January 03, 2008

Kenya's Kibaki Breaks Silence As Post-Election Crisis Continues

Amid continuing violent protests in the capital today over his contested re-election last week, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki extended an olive branch to his political opponent, Raila Odinga. The results of last week's election, in which Kenya's electoral commission named Kibaki the winner by a slim margin, has sent the country spiraling into violence and chaos.

With more than 300 people killed and tens of thousands displaced, according to BBC News, Kibaki bowed to intense political and diplomatic pressure and made a televised appeal for peace today.

"I am ready to have dialogue with the concerned parties once the nation is calm and the political temperatures are lowered enough for constructive and productive engagement," Kibaki said, breaking his silence on the election results, which the opposition claims were rigged.

Meanwhile, the attorney general has called for an independent inquiry into the election, as Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement continues to demand a revote. The opposition party canceled a planned rally for today but has rescheduled it for Jan. 8 if an agreement is not reached by then.

Both sides of the dispute have been under intense international pressure, both from the United States and Europe, to seek a resolution in the form of a coalition government. Agence France-Presse reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU Foreign Minister Javier Solana have discussed sending envoys to Kenya to help facilitate a negotiation.

However, Kenyan officials appear averse to outside mediation at this point in the conflict. AFP also reports that a joint mediation proposal from the African Union and the Commonwealth has fizzled, and AU Chairman John Kufuor's planned trip to Kenya today was canceled.

Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu of South Africa did make a trip to the country Wednesday to appeal for reconciliation among the two leaders. But the violence between the two opposing tribes supporting Kibaki and Odinga has thus far continued unabated.

BBC News has a timeline of the turmoil in Kenya, and Reuters has a profile of Odinga. The Economist, meanwhile, takes an in-depth look at last week's election and the threat of ethnic cleansing and civil war in the wake of the contested results.

Posted at 3:22 PM
Posted to: Africa, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, EU, Europe, Kenya
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