Beggining Of Oppresion

In Nairobi, the South African High Commissioner has confirmed that Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu is on his way to Kenya, to mediate the election crisis. The African Union has also sent a statement to the Nation, confirming that the AU Chairman and Ghana's president John Kufour is on his way to Nairobi. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is sending her top diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, to Kenya to talk to both opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki in an effort to make progress toward resolving Kenya's political crisis. "What you can do at this point is really meet with each side, see where they are, [and] take an assessment of where they stand," said Sean McCormack, the State Department's spokesperson. In the last 24 hours, Rice has spoken to both Odinga and Kibaki over the phone, urging them to help end the violence. McCormack said that Rice thought it was important for Frazer to deliver the United States' call for dialogue directly to the political leaders. The announcement of Frazer's visit came on a day in which African Union Chair John Kufuor's visit was postponed, reportedly because the government does see the need for international mediation. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is already in Kenya, and he has met with Odinga, but it is unclear whether he has met with Kibaki yet. McCormack, however, expects both Odinga and Kibaki to meet with Frazer when she arrives in Kenya. In an apparent attempt to contain the widespread violence which hit parts of Kenya following last week's disputed election, the country's re-elected president has announced he is ready to talk.

Aussie... the last thing Kenya needs is armed uprising, thinks I. Kenya is a comparatively progressive and stable country in an otherwise volatile region. That is not to say that the West should allow this travesty to continue. Unfortunately, the natural ally to help Kenya would be Britain but these days Britain hesitates to lend any material aid in Africa for fear of accusations of imperialism. However, sometimes we should worry less about this, even if it lends weight to the rhetoric of some of the odious African leaders. EU could play this role but are probably too slow to react. All the best urban

The situation is almost out of control. The current so called president has declined to allow for mediation from the west and said that there is nothing serious and that he won the elections fairly which is not the case. He has spoken with great arrogance and threatened those who are calling for peace that they would face the full force of law. He has banned all peace protests and instead believes that the problem could be solved by use of force. The president stands as a symbol of division and every word that he utters from his mouth,sends violent waves that kill hundreds in streets and rural areas. He has declined to resign and in fact the electrol commission chairman has publicly denounced the elections results stating a vitiating factor from the ruling party that demanded him to declare its candidate a winner. It is clear that there was a complete plan to rig the elections by the government that rules now with impunity. This was done through doctoring of figures at the electrol commission head office in favour of the ruling party.

I don't understand your response, are you suggesting that Kenya should abandon democracy in favour of some kind of dictatorship? Well, that is effectively what has happened with the old president seizing power. In many ways Kenya is the most stable and progressive African nation, this election will hopefully be but a stumbling block. all the best urban

We are already under dictatorship. But the military is divided something which could spark war that would make it possible for democratically declared president. The president who is governing is the one who lost in the elections.