenya newspaper)

Peace talks enter the make-or-break stage on Monday even as international pressure for a quick end of destruction, deaths and displacement, intensifies. It will also be race against time as the parties involved have committed themselves to a program of action that could end the skirmishes in the next seven and 15 days. The crucial day could be Wednesday when the negotiators are expected to discuss ODM's stand that Kibaki is in office through an act of electoral fraud.

President Kibaki noted that the solution does not lie in power sharing, but in a long-term solution addressing the underlying problems. 

Kenya's Children Scarred by Violence

3 February 2008 BBC

Van is 13-years-old and comes from the town of Eldoret - one of the flash-points of Kenya's recent ethnic violence. As he talks about the events that befell his family a fortnight ago, his voice drops to a whisper. "My mother was attacked by men with machetes. I didn't see it - when I arrived, there was only blood on the floor." I went to the neighbor's house - his leg was broken. I was so very scared. He told me to run for my life." It is a story that could have been told by any one of thousands of Kenya's displaced children.

More than 60 of them are here in the SOS Children's Home - an orphanage on the outskirts of Nairobi. For the lucky ones, there is a chance their parents may be missing, but still alive. The rest of them already know that the events of recent weeks have left them orphans. 

Kenya Opposition: We Need Help

3 Feb 2008 CNN

African Union Peacekeepers

Two days after reaching a plan with the Kenyan government to end violence that has wracked the country for more than a month, the opposition party asked both the United Nations and the African Union to send in peacekeepers. "The level of violence in Kenya is on a terrifying scale and it has not really diminished," said Salim Lone, spokesman for the Orange Democratic Movement. "The security forces seem incapable of stopping this carnage, and in some cases, they actually stand by while the killing goes on," Lone said. The killing continued over the weekend, as machete-wielding tribal gangs roamed the western part of the country, torching homes and hunting each other down. At least 863 people have died and another 261,000 driven from their homes, the Kenyan Red Cross said.

Call For Kenyan Truth Commission

5 February 2008 BBC

Houses in western Kenya are still being torched

Former UN chief Kofi Annan has called on Kenya to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to help end the crisis following disputed polls. A similar body in South Africa helped shed light on apartheid-era crimes and ease tensions.

Scores more were killed despite a signed peace agreement signed

Kenyan authorities have lifted the live broadcast restrictions imposed after the election.

US, Canada Ban Threat As Talks Register Gains

5 February 2008 The Standard (Kenyan Nespaper)

The US and Canada gave the first hints of a plan to ban top leaders considered to be subverting democracy from travelling to their countries.

The United Nations also sent a warning: Sort out this crisis or risk the relocation of the global body's office from Nairobi.

the Kofi Annan-led talks made progress and concluded Agenda Three on the humanitarian crisis. This set the stage for the team to zero-in on the sensitive Agenda Four — the disputed re-election of President Kibaki and the crisis that it plunged the country into killings and massive destruction of property. 

Red Cross Death Toll Reaches 1000

5 February 2008 CNN

The violence has left more than 1,000 people dead, according to Red Cross figures and at least 140 people have died since the peace deal has been signed as many as 350,000 people have been driven from their homes 

Kenyan Economy Reels From Crisis

5 & 7 February 2008 BBC

Prices in Kenyan markets have increased sharply

Michael Joseph, the head of the mobile phone company, Safaricom, organised a meeting of more than 300 heads of industry in the capital, Nairobi, whose businesses together account for about 80% of the country's GDP. They gathered to draw up a list of proposals for the politicians. Calculating that the chaos of the past few weeks would cost $3.6bn by the end of the year, and as many as half a million people could lose their jobs. "Soon there will be no country to govern; and no people to tax. Every day of delay in sorting out the election crisis plunges Kenya deeper into trouble ", he says.

Agriculture

The chaos in Kenya has increased the prices of people's staple needs. Transport costs have soared, crops are rotting in the fields and the dislocation of agricultural workers has cut farm output.

Tourism

Heads of the tourist business have gathered in the capital, Nairobi to devise a strategy to minimize the damage to their industry. Revenue has been cut by an estimated $80m. But experts say the tourist business could recover quite quickly if there is a political solution which ends the violence and unrest affecting the Rift Valley and Western Kenya. Streets in these areas - scene of much of the recent violence - appeared calm today.

It was the country's top foreign revenue earner and brought in about $1bn last year. There should be more than 30,000 visitors at the height of the season. But the hotels lie empty. The industry used to employ a quarter of a million Kenyans directly and about 3m indirectly. But over the last month, 20,000 people working in tourism have lost their jobs.

Transportation

Public transport is operating at 40% of its usual levels - costing operators over $7m a day - and 20,000 employees in the sector have been laid off.

What Annan Team Discussed

7 February 2008 The Standard (Kenyan Newspaper)

Talks dwelt on the possibility of establishing a committee of inquiry into the presidential election debacle, vote recount, re-tallying and re-run of the presidential elections. But little progress was reported in this direction. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) put on the table a seven-point proposal whose key points are a re-run and the installation of a transitional government. Party of National Unity (PNU) swiftly rejected all except one of the suggestions in the draft.

PNU only found common ground with ODM on one account — the need to disband and reconstitute the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). Both sides are also said to have generally agreed on the need for constitutional and other legal reforms in future elections. ODM listed a presidential re-run as "absolutely necessary to restore the confidence of the Kenyan people in democratic elections".

ODM is also calling for the immediate installation of a transitional government comprising both ODM and PNU parties based on their parliamentary strengths. This would prepare the country for a presidential re-run within three to six months under a newly constituted ECK and a cleaned-up voter register.

