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Kufuor was in Kenya "to have a cup of tea" -Official

Kufuor@kenya 01.08

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 Source: Meera Selva for Guardian

Jilted John Kufuor

With the failure of the African Union mediation, the prospects for any settlement of the disputed Kenyan election look bleak

It's a pretty bad snub.

Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki and his vociferous opponent Raila Odinga have not been able to agree on anything for a long time. But when John Kufuor, chairman of the African Union, flew in to mediate between the two men, they both spoke as one dismissing him and the importance of his mission.

Kibaki's local spokesman told the local media that Kufuor had left his presidential office in Ghana and flew to Nairobi "to have a cup of tea".

Odinga for his part refused to work with Kufuor in negotiating with Kibaki because he was "not a credible international mediator". Meera Selva

This could well be the death knell of the African Union. The body evolved from the looser Organisation of African Unity to find "African solutions for African problems". Its philosophy is that African negotiations take place at a different pace and in a different style to western talks, and so African leaders should help each other resolve conflicts in their respective countries. Its first ambitious project, to broker peace talks between warring parties in Darfur in 2005, ended in disaster after rebel groups squabbled with one another. Even its modest peacekeeping mission in Darfur has just been handed over to the UN. In that instance, however, the Sudanese government, never an enthusiast of the African Union, was partly to blame for the organisation's failure.

But Kenya was one of the key supporters of the African Union, and a champion of its peer-review system whereby African leaders were to help each other achieve better governance and democracy. The fact that neither Kibaki nor Odinga feel obliged to treat Kufuor with any respect shows what little support the AU actually commands.

So what now? Desmond Tutu has already flown in to try and bang heads together. Now, Kofi Annan is about to have a go. With each failed mediation attempt, Kibaki entrenches himself in office a little further. He has already been sworn in and appointed a cabinet. He will soon start handing out sweeteners to key constituencies to buy their support, and doling out lucrative contracts to his most important supporters.

There is little the opposition can do in the face of this mulish behaviour. It has called for three days of mass rallies next week, but its last attempts to organise street protests fell flat as people stayed away for fear of violence. Odinga has called for sanctions on Kenya. A full-blown economic shutdown would harm the Kenyan people, who are simply trying to hold down jobs and get through this awful time, but European countries can certainly reassess the budgetary support and developmental aid given to Kenya. There seems no easy way out of this.



Jilted John Kufuor

With the failure of the African Union mediation, the prospects for any settlement of the disputed Kenyan election look bleak

It's a pretty bad snub.

Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki and his vociferous opponent Raila Odinga have not been able to agree on anything for a long time. But when John Kufuor, chairman of the African Union, flew in to mediate between the two men, they both spoke as one dismissing him and the importance of his mission.

Kibaki's local spokesman told the local media that Kufuor had left his presidential office in Ghana and flew to Nairobi "to have a cup of tea".

Odinga for his part refused to work with Kufuor in negotiating with Kibaki because he was "not a credible international mediator". Meera Selva

This could well be the death knell of the African Union. The body evolved from the looser Organisation of African Unity to find "African solutions for African problems". Its philosophy is that African negotiations take place at a different pace and in a different style to western talks, and so African leaders should help each other resolve conflicts in their respective countries. Its first ambitious project, to broker peace talks between warring parties in Darfur in 2005, ended in disaster after rebel groups squabbled with one another. Even its modest peacekeeping mission in Darfur has just been handed over to the UN. In that instance, however, the Sudanese government, never an enthusiast of the African Union, was partly to blame for the organisation's failure.

But Kenya was one of the key supporters of the African Union, and a champion of its peer-review system whereby African leaders were to help each other achieve better governance and democracy. The fact that neither Kibaki nor Odinga feel obliged to treat Kufuor with any respect shows what little support the AU actually commands.

So what now? Desmond Tutu has already flown in to try and bang heads together. Now, Kofi Annan is about to have a go. With each failed mediation attempt, Kibaki entrenches himself in office a little further. He has already been sworn in and appointed a cabinet. He will soon start handing out sweeteners to key constituencies to buy their support, and doling out lucrative contracts to his most important supporters.

There is little the opposition can do in the face of this mulish behaviour. It has called for three days of mass rallies next week, but its last attempts to organise street protests fell flat as people stayed away for fear of violence. Odinga has called for sanctions on Kenya. A full-blown economic shutdown would harm the Kenyan people, who are simply trying to hold down jobs and get through this awful time, but European countries can certainly reassess the budgetary support and developmental aid given to Kenya. There seems no easy way out of this.



Source: Meera Selva for Guardian
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