Kibaki playing merry hell with Kenyan lives

In a move cleverly calculated to undermine the on-going mediation efforts spearheaded by former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan with an aim to ending bloodshed in the aftermath of December's disputed elections, Kibaki has played merry hell with the peace process by informing the African Union summit meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that "problems in Kenya can be resolved locally through the courts." He also accused ODM of being behind the post-election violence that he claimed was premeditated.

ODM luminaries, led by Langata MP Raila Odinga said the President’s statements at a time when talks were underway to end political turmoil in the country was not only an insult to the party but to Kenyans in general. “He should come forward and renounce the statement. He should not utter things that could worsen the current problems,” Raila said. Speaking at Pentagon House, accompanied by MPs William Ruto, Najib Balala, Dalmas Otieno, Omingo Magara and Henry Kosgey, and Pentagon member Joseph Nyagah, Raila asked why PNU had sent representatives to the talks if its leader still insisted ODM should go to court. “Is he (Kibaki) going to be bound by the resolutions passed (by the mediation team)?” he asked.

Separately, COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli took issue with the President for insisting that ODM should seek legal redress if it felt aggrieved, and threatened that COTU would stop all its engagements with the Government if a solution to the political impasse was not found by February 16. "COTU will call a delegates meeting on March 15 or 16, where workers will take over even if they don’t have guns," he said.

Atwoli also took a swipe at the President for failing to ensure security for all Kenyans.