Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan will go to Kenya on Tuesday to help mediate in the country’s violent political crisis, the UN said on Friday.
A statement said that Annan, who had called off a planned trip last Tuesday after contracting flu, ”is making a good recovery”.
Annan was named to head a panel of senior African political figures to try to bring together Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who disputes Kibaki’s victory in December 27 elections.
Political and tribal violence since the contested poll has claimed hundreds lives and the toll rose on Friday as police cracked down on opposition protests in the capital, Nairobi, and the port of Mombasa, saying they had shot five demonstrators.
At least 19 other Kenyans were killed in poll-related violence over the past two days, including four in overnight clashes in the Narok district, north-west of the capital.
Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said it was ending three days of street protests and rallies planned from Wednesday because civilians were paying too heavy a price.
”Today [Friday] is the last day of demonstrations. We have seen a lot of suffering caused by reckless police action against peaceful protestors,” ODM spokesperson Salim Lone said.
Graca Machel, the wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa preceded Annan to Kenya, arriving in the East African country on Thursday.
They met Odinga on Friday and he told reporters that the ODM had given the pair ”our stand as a party and what we want. They said they will convey it to the other side and get us a feedback later today [Friday]”. — AFP
