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Peace talks deadlock
Story by MUGUMO MUNENE and BERNARD NAMUNANE
Publication Date: 1/11/2008
The anticipated face-to-face talks between President Kibaki and
ODM leader Raila Odinga failed to take place Thursday.
President Kibaki bids farewell
to President John Kufuor at Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport, Nairobi yesterday. Right: ODM leader Raila Odinga
after talks with the Ghanaian leader. The planned talks
between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga failed to take place.
Photos/JOSEPH MATHENGE and STEPHEN MUDIARI. |
The two sides traded
accusations over who was responsible for the failure with
President Kibaki’s side saying the ODM team was not
responsive to dialogue and ODM secretary-general Anyang’
Nyong’o accusing the President of refusing to acknowledged
the mediation process.
However, both sides later said they were committed to
dialogue and a negotiated solution to the crisis.
The talks were aimed at resolving the political crisis
sparked by disputed presidential polls.
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Addressing a press conference in
the afternoon, ODM leaders said President Kibaki had refused to
offer any alternatives out of the grave situation facing the
country “and preferred agreements that served his immediate
interests.”
And later Mr Odinga Thursday said alternative methods will be
employed to stop President Kibaki from returning Kenya to the
“dark era of dictatorship.”
Prof Nyong’o said only internationally recognised personalities
like former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other eminent
persons agreed upon by all parties could be acceptable to them as
mediators.
The government’s side, on the other hand, said they were still
committed to constructive dialogue and welcomed Ghanaian President
John Kufuor’s initiative.
The bone of contention was a document which ODM claimed had been
negotiated and agreed on by the two sides. They said the drafting
of the document had been facilitated by World Bank Country
director Colin Bruce, but the Government disowned it.
Throughout the day, there had been indications that a face-to-face
meeting between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga would take place.
The meeting was to be chaired by Mr Kufuor, who is also the
current AU chairman.
It was to be the climax of three days of shuttle diplomacy between
State House and Hotel Inter Continental by Mr Kufuor, but which
ended with dashed hopes for a coalition government.
Following the deadlock, President Kufuor left the country in the
afternoon.
The Government’s statement read: “The Government had offered
dialogue which was to be facilitated by President John Kufuor but
ODM leaders have not been responsive. However, the Government is
still committed to dialogue and President Kufuor is to identify
two eminent African Statesmen to facilitate dialogue.”
“President Kibaki thanked President Kufuor for his time, effort
and commitment and reassures him that the Kenyan Government
remains committed to dialogue for peace and reconciliation in the
country.” Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula disowned the
document. “We saw it for the first time when it was shown to us by
the Ghanaian delegation,” he said.
Another statement from PPU said: “The Government wishes to
categorically state that the document was brought to the attention
of the Government for the first time today (Thursday) afternoon by
the Ghanaian delegation. At no time did President Kibaki send any
Emissary to the World Bank Country Director to discuss a document
of any nature. The Government, therefore, categorically
disassociates itself with the content of that document.”
On negotiations, unconfirmed reports said Mr Kibaki’s side wanted
ODM to recognise him as legitimately elected. They also wanted ODM
to accept that there was a Government in place, an end to violence
while creation of the position of non-executive prime minister
could be considered.
Legitimately in office
The reports said the ODM side wanted President Kibaki to accept
that he was illegitimately in office and that ODM had won the
poll. They also wanted re-tallying of the Presidential votes, a
re-run of the presidential election featuring President Kibaki and
Mr Odinga only and a coalition government with ODM getting an
executive prime minister’s position.
Mr Kufuor’s visit set the stage for further dialogue after he
announced that immediate former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan
would head a team of eminent Africans to help resolve the dispute.
Flying out at 4.45pm Thursday, the Ghanaian leader handed Kenyans
this glimmer of hope: “The parties agreed to work together with a
Panel of Eminent African Personalities headed by Mr Kofi Annan
towards resolving their differences and all other outstanding
issues, including constitutional and electoral reforms.”
President Kufuor appealed to Kenyans and the international
community to support AU in its quest to resolve the crisis and
midwife a return to peace.
President Kufuor flew into Kenya as a State guest, but at the
insistence of ODM leaders who said that any talks with President
Kibaki could only be brokered by an international mediator.
The AU chief flew out of the country Thursday evening after three
days of shuttle diplomacy between the President Kibaki and ODM
leader Mr Odinga, but without a major shift in the impasse that
has embroiled the country for nearly two weeks.
Expectations were high for the most part of the morning Thursday
following heightened security at the Office of the President in
Harambee House, where, sources said, President Kibaki was to meet
Mr Odinga face-to-face at a meeting that was to be chaired by
President Kufuor.
A group of local and foreign journalists waited alongside the
security officers for more than two-and-a-half hours before word
went round that the scheduled meeting would not take place.
It would have been the first time that President Kibaki would have
conducted any business at Harambee House since he was first
elected to office in 2002.
The current crisis arose from the Electoral Commission’s
declaration of PNU’s Mwai Kibaki as the winner of the 2007
presidential election, a position contested by ODM, which has
maintained the presidential win was stolen from them.
ECK boss Samuel Kivuitu, who announced the results and handed
President Kibaki the winner’s certificate, has since said he does
not know whether Mr Kibaki actually won the election, drawing
heavy criticism from fellow lawyers and the ODM brigade. The
dispute touched off violent protests from ODM supporters, which
snowballed into political violence and which has attracted
high-level international attention.
