By Daniel Wallis
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to lead a new push for peace in east Africa's biggest economy.
But the opposition, which accuses President Mwai Kibaki of rigging his re-election, is planning new protests after African Union talks collapsed.
"All political parties in Kenya should recognise that it cannot be business as usual in Kenya until there is political compromise which leads to a lasting solution that reflects the will of the Kenyan people, wins their confidence, and helps return Kenya to stability," the EU said in a statement.
EU presidency holder Slovenia, which issued the statement, noted EU observers and other monitors had cast serious doubts on the presidential election results and called for complaints "to be pursued through the proper democratic and legal channels".
The unrest has badly dented Kenya's democratic credentials, worried world powers and damaged its previously booming economy.
U.N. staff say 500,000 Kenyans will need emergency aid such as food handouts after two weeks of riots and ethnic bloodshed.
Fears have grown of further violence after Raila Odinga's opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) vowed to hold three days of protests beginning with a mass demonstration in Nairobi on Wednesday. Police have banned all political rallies.
"The potential for further bloodshed remains high unless the political crisis is quickly resolved," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement issued by the U.N. office in Nairobi on Saturday.
He urged Kenya to resume "its peaceful and democratic path".
"DARK DAYS AHEAD"
Kenyan media forecast dark days ahead.
"Recalling the lives lost and destruction visited on this country, both sides should pause a little and consider whether they want to be responsible for any chain of events that could wreck Kenya," the Daily Nation newspaper said in an editorial.
"Anyone who thinks the government can merely sit tight and wait for things to calm down would be deluding himself."
"Given the government's intransigence and ODM's unrelenting demand for justice, the days ahead are bound to be the most difficult ... there is a dark, ominous cloud hovering above us," the Standard newspaper said.
Parliament, where Odinga's party won 99 seats to 43 for Kibaki's Party of National Unity, is due to resume business on Tuesday and that is likely to prove another flashpoint.
Since being sworn-in after a ballot that foreign monitors said fell short of democratic standards, Kibaki has looked to entrench himself by leading state functions, recalling legislators and naming most of a new cabinet.
On Friday, the ODM called for international sanctions on Kibaki's team. But analysts say protests appear to be the only way for Odinga to maintain pressure.
The prospect of more turmoil has dismayed Kenyans enduring one of the worst episodes in 45 years since independence from Britain. More than 250,000 have been made homeless.
Annan is expected in Kenya next week after AU Chairman and Ghanaian President John Kufuor failed to broker a deal.
But the Nation newspaper warned that the former U.N. chief might have little to work with if more violence erupts.
"A cycle of attack and counter-attack could lead to complete anarchy," it said. "If this country goes down the drain, history will not record the hardliners in their respective entourages, but the principals who will bear personal responsibility." (Additional reporting by Darren Ennis in Brussels; editing by Alistair Thomson)
Source: Reuters, Jan 12, 2007