Ben Agina
17 January 2008
Nairobi — Fourteen development partners have warned that future funding will depend on the achievement of "a political situation that reflects the will of the people".
Under the Development Co-operation Group, the donors said it was clear that Kenyans were "deeply divided politically and it remains incumbent on the leadership of all political parties to agree on a lasting political settlement".
The Danish Ambassador, Mr Bo Jensen, the acting chair of the Development Co-operation Group, who issued the statement on behalf of other members, said: "We urge all parties to refrain from actions that undermine these attempts and call for efforts at dialogue to reach a settlement, the outcome of which meets the will of the Kenyan people."
The Group includes the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, the European Commission Delegation to Kenya, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Denmark.
"We are ready to lend support to a process that leads to a political settlement and reconciliation," said Jensen.
The international community, Jensen said, expressed grave concern over the political crisis following the disputed presidential election on December 27.
"The vote tallying process was flawed and cast doubt over the outcome of the presidential election," he said.
The group said if an acceptable solution were not found soon, there would be an adverse effect on the confidence in democratic institutions, investment, growth and poverty reduction. They condemned violence and intimidation and said there was need for respect for human rights.
The donors said the Kenya Joint Assistance Strategy, agreed between the Government and development partners, developed three financing plans to guide financial support and the choice of aid.
However, they warned that if the commitment of the Government to good governance, democracy, the rule of law and human rights weakened, donors would reconsider direct or sector budget support and give assistance through community organisations and the private sector.
Diplomatic warning
US Assistant Secretary for State for African Affairs, Dr Jendayi Frazer, said Kenyans had recognised that the post-election crisis had disclosed long-standing problems that cannot be ignored.
"We stand behind the statements of the US Assistant Secretary of State and EU presidency and support the African eminent persons' mission this week," said the Group.
Earlier in the week, the US fired a diplomatic warning shot to Kenya, saying it would no longer conduct "business as usual" if the political crisis persisted.
"The generally peaceful and orderly voting process and record voter turnout was a triumph for Kenyans, but serious flaws in vote tallying damaged the credibility of the process," Frazer said in a statement.
She said it was imperative that President Kibaki and ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga, acknowledge that there were irregularities in vote tallying.
The IMF has raised a red flag over the effects of the political standoff on the economy.
The Fund's Senior Resident Representative, Mr Scott Rogers, said the crisis has dealt a blow to one of Kenya's strong fundamentals - relative political stability.
He said this was likely to affect investor confidence. The IMF has downgraded its economic growth projections for the country from between six and eight per cent for this year to five and seven per cent.
It has warned that the new rates could only be achieved if the deadlock was resolved in the next two weeks.
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