John Kufuor had hoped to broker a deal between both Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader and candidate Raila Odinga. This comes one month after the dispute elections in which Odinga’s supporters claim that the polls were rigged. Chaos and unrest followed soon after.
However, the two men have agreed to work under a panel that might be spearheaded by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations chief. The death toll as a result of the violence continues to climb as the current number is at least 600.
Asides from the 600 estimated to have been killed, at least a quarter of a million people are thought to be displaced by the violence after the elections in Kenya. The elections were a means of bringing stability to the nation.
Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said the talks have failed due to Kibaki’s refusal to sign a document that was agreed by both sides and approved by Colin Bruce, country director of the World Bank.
The document’s key points were: a credible and impartial investigation into the issues arising from the elections, determine if a rerun is necessary, and if so to provide a time-frame on a structure of the government until the rerun.
“The government had offered dialogue which was to be facilitated by President John Kufuor but Orange Democratic Movement leaders have not been responsive,” according to a statement by Kibaki’s office.
While Kibaki has invited Odinga to talks, the opposition leader refused. Odinga wanted the talks to be led by international mediators.
“The parties agreed to work together with a panel of eminent African personalities headed by Mr Kofi Annan… towards resolving their differences and all other outstanding issues including constitutional and electoral reforms,” Kufuor said.
He added: “Both sides agreed there should be an end to the violence and they also agreed there should be dialogue.”
However, the failure of the initiative puts everything back at level one according to some analysts.
Kibaki stands firm that he won the election in a fair manner. However, Odinga said that the election was stolen.