Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “What will happen next? This is what everyone wants to know,” said a local Church source from Nairobi to Agenzia Fides, after talks between the government and the opposition were suspended. On February 26, the international mediator, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, declared that, “seeing how the talks were proceeding and how the mediators confronted one another, I found it necessary to suspend negotiation talks,” adding that Odinga and Kibaki “have to assume their responsibilities and become directly engaged in these talks.”
Annan’s decision has come as a result of the hostile climate that has been created during the talks. The Kenyan newspapers revealed that some of the talks took place amidst insults and anger. Last week, a preliminary agreement had been reached on the creation of a seat as Prime Minister for Odinga. The conversations this week were going to be decisive in the finalizing of details in the division of powers between the two leaders, however they have come to a halt because, as Fides’ source says, “neither one wants to make a compromise on his positions yet.”
“The people live in constant expectation to see what will happen next. Meanwhile, life goes on, at least in Nairobi: the children go to school and the people continue working, but tensions remain high,” our source explained. “There is an awareness that we are living crucial moments, that Kenya could explode at any given moment. The daily paper, ‘The Nation’ published an investigation on the spread of armed gangs within the ethnic groups. Everyone is taking up arms. The funds for purchasing arms comes from the dealers, the politicians, and the influential people. There are organized groups, like the Mungiki, and there are also other more sporadic groups. In any case, there is truly an explosive situation being created.” According to the article in “The Nation,” various parts of the Rift Valley are organizing militias for “self-defense.”
The British press is asking itself it the Kenyan army may be Kenya’s last hope for maintaining its integrity. “The Kenyan army is a professional army that has never meddled in the internal political affairs of the country,” Fides’ source claims. “It has participated in important peace-keeping missions for the UN in Africa and in Bosnia and East Timor, as well. It has been trained by the English and NATO. In spite of all this, however, if a civil war breaks out, there is also the risk that the army divides according to ethnic backgrounds. With this in mind, a foreign intervention may be another option. Some years ago, people even said that if the English army would have wanted to, it could have taken control of Kenya’s key points, in a matter of a few hours. I do not know if this is possible, especially for the commitments that Great Britain has in other parts of the world, but it is certain that British armed forces continue to maintain a series of important military training bases in Kenya.” “The only solution should come from the Kenyans: the local politicians should assume their responsibilities and put an end to the self-destructive path that the country is on. It’s about time that they began thinking in terms of general public interests,” our source concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 27/2/2008 righe 41, parole 545)
