Its Coming (Kenya Opposition Calls 3 Days of Protest)

[Somaliwayn1]

Kenya Opposition Calls 3 Days of Protest

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY – 2 hours ago

 

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's main opposition party said Friday it plans three days of mass rallies next week to protest President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election, which has sparked waves of deadly violence across the East African nation.

 

The African Union president, who had been trying to mediate a compromise between the opposition leader Raila Odinga and Kibaki, left Kenya on Friday after failing to persuade the two even to meet.

 

More than 500 people have died in protests and ethnic violence since the Dec. 27 elections and ensuring vote tally that foreign observers say was rigged. The election returned Kibaki to power for another five-year term; Odinga came in second.

 

Police have banned all rallies since the violence broke out, and have used tear gas, water cannons and live bullets fired over people's heads to block previous attempts to assemble.

 

"Kenyans are entitled to protest peacefully at this blatant violation of their fundamental rights," Anyang Nyongo, secretary-general of the Orange Democratic Movement, said in announcing rallies in more than 20 locations on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

 

Tony Gachoka, spokesman for the opposition party, said earlier that the protest call was a response to the failure of the African Union mediation.

 

"Due to the large numbers of people expected we request the police to provide us with security," ODM said in a statement. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said he will announce a decision about the rally request by Wednesday "based on the intelligence reports we receive."

 

Both sides traded blame Thursday for the political deadlock. According to the government, Kibaki "offered dialogue," but Odinga was not responsive. Odinga said Kibaki refused to sign an agreement to establish an interim coalition government and conduct an inquiry into the Electoral Commission of Kenya.

 

A government spokesman acknowledged Kibaki had not signed, saying he was not involved in the consultations.

 

Odinga has said he would meet Kibaki only in the presence of an international mediator. Kibaki wants direct talks.

 

Hopes for a power-sharing compromise dimmed when Kibaki's allies were sworn in Thursday as Cabinet ministers.

 

The European Union, the United States and Britain have been pressing for Kibaki and Odinga to meet. Britain has not recognized the new government of Kenya, and for that to happen the Kenyan government would have to "clearly represent a credible expression of the will of the people," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters in London on Thursday.

 

Kenya is crucial to the war on terrorism, having turned over dozens of people to the U.S. and Ethiopia as suspected terrorists. It also allows American forces to operate from Kenyan bases and conducts joint exercises with U.S. troops in the region. The U.S. is a major donor to Kenya, long seen as a stable democracy in a region that includes war-ravaged Somalia and Sudan. Aid amounts to roughly $1 billion a year, the U.S. Embassy said.

 

Another blow was dealt to the credibility of the results when the disgraced electoral commission chairman denied responsibility for an official advertisement in leading newspapers detailing the tally of those results by constituency.

 

"I did not submit this report or authorize my name to be used for its publication," Samuel Kivuiti was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of The Standard newspaper.

 

He questioned the timing of the three-page advertisement, wondering why his commission had "rushed" to publication.

 

"It seems like some outside force has pushed for its publication," he said.

 

Kivuiti had declared Kibaki the official victor in the race but then said he was not sure that the incumbent had won and that he had made the announcement under a lot of pressure.

 

Associated Press writers Michelle Faul and Malkhadir M. Muhumed contributed to this report from Nairobi.

 

[xiinfaniin]

ooh no!

[Somaliwayn1]

Kenya is crucial to the war on terrorism, having turned over dozens of people to the U.S. and Ethiopia as suspected terrorists Priceless

[Somaliwayn1]

xiifaniin i heard qiimaha bangada kor ayeey u kacday.

[Somaliwayn1]

Kenya: World Bank Boss in Row Over Kibaki

 

 

 

 

 

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The Nation (Nairobi)

 

11 January 2008

Posted to the web 11 January 2008

 

Nairobi

 

A row is brewing over a confidential memo from the World Bank's Kenya office that supports President Kibaki's victory in the disputed elections.

 

According to UK's The Financial Times, a story headlined "Leaked memo deepens Kenya crisis", the leaked January 1 briefing note, originating from Mr Colin Bruce, the World Bank's country director, appears to support President Kibaki's victory on the basis of "oral briefings and documents from senior United Nations Development Programme officials."

