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Press despair as Kenya crisis
continues
BBC News
Published: 2008/01/27
The press in Kenya and neighbouring countries expresses deep
dismay that the post-election violence has continued despite talks
being held between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader
Raila Odinga to find a way out of the crisis.
Several Kenyan commentators doubt that the talks mediated by
former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will succeed
unless political leaders acknowledge the full extent of the crisis
and its underlying causes.
In neighbouring Uganda, one writer calls on the Kenyan government
to engage with the opposition, while another urges the
Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, to speak out on
the crisis.
KENYA'S INDEPENDENT SUNDAY STANDARD
The spiral of post-election violence, the killings, displacement
and wanton destruction of property have reached catastrophic
levels. It is time we stopped burying our heads in the sand as
government officials claim life is returning to normal.
GITAU WARIGI IN KENYA'S SUNDAY NATION
Mr Annan cannot avoid looking at the way the ethnic card has been
played at different times by different politicians and to what
ends? I agree with people who subscribe to the fact that
power-sharing is good in principle. But I don't see it working
when each side believes it won the election fair and square.
KENYA'S INDEPENDENT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SUNDAY NATION
It is now recognised that women and children are bearing the brunt
of the raging conflict. Sexual abuse has been thrown into the
equation, and these two vulnerable groups are suffering double
jeopardy... the increase in sexual attacks is a direct offshoot of
the breakdown of law and order and the consequent collapse of
social mechanisms. In our situation, there is no substitute for
peace in ensuring women and girls are safe from sexual depredation.
KENYAN PRIVATELY-OWNED NEWSPAPER DAILY NATION
In this situation it is pointless for any group to crow that they
are properly elected and fully in charge of government. The
reality is that the instruments of governance have been
overwhelmed with the protests that followed the disputed
presidential election.
UGANDA'S INDEPENDENT SUNDAY MONITOR
Kibaki's camp cannot pretend that there is no crisis in Kenya when
killings are continuing. As a way forward, Mr Odinga has floated
three options: Kibaki's resignation, a vote re-run, or
power-sharing then a new election. Disagreeable as these
suggestions maybe for Mr Kibaki's side, they should surely form
the basis of dialogue.
SAM AKAKI IN UGANDA'S SUNDAY MONITOR
Uganda-born Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu has not uttered a
word on the events in Kenya where the people have been drowning in
blood for almost 30 days. Has the bishop got a selective sense of
injustice, only noticing and condemning human rights abuses in the
Middle East and Zimbabwe, or is he too busy praying for Mr
Mugabe's immediate demise to care about the evolving genocide in
Kenya?
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