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Odinga: Unity govt OK for now
07/01/2008 09:26 - (SA)
Osnabrueck - Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga told a German newspaper in an interview published on Monday that he agreed in principle to a proposal by President Mwai Kibaki for a national unity government in the wake of contested presidential elections.
"We are offering a transitional government between Kibaki's and my party," Odinga told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, adding that this coalition would prepare the way for another presidential election within three months.
The statement was a reversal from Odinga's earlier rejection of Kibaki's proposal. Odinga had said there could be no direct talks with the president, who, Odinga charged, had won re-election on December 27 through "illegal" means.
But Odinga shot down calls for a new vote count.
"The documents have been tampered with," the opposition leader told the newspaper in north-western Germany. "To evaluate them again would make no sense."
Post-election violence claims 300+
Odinga's supporters had charged fraud since Kenya's electoral authorities declared Kibaki had beaten Odinga, whose Orange Democratic Movement won most of the seats in simultaneous parliamentary elections.
International election observers also said they found numerous inconsistencies in the vote counting and pronounced doubts about the official results.
Post-election violence had broken out, leaving more than 300 people dead. Odinga said negotiations with Kibaki must take place with an international mediator.
He proposed former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, Ghanaian President and African Union Chairperson John Kufuor, or former Sierra Leone president Tejan Kabbah.
Kibaki proposed the national unity government on Saturday, saying it would unite Kenyans and promote reconciliation.
In the meantime, international mediation seeking an end to the crisis continued over the weekend as radio and television stations on Sunday night broadcast Christian, Muslim and Hindu leaders praying for peace and unity.
United States envoy Jendayi Frazer met with both Kibaki and Odinga, and Kufuor was also expected to travel to Kenya this week.
Sapa-dpa
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