 

 

The memo claims that "the considered view of the UN is that the Electoral Commission of Kenya announcement of a Kibaki win is correct".

 

However, Michele Montas, a spokeswoman for the UN secretary-general, denied that the UN had adopted that position. UNDP officials said they had neither monitored the elections nor provided any assessment suggesting a Kibaki victory.

 

The lending institution has denied taking sides in the disputed election results.

 

In Washington, the World Bank's head of external relations stated that it was not in their ways of working to take sides in a political contest.

 

He was quoted in The Financial Times saying: "The bank does not take political positions. Neither Colin Bruce nor the bank has a position on (President) Kibaki or (opposition leader Raila) Odinga."

 

In Washington, the World Bank's head of external relations stated that they do not take sides in a political contest.

 

Mr Bruce was later in the day roped in another controversy as ODM claimed that he had led a team which drew up an agreement which President Kibaki declined to sign. The document, said ODM secretary-general Anyang Nyong'o, also drew contribution from US, UK and French envoys.

 

Another memo

 

However, the Government disowned the document and denied sending any emissaries to Mr Bruce to author the memo which urged the international community to give credibility to President Kibaki's victory.

 

A statement by the Presidential Press Services said: "At no time did President Kibaki send any emissary to the World Bank Country director to discuss a document of any nature. The Government, therefore, categorically disassociates itself from the content of that document."

 

In Nairobi, the PPS said that the Government had been taken aback by the memo and sought to assure the public and the international community that it was committed to the mediation efforts by President Kufuor.

 

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"The Government remains committed to constructive dialogue and welcomes the initiative taken by President John Kufuor," it said.

 

The Ghanaian President, who chairs the African Union, arrived in the country on Tuesday evening to mediate between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga in a bid to end the violence in which at least 500 people have been killed.

 

President Kufuor's mediation mission was supported by the United States, Britain and European Union.

 

 

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Opposition Calls for Three Day Protest

Peace Talks Deadlock

Opposition to March on Police HQ

Dual Peacekeeping Mission Seeks to Dispell Confusion

Rebels Quit Talks After Arrest of Delegate

[Somaliwayn1]

AS LONG AS THIS REMAINS THE modus operandi, Kenyans will remain a bargaining chip in the power stakes rather than voters with specific needs and concerns. And they will continue to die like flies in a polarised society. Today's victims will be forgotten before dark, and the hostilities will roll on to the next election.

 

It need not be so. We can invest our faith not in our tribesmen but in institutions, laws and policies that set out in precise terms our rules of engagement. The Big Man syndrome that bedevils our politics must go if we are to reclaim a sense of nationhood.

 

If we made that position less attractive and powerful and transferred some authority to other centres of power, we might weed out all the diehard opportunists and return sense and sensibility to the top office in the land. Now there's the challenge: Who will lead legislation that will strip them of demi-god status and turn them into mere mortals?

[xiinfaniin]

Originally posted by Somaliwayn1:

xiifaniin i heard qiimaha bangada kor ayeey u kacday.

I am having hard time understanding why some of us in the Diaspora fail to see these useless protests that achieve nothing but instability in Kenya for what they are, just ineffective and counterproductive!

[STOIC]

With Both leaders holding to their hardline position things are about to hit the fan.My brother has moved his family out of Nairobi.I am thinking of maybe sending all my family members to Tanzania where we have Immediate family members.Will Hargeysa give asylum to sijuis? On a serious note many people will be wrapped up in this ocean wave of politicians dirty politics.

[Che -Guevara]

I got the feeling the entire east Africa will be one big refugee camp.If there was country that wouldn't mind seeing it cramble, it would have been Ethiopia. Sooner or later, the sh*t will hit the roof,and Africa's borders might just be redrawn.

[Allamagan]

Let the shit hit the fan, so that it stinks up the whole continent and especially in East Africa. My fan is already full of sh1t. left and right!

[General Duke]

Stop calling for war, the Somali's will suffer the most if things go down hill.

 

Lets hope things calm down. I do not see how it will help our people if they get stuck between warring tribes, will they not be a weak tribe amongst others?

 

What about their businesses, will they not be targets?

 

Use some common sense, people.