Kufuor Mediates in Kenya

PANA -– African Union (AU) Chairman, Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufuor would travel to Kenya on Thursday to join international mediation efforts to halt the carnage triggered by controversial presidential election results released last Sunday.

Official sources in Accra said President Kufuor would leave Accra on Thursday morning after protocol arrangements were completed.

The post-election violence in Kenya has claimed the lives of some 300 people, with the government and opposition describing the killings as “genocide”.

Kufuor in a statement on Tuesday night expressed deep regret about “the unfortunate scenes of violence in Kenya” and appealed to President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to urgently resort to dialogue and constitutional processes to resolve the crisis in the East Afrian country.

He described the two men as “experienced and responsible political leaders” and urged them to restrain their supporters to avert further violent clashes “which could only lead to the destabilization of the great country, Kenya”.

The violence erupted when Odinga and his supporters said they were cheated of victory by a massive election fraud.

President Kufuor would be leading a delegation of the AU that would also include its Commissioner for Peace and Security, Said Djinnit.

“This visit is part of AU’s efforts to assist in overcoming the post-electoral crisis facing Kenya,” said the AU Commission, reiterating its attachment to democratic principles as stipulated in the Constitutive Act of the AU and in the African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance.

Respected South African cleric and peacemaker, Desmond Tutu, has also offered to mediate in the Kenya electoral stalemate.

Accra - 02/01/2008

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