Abdulsamad Ali And Amina Kibirige
4 March 2008
Nairobi — A new government could be in place in two weeks, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga has hinted.
"We will have a coalition government in the next two weeks," he said.
And, as an indication that the ball had started rolling in that direction, the Lang'ata MP, who is set to become prime minister, said that a joint parliamentary group meeting between his party and the Party of National Unity was imminent.
Harmonise relations
It is believed that the meeting, whose date he did not disclose, will seek ways to harmonise relations between the two parties that were pitted against each other in the December 27, 2007, General Election.
The results of the presidential poll announced by Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu were disputed by the ODM, leading to protests that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and about 300,000 displaced people countrywide.
Speaking in Mombasa yesterday as he prepared to leave for Nairobi after a short holiday with his family, the ODM leader said it was unfortunate the country had to go through what it did.
"What we witnessed in the recent past must be a lesson for us to unify the country," he said.
He said the two parties will seek to form a Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission to identify the root causes of the violence "and stamp it out once and for all."
Heal the wounds
Vowing he did not want to see bloodshed in Kenya again, Mr Odinga said the parties were duty-bound to heal the wounds among communities.
He said ODM and PNU would also harmonise their manifestoes so that the ideals that each party stood for could be realised.
Mr Odinga said it was a shame that so much blood had been lost.
He said Kenya was on the way to recovery and urged foreign countries that had imposed travel restrictions on their citizens to lift them.
He also appealed to tourists to return to the country.
"I have noticed how much devastation the industry has suffered after it had made a steady recovery in the past five years," the ODM leader said.
"The Government will now take decisive steps to revive the industry," he said.
Tourism promoters, he said, should think of strategies of selling Kenya in new markets.
Back in Nairobi, Mr Odinga said he does not foresee any problem in making the deal he signed with President Kibaki a reality as it is not like the failed Memorandum of Understanding in 2003.
"That was 2003 and this is 2008. We started a coalition before elections and now it is after elections and unique circumstances of democratic struggle," he said.
Mr Odinga said that Kenya's rejection of anti-democracy manoeuvres will help restore democracy and set a good example in Africa where a practical coalition government will be established for the benefit of over 30 million citizens.
Mr Odinga who was speaking to the press at Pentagon House after meeting former Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik called for trust, confidence-building and a programme of integration if the deal signed between him and President Kibaki is to succeed.
He said Kenya has set a record in Africa by resisting a miscarriage of democracy and its principles, leading to an agreement mediated by an international body of eminent personalities.
Mr Odinga said only a sustainable programme of trust and institutional building will ensure the internally displace people returned to their homes.
"Our two teams are working on the bills and frame works to be entrenched in the constitution and once the new government is formed, there will be no fear among the internally displaced people who have faced suspicion and hostility since 1991," he said.
He said the former Norwegian PM taught him his experience and how a coalition government is run because the Kenyan case was uniquely carved out following disputed presidential elections, post-elections violence, abuse of human rights, deaths and displacement of over 300,000 people.
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