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Kenya-Election Violence
AP
2008-02-14
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Kenya's political rivals agreed Thursday to
write a new constitution _ a move that could allow for
power-sharing _ as part of a deal to end weeks of deadly
postelection violence, a government negotiator said.
The bloodshed since the Dec. 27 election the opposition accuses
the president of stealing has killed more than 1,000 people and
drawn international condemnation. U.S. President George W. Bush
said Thursday he is sending in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
to demand an immediate halt to the bloodshed in this once-stable
nation.
«The two parties agreed to write a new constitution,» government
negotiator Mutula Kilonzo told The Associated Press after two days
of secret talks were adjourned until Monday.
«A new constitution is required,» he added, saying that it was
expected to happen within a year.
He did not give details of any other aspects of the agreement,
which is likely to be a preliminary step in further negotiations.
Kilonzo spoke just hours after a spokesman for former U.N. chief
Kofi Annan, who is mediating the talks, announced the sides had
signed a deal, but gave no details. The talks have been operating
under a media blackout, although Annan scheduled a news conference
for Friday afternoon.
Kenya's current constitution was drawn up in the lead-up to
independence from Britain in 1963 and has been revised repeatedly,
giving the president sweeping powers. Kenyans have repeatedly said
they want a constitution that would reform how their country is
run following decades of abuses by successive governments.
A new constitution could allow for power-sharing or a prime
minister's post, the solution opposition leader Raila Odinga and
President Mwai Kibaki have been pressed to adopt as a way to
resolve their dispute.
An opposition member with close ties to the negotiations confirmed
the deal to write a new constitution, but said it was «trivial»
because the government has not yet formally agreed to any changes
in the government.
«The talks deadlocked over the discussion of government structure,»
said the opposition member who asked that his name not be used
because of the media blackout.
Odinga who served as a Cabinet minister in Kibaki's administration
for two years before being booted out in December 2005, and Kibaki
fell out over a previous attempt at constitutional reform. Odinga
had led a drive against a draft constitution Kibaki was backing.
Opponents argue the proposal Kibaki supported ignored agreements
hammered out during a constitutional conference designed to check
the president, in part by creating a powerful prime minister.
Kibaki argued the draft did cut presidential powers.
Voters rejected the constitution in a 2005 referendum that was
lauded as a sign democracy was maturing in Kenya. Then came the
December presidential vote.
Domestic and international observers have said there was rigging,
possibly by both sides, in the presidential vote. The ensuing
violence has drawn outrage from around the world, with several
countries threatening to cut aid, impose travel bans or freeze the
assets of anyone suspected of inciting violence.
Rice and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi
Frazer plan to travel on Monday to Nairobi, where they will meet
Kibaki, Odinga and civic leaders.
Bush said Rice will deliver a message to Kenya's leaders and
people: «There must be an immediate halt to violence, there must
be justice for the victims of abuse and there must be a full
return to democracy.
He made the announcement during a speech previewing his six-day
trip to Africa, which starts Saturday. Bush's schedule does not
include a stop in Kenya.
The violence has been shockingly brutal in a country once
considered among the most stable in Africa, and the ethnic
component to the bloodshed has polarized Kenyans as never before.
Much of the fighting has been between rival ethnic groups and much
of the anger is aimed at Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, long resented for
dominating politics and the economy.
Also Thursday, thousands of mourners gathered for a memorial
service for Mugabe Were _ the first of two opposition lawmakers
who were gunned down in the weeks after the election. Were was
among a slew of opposition members who won seats in the December
legislative vote, held at the same time as the presidential
election.
«What is needed is a speedy resolution to the political problem
being experienced in the country,» Kenneth Marende, an opposition
supporter and speaker of the National Assembly, said at the
service. «Chest thumbing and arrogance will not resolve the
stalemate.
Kenya is expected to set up a truth, justice and reconciliation
commission to investigate abuses. On Thursday, the
government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said «egregious
perpetrators» must not be given amnesty.
«Leaders and planners of the types of violations that have taken
place in Kenya over recent weeks must never be exempted under any
circumstance: to do so would be a travesty of justice,» the group
said.
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