Wilson Johwa
17 January 2008
Johannesburg — SA's response to the crisis in Kenya would be guided by the findings of the Africa Forum mediation team headed by former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday.
He said SA believed it was time to put pressure on Kenya's political leaders to find a solution to the country's problems.
"Kenyans must understand that finding a solution is not only in the interest of Kenya -- it is in the interest of Africa as a whole and failure to do this must mean that the leadership is not looking beyond very narrow interests," Pahad said at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The Africa Forum is an informal network of former African heads of state and government meant to support the African Union (AU) in achieving its objectives.
Also making up the Africa Forum's Nairobi mission last week were former presidents Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Quett Masire of Botswana and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania.
"They have completed the mission and I think the announcement now is something that we'll be guided by, and I assume the initiative of (former United Nations secretary-general) Kofi Annan and Graca Machel will also be guided by what the Africa Forum mission has said," said Pahad.
Among the forum's findings was that post-election violence had worsened ethnic and social polarisation, and undermined national unity and efforts to consolidate democracy in Kenya.
Since the outbreak of violence after Kenya's December 27 general election, several mediation missions have been to Nairobi.
Besides the All Africa Conference of Churches mission, which Archbishop Desmond Tutu was part of, there was also an intervention by US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Jendayi Frazer, and the expected Annan initiative.
Annan's arrival in Nairobi this week was delayed by "severe flu". His presence in Kenya would have coincided with the first day of a planned three-day mass protest organised by the opposition Orange Democratic Movement.
Annan's mission was to follow a visit by Ghanaian President and African Union chairman John Kufour, who made little headway when he met Kenya's two contending parties last week.
"There is no meeting of minds at the moment," Pahad said. "The present president and his cabinet have rejected any new election. They are talking of an interim government of national unity, whereas the opposition have rejected any new formula that does not emerge from direct negotiations." Pahad warned that failure to find a quick solution would add to notions of Afro-pessimism abroad. With Reuters
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
