Admit vote flaws, leaders told
2008-01-12 19:43
Nairobi - The top US envoy for Africa urged Kenya's rival leaders on Saturday to acknowledge election irregularities that led to an eruption of violence and to drop all preconditions for a dialogue to end the turmoil.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said 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 insists 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.
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 freedom and 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.
Organised gangs
"In the meantime, the United States cannot conduct business as usual in Kenya," she warned.
Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has called for three days of mass rallies across the country beginning on Wednesday - a move that has raised concerns of fresh clashes.
The planned protests have been banned by Kenyan police, citing fears that they would attract criminal elements.
The ODM countered on Saturday, saying 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 spokesperson Salim Lone told AFP.
The state-run Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has said the post-electoral violence had seen the re-activation of the Mungiki.
The Mungiki are a quasi-religious criminal organisation running an extortion cartel, and made the headlines in 2007 for perpetrating a string of gruesome murders, including several beheadings.
'Potential for further bloodshed remains high'
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 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 chairperson John Kufuor, 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 on Thursday with no sign of any major progress.
Kibaki has pressed on with his agenda, swearing in a partial cabinet that the opposition has labelled as "a joke".