PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
26 February 2008
No Excuse for Further Delay in Kenya, Rice Says
Future of U.S. ties may hang on resolving political crisis
Washington -- Amid continued deadlock and the threat of renewed violence in Kenya, the United States is joining the international community and the Kenyan people in urging President Mwai Kibaki and his political rival Raila Odinga to honor their pledge to conclude a power-sharing agreement.
“I am disappointed by the failure of leadership necessary to resolve all the remaining issues,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said February 26. “There can be no excuse for further delay. There can also be no excuse for violence, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
More than 1,000 Kenyans have been killed in factional violence since a contested December 2007 election, and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been mediating between the parties for more than a month.
Rice’s statement came in the wake of Annan’s February 26 announcement that he will be suspending talks between government and opposition representatives in favor of direct talks with Kibaki and Odinga in hopes of making progress and preventing renewed violence.
“It's important that the leaders themselves take charge,” Annan said in Nairobi, Kenya. “This is not about the fortunes of political parties or individuals. This is about Kenya and the region.”
While traveling with President Bush in the region, Rice stopped in Kenya February 18 to meet with Annan and the two Kenyan leaders, urging them to reach a political compromise desperately needed as Kenyans rebuild, to reconcile and to carry out institutional reforms.
“I want to emphasize that the future of our relationship with both sides and their legitimacy hinges on their cooperation to achieve this political solution,” Rice said.
“We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps,” Rice said. “We will also exert leadership with the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and others to ensure that the political solution the Kenyan people deserve is achieved.”
The full text of Rice’s statement is available on America.gov.
