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AU head meets Kenya's Odinga
09/01/2008 18:18 - (SA)
Nairobi - African Union chief John Kufuor met Kenya's president and opposition leader on Wednesday to try to break a political impasse behind post-election turmoil that has killed about 500 people.
Kufuor, the president of Ghana, first met President Mwai Kibaki at his State House office and residence, then went straight to a hotel for talks with Raila Odinga.
Odinga claims that he lost the December 27 vote because of fraud.
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 with a penchant for PG Wodehouse novels.
Long used to receiving refugees from neighbouring hot-spots like Sudan and Somalia, Kenya now has more than a quarter of a million of its own internally displaced people, many the victims of fighting between different ethnic groups.
In a statement after their meeting, Kibaki's office said the president assured Kufuor that he was initiating dialogue and "would continue to reach out to Kenyan leaders".
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.
"There can be no lasting solution without justice," Odinga said after meeting a visiting group of former African leaders.
Mum's the word
Kufuor made no public comment after his meetings.
Kibaki made his first public foray on Wednesday since his disputed re-election, visiting thousands of refugees in the Burnt Forest area, near Eldoret in west Kenya, one of the areas worst hit by ethnic killings.
Speaking on a hastily erected wooden stage draped in Kenya's national flag, Kibaki told a crowd of several thousand displaced people that he would catch those behind the violence.
"The government will arrest them and charge them in court: they know who they are," he said, to cheers.
He urged people not to fear "backward, savage people" and promised assistance to rebuild homes and re-start agriculture.
Officials say 486 people have died in election-related violence. But aid workers put the figure at more than 500, and the opposition say the toll could be nearer 1 000 from clashes between police and protesters, ethnic fighting, and looting.
There is deep distrust between Kibaki and Odinga, a former political prisoner and wealthy business owner who helped Kibaki win a 2002 poll but was sacked from government in 2005.
Stoking opposition ire, Kibaki kept several controversial figures in his new cabinet, including former hardline Internal Security Minister John Michuki who moved to the roads ministry.
His naming of Kalonzo Musyoka as vice-president, perceived by many as a bid to bring his Kamba tribe on board, prompted some attacks on that group.
Musyoka came a distant third in the presidential election.
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