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Rivals given roadmap to peaceful
end
Story by BERNARD NAMUNANE
Publication Date: 1/28/2008
Mediation efforts to end the political crisis in which hundreds of
people have been killed entered a crucial stage Sunday when
President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga were handed proposals
of a roadmap to a peaceful solution.
On Sunday evening, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan sent the
feuding sides documents specifying the terms of reference, the
agenda and options of reaching a solution that is agreeable to
both sides.
Mr Annan met Mr Odinga and his team at Serena Hotel to inform them
of the new stage in the dialogue, having passed on the same
message to President Kibaki at State House on Saturday afternoon.
Briefing the Press, ODM Pentagon member Musalia Mudavadi said: “We
have met Mr Annan and he has told us that at the end of the day,
he would be availing (sic) to us the documents on the principles
of engagement, the agenda and the line we will pursue in seeking a
solution to the crisis.”
Mr Annan, he said, had also asked each side in the political
dispute to name a team of three negotiators and a liaison officer
for the key stage of agreeing on the peace deal.
It marked the second score by the mediation team that includes
former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Mrs Graca Machel —
former South African First Lady — in their quest to broker a
peaceful deal between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga.
“We believe that the measure of progress seems imminent and we, in
ODM, want to ensure that Kenya gets a peaceful solution,” said Mr
Mudavadi.
Just three days after flying into the country last Tuesday, Mr
Annan succeeded in bringing together President Kibaki and Mr
Odinga for talks at Harambee House where they shook hands and
appealed for calm and peace in Kenya.
Make hard choices
The terms of reference and the agenda of the negotiations are
normally drawn after the facilitators have considered the
proposals placed on the table by the sides in the dispute. Input
from religious leaders, civil society, opinion leaders and foreign
envoys is also considered.
The Annan-led team has kept up with those demands and has met all
the parties concerned.
The former UN boss took some time off his busy schedule on
Saturday and toured Molo and Cherang’any. He came back and
described the situation on the ground as heart-wrenching.
He immediately urged leaders from both sides to be prepared to
take hard decisions in order to restore order and stability in the
country.
Mr Annan also said the ongoing violence had gone beyond the
disputed presidential elections.
A top officer in Annan’s team told the Nation that a number of
issues had been presented for consideration, among them the issue
of leadership in the country.
President Kibaki and the reconciliation team led by Vice President
Kalonzo Musyoka are understood to have, among others, stated that
ODM ought to recognise that the Head of State was the duly elected
President and that a legitimately constituted Government was in
place. They also want ODM leaders, who they accuse of being behind
the violence, to publicly condemn the killings and urge their
supporters to end the chaos.
The Kibaki team further questioned the failure by their rivals to
move to court to challenge the President’s re-election and has
proposed to the mediators that only the courts of law can declare
that the President was in office illegitimately.
In addition, they have ruled out a power-sharing deal and a rerun
of the Presidential elections. On the other hand, ODM have
demanded that President Kibaki accept that he lost to Mr Odinga in
the elections.
Once that has been achieved, they have proposed that President
Kibaki resigns to pave way for a rerun of the presidential
elections.
Their last option involves an interim government where they would
share power in line with a formula to be determined by each
party’s strength in Parliament as they await for fresh elections.
However, Mr Mudavadi said that ODM was ready to make hard
decisions that would end the violence that has now assumed new
dimensions. “We have stated that we are committed to finding a
peaceful solution, which means that we are prepared to make hard
decisions,” he said.
However, those hard decisions could be hampered by ODM’s demand
that ODM Kenya, whose leader is the VP Musyoka, be excluded from
the talks.
ODM secretary-general Anyang’ Nyong’o stated that the negotiations
are between PNU and ODM only. “We are negotiating with PNU whose
leader is Mwai Kibaki. Kalonzo Musyoka is the head of ODM-K and
whatever arrangements he has with PNU, are his own. The election
crisis is between ODM and PNU,” he said.
He wants Mr Kibaki to ensure that Mr Musyoka does not get close to
the negotiations table with ODM because he has no stake in the
dispute.
“Anybody naming a coalition team must confine it to the two
parties. We want to negotiate with the principals and not
surrogates. Kalonzo must realise that,” he cautioned.
The VP heads the reconciliation team that includes Cabinet
ministers Martha Karua, George Saitoti, Moses Wetangula, Samuel
Poghisio, Ali Chirau Mwakwere, Attorney General Amos Wako and
Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo.
By Sunday evening, both sides were sizing each other up as they
waited to study the proposed roadmap before appointing their teams
to the negotiations table.
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