There will also be the essential constitutional and legal reforms to anchor the transitional government and pave way for the re-run. Importantly, this government will be premised upon joint exercise of the executive authority.

But the PNU mediation team, which had just emerged from briefing President Kibaki on the progress of the talks, is said to have rejected the ODM proposals, with PNU reiterating its earlier position on that ODM should have gone to court.

Teenage Girls Targeted For Sexual Exploitation

7 February 2008 The Standard (Kenyan Newspaper)

Teenage girls fleeing their homes to escape post-election skirmishes and finding temporary shelter at the Nakuru Showground now face another threat. They have become prey to men who exploit them sexually as well as those seeking cheap labor. The girls, aged between 12 and 18 said they had become victims of child labor and sexual abuse. Some people were posing as volunteers from non-governmental organizations only for them to sneak girls out of the camps to take them to brothels said a member of a humanitarian group. In one case, it was alleged that a man who has been making donations at the camp was behind the scam. It was also alleged that some of the fake volunteers remain in the camp after 6pm only to lure girls to have sex with them in exchange for cash. The co-coordinator in charge of the camps in the district, Mr. Jesse Njoroge said cases of child labor were alarming.

Murder Charges For Kenya Police… Talks Continue

7 February 2008 BBC

Outrage at police tactics

A Kenyan policeman is to be charged with murder after being filmed shooting at two men who were later found dead during election protests, police say. The shooting in the western city of Kisumu shocked the country and led to an official enquiry. Kenya's KTN television, reports that Constable Edward Kirui has been arrested and transferred to Nairobi, where he is to appear in court. He was seen firing his gun as protesters taunted police during protests at alleged election fraud in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu on 16 January. He then went over to one of them as he lay on the ground and kicked him in the back. George William Onyango and Ishmael Chacha were later found dead with bullet wounds.

Kofi Annan (l) has brought the rivals together but they can't agree

Former UN chief Kofi Annan, who is mediating peace talks, says it is too dangerous to hold new polls for a year. The talks between the government and opposition are on the brink of collapse, He says the two sides could not agree on a proposal to share power while fresh presidential elections were organized.

The United States has put a travel ban on 10 MPs from both sides for allegedly being involved in the violence since dispute elections.

ODM May Back Down, Says Raila

8 February 2008 The Standard (Kenyan Newspaper)

ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga, has said the party was ready to yield some ground to ensure a solution to the political crisis. "Initially, our stand was that we won the elections and Kibaki did not, hence he should resign and we be sworn in. But we are not static on that point. We are willing to yield so that an acceptable position can be found between us and the other side," Raila said. 

Deal Will Create Joint Government In Kenya

8 February 2008 CNN

Kenya's ruling party and opposition have agreed to form a power-sharing government. The two sides were still discussing who would lead the government and what roles each party would play, said William Ruto, a lawmaker from the opposition Orange Democractic Movement.

"We have finally agreed that there is a problem in the country and neither side can proceed on its own," Ruto said. "We have agreed to form a joint government. Details of that government, its time and how to share it are under discussions."

ODM To Seek Supporters Consent

10 February 2008 Daily Nation (Kenyan Newspaper)

ODM leaders have said they would seek the consent of their supporters countrywide before committing their party to resolutions of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee headed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

Party leaders Raila Odinga were categorical that ODM would not accept a solution to the current political impasse which did not address the controversial outcome of the General Election. "We will not accept a solution that betrays trust bestowed upon us. Part of the solution would be to address past injustices including the stolen elections," Odinga also called for the resignation of the Police Commissioner, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, over the manner in which he handled the violence and killings that followed the disputed presidential election results.

On The Threshold Of A Breakthrough

11 February 2008 The Standard (Kenyan Newspaper)

ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga, meets PNU team.

It will be a unique political solution for Kenya that will be unveiled if both sides agree to final details of a deal already on the table. The deal is tailored to bring both parties into a Government power-sharing arrangement, Thisfollows last week's announcement by Annan of an impending political solution, but details of how it would look like remained sketchy.

Four leading political analysts were of the view that given the delicate background the expected power-sharing formula may not have to stick to internationally established models but would be one made uniquely for the Kenyan crisis. The analysts were agreed that the most expected outcome of the talks by Kenyans and politicians is a Government that leaves Mr Mwai Kibaki as the President while creating another top respectable executive position — like the Prime Minister — for Mr Raila Odinga.

They said for a fair deal to be seen to be struck, several ODM members would have to be absorbed into the Cabinet, some as assistant ministers, while Kibaki would have to cede some executive authority to Raila.

Some of the agreements that may emerge in the talks would call for constitutional amendments to accommodate positions that may be created.

Talks To Focus On Two Key Proposals

10 February 2008 Daily Nation (Kenya Newspaper)

Two proposals that could resolve the political crisis will be at the centre of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation process. One proposal before the committee calls for a strong ODM opposition in Parliament; the other favors the president-prime minister type of government contained in the Bomas draft constitution.

The government dropped its demands for a re-count and a new tally of the presidential votes, while the ODM leadership gave up pushing for the resignation of President Kibaki, a re-run of the elections, or a new election in a year's time.

It was agreed that the only option was a political settlement that would bring together the government and ODM sides in a regime whose task would be to enact far-reaching constitutional, legal and institutional reforms over a three-year period.

Kofi Annan cautioned the media over their interpretation of the status of the mediation talks, stating that the deal was not yet done. The two sides, had only made progress and had not arrived at a definite conclusion