Friday, March 4, 2011

Cables: Kibaki blamed MP for polls violence

Some 1,333 were killed and more than 600,000 displaced after Kenya's 2007 presidential elections degenerated into an orgy of ethnic cleansing and revenge massacres. Photo/FILE
Some 1,333 were killed and more than 600,000 displaced after Kenya's 2007 presidential elections degenerated into an orgy of ethnic cleansing and revenge massacres. Photo/FILE 
By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Thursday, March 3 2011 at 22:46

President Kibaki blamed a Rift Valley MP for the violence after the 2007 elections, leaked US cables have revealed.
He was also not ready to include Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the MP in one government after the hotly contested elections.
These are some observations and conditions President Kibaki placed on the table in a meeting with US envoy Michael Ranneberger on January 21, 2008 — a day before former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan jetted into the country on his mediation mission.
Mr Ranneberger had held similar meetings with Mr Odinga (on January 18) and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka on January 10, 2008.
In the latest cable on Kenya by spy website Wikileaks, President Kibaki absolved his then political nemesis, Mr Odinga from any role in the violence and laid it at the feet of the MP.
“He (President Kibaki) did not blame Mr Odinga for this, saying there are forces beyond his control. He said the MP, one of the members of ODM, is largely responsible for continuing violence in Rift Valley,” the envoy said according to the cable.
President Kibaki, the cable says, was categorical the violence had to be stopped before any meaningful talks between him and Mr Odinga could take place.
He urged the envoy to convince Mr Odinga to come out publicly to denounce the violence.
“Mr Odinga must help restore normalcy,” President Kibaki is quoted saying in the cable, as he agreed to meet the PM in the presence of Mr Annan.
The one-on-one talks between the two rivals were meant to start the process of a political compromise to end the killings. President Kibaki, while agreeing to hold the talks, expressed doubts that Mr Odinga will agree to anything ‘reasonable’.
He cited the refusal by the ODM leader to meet the then African Union chairman John Kufuor who had come in to help bring them together.
One of the conditions was his reluctance to include Mr Odinga and the MP in any inclusive government he was to form.
“I cannot have Mr Odinga in the government. It is impossible to work with him. Some of his people could come into government, but not him,” he is quoted in the cable saying. When pushed to accept to share power with Mr Odinga, he shot back:
“We effectively already have power-sharing, with the ODM controlling Parliament.”
President Kibaki also refused to create the position of an executive PM, arguing that it was one of Mr Odinga’s wishes yet Kenya was not ready for such a post.
“I know this is what Mr Odinga wants, but it is not appropriate for Kenya,” he is quoted saying.
President Kibaki also poured out the pain he underwent when ODM MPs directed salvos at him during the first sitting of Parliament.

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