In a radio and TV address to the nation last week, President
Kibaki maintained that he was properly elected and asked those
with election grievances to seek redress in court. He has since
named half a Cabinet and announced the commencement date for the
10th Parliament, where the political faceoff is expected to shift
next week.
Later in the afternoon, President Kufuor was seen off by President
Kibaki at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 4.30pm
shortly before he took the flight home on a Nigerian Air Force jet.
The mediation was handed over to former UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan as it became clear that the talks had hit a deadlock.
Hectic days
Briefing the press on his mission at the hotel before leaving for
the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the towering
Ghanaian head of state said he had launched a framework through
which the two sides would proceed with the talks and possibly
reach an agreement.
“We have had two hectic days during which we have launched the
talks. The most positive aspect is that both sides agree there
should be an end to violence and that there should be dialogue.
That dialogue should be about peace because Kenya is very
important to Africa,” he said.
Although he declined to disclose the details of his mediation
efforts, he revealed that the talks would henceforth be led by the
Panel of Eminent African Personalities, which is headed by Mr
Annan.
“The talks would be towards resolving their differences and all
other outstanding issues, including Constitutional and electoral
reforms,” he said.
President Kufuor said the two sides had agreed to immediately stop
the violence that has ravaged Eldoret, Kisumu and parts of Nairobi
and any other acts that could threaten peace.
He said that it was wrong for members of any nation to resort to
violence after they have disagreed on a democratic process such as
elections. “Democracy dictates that even if you disagree over an
issue, you continue living together; you don’t have to shoot at
each other. The people of Kenya should live happily together,” he
said.
President Kufuor, whose mediation mission in the country was
endorsed by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European
Union, urged more countries to support the process of dialogue he
had launched to end the violence in the country.
But as he spoke, the AU chairman had just left behind a state of
uncertainty which was supported by the events that unfolded in the
day.
All indications were clear in the morning that the AU mediator had
succeeded in his mediation and President Kibaki had agreed to meet
face to face with Mr Odinga at Harambee House to end the political
crisis.
In preparation for the meeting, workers at the Harambee House set
out to spruce the building and its grounds as security was
heightened. Parliament Road and Harambee Avenue were closed to
motorists as from 11 am to 1 pm to pave way for easier movement.
Journalists, wielding cameras and notebooks rushed to Harambee
House to position themselves for the historical event in the
history of the country. But two hours later, signs that the
meeting would not take place at Harambee House increased and were
helped by the events that were taking place at Intercontinental
Hotel, a few metres away.
For President Kufuor and Mr Odinga were holding talks at the
Presidential Suite on 7th floor. Within the hotel were Foreign
Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula and ODM Pentagon members Musalia
Mudavadi, William Ruto, Najib Balala, Charity Ngilu, Joseph Nyaga
and officials Anyang’ Nyong’o and Henry Kosgey.
Attending the session also were US assistant secretary of state
for African Affairs, Ms Jendanyi Frazer, US ambassador Michael
Ranneberger, British envoy Adam Wood as well as French ambassador
Ms Elisabeth Barbier.
At 12.47 pm, Mr Odinga and his team left Inter Continental Hotel
after he had held talks with President Kufuor. He was followed by
Mr Mudavadi Mr Ruto and Mrs Ngilu.
Other Pentagon members Balala, Nyagah and party secretary general
Nyong’o joined the team for lunch at the Serena Hotel. It was
understood that their lunch hour talk, they decided not to accept
anything less than one of the conditions they had placed on the
table.
President Kufuor, in the company of Mr Wetang’ula, left Inter
Continental Hotel for State House at 1.10 pm to brief President
Kibaki on the talks.
The two sides were back at the hotel at 2.30 pm for a briefing
from State House on the issues they had placed on the table.
However, Mr Odinga led his team out of the hotel at 2.43 pm,
declined to talks to the press and headed for the Pentagon House
in a sullen mood.
We were to learn later that they left after it became clear that
President Kibaki had turned down their demands and insisted that
all leaders must maintain peace.
In their meetings with President Kufuor, ODM had demanded that
President Kibaki should accept that he was illegitimately in
office because Mr Odinga was the winner in the elections.
Similarly, they wanted the half government that was formed on
Tuesday disbanded on grounds that it was formed by a President was
holding power illegally.
They also demanded a re-tallying of the Presidential votes to
establish who was the rightful winner of the elections.ODM
believes that should re-tallying be carried out, the flag bearer
would emerge the winner.
Fourthly, Mr Odinga, who placed the conditions on the table in a
meeting with President Kufuor, called for a re-run of the
Presidential elections featuring only President Kibaki and Mr
Odinga in a period of three months.
Their last condition was based on the proposal of a coalition
government which President Kibaki had floated. ODM leaders, it was
said, had demanded that the Bomas Draft forms the basis of the
agreement with President Kibaki playing a ceremonial role while
they get the Executive Prime Minister’s position. In addition, ODM
would demand 60 per cent of all Cabinet positions, key parastatal
positions and civil service jobs.
Those were the conditions that were rejected by President Kibaki
in meetings with President Kufuor. It was said that President
Kibaki said talks would be held once the violence had subsided and
the ODM had recognized that he won the elections.
The stand infuriated Mr Odinga who was said to have declared that
he needed to consult his team in order to know whether they would
be open to talks led by Mr Annan’s group.
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