Kenya expects to end political crisis on Friday

 

 

A political deal to end Kenya’s deadly post-election crisis is expected by Friday as the two sides have “largely agreed” on a new government structure, officials said on Thursday.

 

“I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel,” former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is mediating the talks, said in a statement.

 

The December 27 election, which foreign and local observers say was rigged, returned President Mwai Kibaki to power for a second five-year term after opposition leader Raila Odinga’s lead evaporated overnight. The controversy has stirred up grievances over land and poverty that have bedeviled Kenya since independence in 1963.

 

More than 1,000 people have been killed in weeks of violence.

 

Mutula Kilonzo, a top government negotiator, said the two sides will “finish work, particularly on Agenda 3, by tomorrow.” Agenda 3 refers to resolving the political crisis stemming from the election.

 

According to a statement from Annan’s office, the two sides “outlined a joint proposal, that had been largely agreed, on the governance structure.” The two sides will resume talks on Friday.

 

Kenya’s opposition on Wednesday had threatened mass protests unless serious work to put power-sharing into the constitution starts within a week – the latest sign the country remains delicately balanced on the edge of violence despite weeks of peace talks.  (AP)