Raila to secure release of Gbagbo

By Anderson OjwangPrime Minister Raila Odinga is expected to make another peace negotiation trip to Ivory Coast in a bid to secure the release of former President Laurent Gbagbo.
Raila who was the African Union-appointed peace mediator in Ivory Coast said he would head back to seek amnesty for the deposed leader.
He said it would be important to allow Gbagbo to go into exile to a country of his choice instead of prosecuting him as this would accord unnecessary sympathy.
"My first verdict was to use force to remove him when he declined our proposal, but now I propose that he be granted amnesty and be allowed to go into exile to allow peace and reconciliation to take root in Ivory Coast," Rail said.
NegotiationSpeaking at ODM office in Kisumu, Raila said during his negotiation with Gbagbo and President Alassane Ouattara, the former president rejected his proposal and wrote a letter that he (Raila) was not welcome in Ivory Coast.
"I gave him the proposal that Ouattara had agreed to accommodate between 25-35 per cent of his people in his government and he was only to accept defeat and cede power. This he rejected and he had to be flushed out to allow democracy to prevail," he said.
Raila said after he completed his negotiation report to AU which also held a similar position, it did not come as surprise when Gbagbo was finally captured by forces of the UN-recognised president.
However, Raila critics mainly from PNU dismissed his mediation efforts and accused him of failing to deliver a compromise.
Gbagbo and his family were arrested last month after forces loyal to Ouattara raided his presidential palace.
Last week, one of Ivory Coast’s most charismatic commanders and serial coup-plotters, Ibrahim Coulibaly who was viewed as a threat to the new government was killed.
The government said he had missed three separate meetings to discuss disarming his forces after a personal appeal on State television from President Ouattara, who he had once served as a bodyguard.