By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has promised more rallies and once again rejected the president’s offer to establish a unity government. Odinga claims President Kibaki rigged the 27 December election and says that mediation is necessary, rather than a unity government, and that Kibaki cannot offer them anything ‘because he did not win the election.”
Odinga said in a news conference on Saturday “there cannot be peace without justice” and that he would only sit down for talks with Kibaki in the presence of an international mediator. He stated they want a properly negotiated settlement rather than a coalition government. US diplomat Jendayi Frazer flew in on Friday and has been working to broker a solution to the crisis. A senior US official has said that both parties are prepared to meet with the African Union to find a solution.
Kenya has been a hotbed of ethnic violence since the disputed election and more than 300 people have died. Kibaki’s Kikuyu people have been pitted against Kenya’s other tribes, which has brought chaos to this country of 34 million people.
The violence throughout the country has forced some 250,000 people from their homes. While the violence eased over the weekend, there were isolated ethnic clashes and police involvement in the coastal tourist town of Mombasa. Thousands fled their homes in the countryside under fear of continued ethnic attacks.
The increasing number of displaced people who have been cut off from supplies from the country has led to a massive shortage of food. The crisis caused shops and transport across the country to be shut down and what little food is available is now triple the price. The UN tried to help on Sunday, sending 20 truckloads of grain, pulses, and vegetable oil that had been held up by vigilante roadblocks and other insecurity.
The Kenyan Red Cross has asked for $15.4 billion in aid for those people forced from their homes due to the crisis. The World Food Program has said it is working with the Red Cross to provide food to the 100,000 people displaced in the northern Rift valley, in the remote areas that are difficult to get food to.
For more information, please see:
CNN – Odinga rejects power-sharing offer – 6 January 2008
AP – Opposition Rejects Unity Gov’t in Kenya – 6 January 2008
AFP – US mediates Kenya crisis as opposition rejects govt offer – 6 January 2008
BBC News – Kenya food effort gets under way – 6 January 2008
AllAfrica.com – Kenya: Food, Fuel Crisis Looms Over Post-Poll Violent Protests – 5 January 2008
