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Kenya: Tour of Rift Valley Key to Peace, Says Premier
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 23 April 2008
David Ohito
Nairobi
The President and Prime Minister's visit to the Rift Valley cannot be avoided, Mr Raila Odinga has said.
Raila absolved President Kibaki from blame over today's tour of the province that bore the brunt of post-election crisis, saying a humanitarian crisis was looming and the Head of State and himself would not sit back and watch.
"Now that the coalition Government is up and running, it is important it addresses post-election violence, particularly the plight of displaced people, reconciliation and reconstruction," Raila said.
He urged leaders and residents of the region not to misconstrue the visit as a forceful attempt to return the displaced people to the farms from where they were uprooted.
"The visit is to address a humanitarian crisis that is getting worse and to assess the intervention by Government," Raila said.
Today, President Kibaki and Raila begin a three-day tour of the Rift Valley Province.
Speaking after meeting US Ambassador, Mr Michael Ranneberger, the Prime Minister said: "This will begin part of the challenge that shall require our collective will as a nation and the helping hands of friends like the US."
He pointed out that the planting season had passed in many parts of the Rift Valley and only 30 per cent of the land had been prepared.
"The looming food shortage in Kenya, coupled with the global food crisis, poses a unique challenge to the Government," Raila said.
The PM and President Kibaki will seek to address a land reform policy that would sort out problems of inequity and poverty.
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"Pressure and competition for land has resulted, far too often, in tribal clashes and loss of life and was magnified during the post-election crisis. If not managed well, it could tear the country apart," Raila said.
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