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Annan urges leaders to make ‘hard choices’

President Kibaki with chief mediator Kofi Annan at State House, Nairobi, yesterday. Photo/PPS

Mediator Kofi Annan has urged Kenyan leaders to make hard choices to end the current political crisis. 

Mr Annan also said the ongoing violence had gone beyond the disputed presidential election results.

After visiting some of the violence-struck areas in Rift Valley province yesterday, Mr Annan described the scenes as heart-wrenching and tragic and urged the government to deploy more security forces to spare grandmothers, mothers and children unending pain.

The former UN secretary general appealed to rival political leaders  to step in and end the violence which, he said, had assumed catastrophic levels.  During his tour, he said, it had become clear that there was gross abuse of human rights, and he called on the government to beef up security in the affected areas.

“What we saw was heart-wrenching. We saw houses burning, grandmothers and children being pushed out of their homes, and people suffering everywhere. What we saw today (yesterday) was rather tragic,” he said at a press conference at the Serena Hotel after flying back from the troubled region.

Members of his mediation team, who include former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and Mrs Graca Machel, had just toured the Molo and Cherangani areas in the Rift Valley where they witnessed the horrific state of affairs. 

“We did get the impression that while the violence may have been triggered by the disputed presidential election results, it is evolving slowly to assume a life of its own. Certain groups are being targeted, and this is totally unacceptable,” he said.

There have been increasing  claims that the attacks in the Rift Valley, which also  erupted in Nakuru this week, have been propelled by reasons other than the protest against the results of the presidential election. The violence has rocked Eldoret, Kisumu, Kericho, Mombasa and parts of Nairobi.

The government has accused Orange Democratic Movement leaders of being behind the violence — which they have described as genocide — while ODM maintains that the police should be held responsible for killing innocent Kenyans.

“The government must step up security in the affected regions. It must also investigate the killings and hold accountable those behind it. We cannot have a situation where people are indiscriminately killed, and no one is held accountable,” the chief meditor said.

Mr Annan, whose team met President Kibaki at State House later yesterday afternoon, challenged leaders on both sides to make decisions that will restore peace and order in the country.

He said that resolving the political crisis would go beyond striking a deal between President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga to addressing the fundamental issues behind the killings.

“We are urging the leaders to make hard choices and seek to strengthen institutions that will ensure future elections are held in a free and fair atmosphere. They must address the fundamentals underlying the violence,” he said.

He urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees  (UNHCR) to step in and assist thousands of displaced people who he recommended should be compensated for loss of property and lives.

Mr Annan warned that time was running out for leaders to stop the violence and urged them to reconcile and carry along with them their supporters to the new era of sustainable peace.

While signalling that the mediation team may not stay in the country long enough to oversee the striking of a deal between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, he pledged that they would set up a mechanism that would guide the negotiations to a successful end.

“We are determined to set up a mechanism for negotiations such that even if we are not here, the leaders go on with the talks until a solution is found.  We urge the leaders to understand that time is of essence, and they should expeditiously reach an agreement,” Mr Annan said.

After the press conference he immediately went into a meeting with envoys from the European Union member states.

Mr Annan arrived in Kenya on Tuesday evening. He immediately outlined his mission as one to help the country get out of the current political quagmire.

Mr Annan said he had not come with a solution but would have direct talks with President Kibaki and Mr Odinga for a possible deal.

He took over the mediation efforts from Ghanaian President and African Union chairman John Kufuor.  Since his arrival, Mr Annan has held talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, Mr Odinga, President Kibaki and a group of former presidents led by Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano.

Mr Annan’s team also met the African ambassadors and AU representatives before meeting President  Kibaki at State House, Nairobi. 

President Museveni, who was in country for two days,  left for Uganda on Saturday.

Story by BERNARD NAMUNANE
Publication Date: 1/27/2008

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africa, kenya

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