Rivals given roadmap to peaceful end
Mediation efforts to end the political crisis in which hundreds of people have been killed entered a crucial stage 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 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.
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.
The Citizen
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