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Kenya: Agenda Four Can Be Settled in Two Weeks
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The Nation (Nairobi)
27 April 2008
Posted to the web 28 April 2008
Dave Opiyo
Nairobi
The National Dialogue and Reconciliation team is expected to conclude discussions on agenda four - the long-term solutions to the problems facing the country - in the next two weeks.
The co-chair of the talks, Nigerian diplomat Oluyemi Adeniji, however says this will depend on the seriousness of the negotiating teams, whose members have to remain focused if the talks are to succeed.
The talks have been derailed several times for lack of quorum, raising fears that the negotiators might have lost momentum in their quest for cracking agenda four.
There have been suggestions that the negotiators should give their posts to other individuals who have fewer responsibilities to ensure that the talks go on uninterrupted.
Suspended twice
Last week, the talks were suspended twice to enable the negotiators, who are all Cabinet ministers, to attend state functions. On Tuesday, the negotiators attended a meeting with Rift Valley MPs to discuss the resettlement of the internally displaced.
The meeting was chaired by the president and attended by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka.
The talks were to resume on Thursday but this coincided with President Kibaki and Mr Odinga's peace tour of the Rift Valley that some negotiators attended.
Legal reforms
Agenda four considers the constitutional, institutional and legal reforms the country requires. This includes looking at how Parliament's operations can be improved, how the police can better serve society, improving public services and ensuring good management of public finances.
It also looks at how to ensure sustainable peace, address poverty, deal with the inequitable access to opportunity, correct regional imbalances and tackle unemployment particularly among youth.
Consolidating national cohesion, promoting transparency and accountability in the affairs of government, and fighting corruption will also be discussed under agenda four.
The Party of National Unity is represented in the talks by ministers Martha Karua, Sam Ongeri, Moses Wetang'ula and Mutula Kilonzo, while ODM is represented by ministers William Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, Sally Kosgey and James Orengo.
Mr Adeniji agrees that there seems to be an inertia in the way the talk were being conducted. "I understand that some of the newly appointed ministers don't even have offices. We have to give them time to settle first before we continue engaging them," he said.
Following the signing of the peace deal that paved the way for the coalition government, Mr Adeniji warned Kenyans not to expect the talks to proceed with the same steam they had began with.
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He however added that the country should not be content with only the current political settlement and should instead strive to resolve all the grievances that triggered the post-election violence.
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