2 January 2008
Addis Ababa — The African Union (AU) Commission on Monday said diologue was the only solution to solve the violence that unfolded in Kenya following the declaration of incumbent presidednt Moi Kibaki as winner of the elections the oppsition says were rigged.
"The African Union Commission is seriously preoccupied with the recent happening in Kenya due to the presidential elections as well as the violence that followed the announcement of the results, "it said in a statement issued on Monday.
The Commission said it reiterates its attachment to democratic principles as stipulated in the Constitutive Act of the African Union and in the African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance, particularly, when it comes to free, fair and transparent elections, in conformity to the Declaration of the Union on the principles governing democratic elections in Africa.
It urged the parties concerned to resort to dialogue and consultation to resolve differences in a dialogue.
The commission also expressed its availability to help in the process.
UK British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the African Union and the Commonwealth on Tuesday to help reconcile political rivals in Kenya, to stop rioting which has killed 150 people, Reuters reported on Monday.
Acording to the report, a spokeswoman for Brown's office said he had spoken to Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who chairs the African Union, and to former Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, head of the Commonwealth observer mission to Kenya, to urge them to step in.
"They agreed on the urgent need to establish a process of reconciliation in Kenya facilitated by the Commonwealth and the African Union," the spokeswoman said.
Brown spoke on Monday to Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki over the disputed election.
"What I want to see is them coming together, I want to see talks and I want to see reconciliation and unity," Brown said. "I want to see the possibility explored where they can come together in government.
"But the first priority is that the violence is brought to an end. It is unacceptable that lives are being lost," he said.
The explosion of violence in one of Africa's most stable democracies and strongest economies has shocked the world and left Kenyans aghast as long-simmering tribal rivalries pitch communities against each other.
Leading local newspaper, the Daily Nation, feared Kenya was on "the verge of a complete melt-down".
Washington first congratulated Kibaki -- then switched that line to express "concerns about irregularities".
Britain, the European Union and others pointedly avoiding congratulating Kibaki, expressed concern, and called for reconciliation talks plus a probe into suspected voting irregularities from Thursday's ballot.
"The 2007 general elections have fallen short of key international and regional standards for democratic elections," the EU observer mission said in its formal assessment.
Police gave a death toll of 143. But local media gave figures of between 153 and 164, and Reuters reporters around the nation estimated about 150 dead, with that number sure to rise.
"Kenya, a nation of peace and civility, is now being regarded by the international community as a 'trouble-spot' and spoken of in the same breath as Pakistan," the Nation said.
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