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Kenyan rival camps hold talks on power-sharing

"This country has suffered; too much blood has been shed, families and property destroyed and the last thing we want to hear is about more killings."

The `Daily Nation' editorial

Kenyan rivals were to push ahead yesterday with talks on a new deal to share power and tackle root causes of the strife, a day after more than a dozen people were killed in the volatile Rift Valley region.

The negotiations were to focus on reforms to address historical injustices that entail electoral, institutional, constitutional and judicial issues, as well as land reforms at the heart of tribal unrest.

Other issues included measures to address poverty, unemployment, inequity and corruption and installing a more transparent government.

The negotiators, guided by Nigerian former foreign minister Oluyemi Adeniji, who replaced former UN secretary-general chief Kofi Annan, were expected to end the talks after laying a framework on the way forward.

"The major issues are really out of the way. We are confident that we will wind up the discussions ... tomorrow," government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said on Monday.

No key agreement was expected from this phase of talks. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition chief Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement last Thursday, signalling an end to two months of violence.

A separate panel is preparing a bill on the creation of the post of prime minister to be presented to parliament when it reconvenes tomorrow. The post is expected to be taken by Odinga.

The government lawmakers agreed on Monday to support the bill and entrench it in the Constitution; the opposition was expected to meet later yesterday to make a similar move.

Meanwhile, police vowed to take action after 15 people were killed in the the Rift Valley region on Monday, the first major violent act since Kibaki and Odinga signed a power-sharing accord.

"We are saddened by these unwarranted deaths of civilians who had just returned home from camps," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said.

"But our officers are currently combing the ground, looking for the attackers. Let them be warned that these acts of brutality must come to an end and they should expect to be hit and be hit very hard," Kiraithe said.

Kenyan newspapers pressed the government to take action on the attackers, suspected to be the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF), a militia group demanding nullification of a government settlement scheme in which they were displaced from their ancestral land, claiming the land was redistributed unfairly.

"This must stop. The government cannot allow this to continue ... The political crisis created room for criminals to cause mayhem under the guise of settling electoral scores. This may get worse unless urgent action is taken to rein in the militias," the Daily Nation said in an editorial.

"This country has suffered; too much blood has been shed, families and property destroyed and the last thing we want to hear is about more killings," the Nation said.
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