Mediation - Kikwete Travels to Nairobi
By Paul Amoru
(The Nation) Nairobi
African Union chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, is due in Nairobi this afternoon to support Kofi Annan’s mediation efforts over Kenya’s political crisis.
It will be the first time for President Kikwete to visit Kenya since the country fell into a political crisis following the disputed presidential election in December.
Mr Annan, the former UN secretary general, is leading a panel of eminent African personalities in an international effort to resolve the political crisis. The panel was appointed in January by then AU chairman, President John Kufuor of Ghana, following a visit to Nairobi.
“President Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania will make a two-day official visit to Kenya from today, Tuesday, 26 February to Wednesday 27,” said a statement from Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Kikwete is the latest to the list of world leaders who have travelled to Nairobi over the last two months to help reconcile presidential rivals Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga of the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) parties respectively.
President Kibaki was declared winner of the December 27 poll and sworn in, but Mr Odinga and election observers have questioned the vote-tallying process, with the ODM accusing the Government of rigging the election in favour of the incumbent.
More than 1,000 people were killed and over 350,000 were displaced in riots that broke out across the country following the declaration of President Kibaki as winner.
He also comes at a time when talks seeking to end Kenya’s post-election crisis ended in a stalemate on Monday as Government and ODM negotiators failed to agree on the legal basis of a prime minister position.
While in Tanzania, he discussed the bloody conflict in neighboring Kenya with Mr Kikwete before showering him with praise and signing over a $700 million development grant.
International pressure has been piled on Kenyan leaders to resolve the crisis.
US President Bush has called for a power-sharing deal to end the violence and sent his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Nairobi to support by former Mr Annan.
And in a joint news conference with Kikwete, Bush emphasised the United States wanted to help Annan and not dictate terms to end the Kenya crisis.
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