Raila Odinga

A government-appointed panel this week unveiled a draft constitution that is part of wide-ranging efforts to avoid a repeat of political violence that saw more than 1,000 people killed after Kenya's December 2007 presidential elections. The proposed constitution could help eliminate political parties based on ethnicity, a step that would likely reduce the chances of future election violence, a political analyst said. The proposed charter will now go through several stages that could see Kenyans vote on a referendum next year for the second time in five years. The 2005 referendum on a previous draft constitution was seen as a precursor to the ethnic ... Read Full Story

Felicien Kabuga, who is accused of financing the 1994 Rwandan genocide and is one of the most wanted men in Africa, is currently in Kenya, a senior US official said here Monday. "Felicien Kabuga has received refuge in Kenya. I have seen pictures of him in Kenyan neighbourhoods," US Ambassador for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp told reporters in Nairobi. "Even arriving last night I received fresh information of his presence in Kenya," he added, referring to the businessman, who has been on the run for 15 years and has a five-million-dollar bounty on his head. In addition to charges of bankrolling the killings, ... Read Full Story

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya said on Wednesday it would work to restore tree cover and explore renewable energy options as its contribution to combating climate change ahead of next month's environmental summit in Copenhagen. Part of the effort will include a plan to save the Mau forest, one of the few remaining in the east African country, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said. "In Kenya, we are not waiting for Copenhagen for help," he told a conference. He said forests had covered 12 percent of Kenya 40 years ago, but the figure had been slashed to 1.7 percent. "Through acts of unbridled greed, irresponsibility, mismanagement ... Read Full Story

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor will request that an investigation be opened into suspected crimes against humanity committed during Kenya's post-election violence in 2008. Luis Moreno-Ocampo met President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday and the prosecutor's decision means that the Kenyan leaders decided against referring the case themselves to the court in The Hague. Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference he would ask ICC pre-trial judges in December to let him start an investigation, the route he has to follow if a government chooses not to refer suspected crimes committed in its country to The Hague. Ethnic ... Read Full Story

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Thursday he would ask the court's judges in December to order a probe into Kenya's post-poll violence which claimed some 1,500 lives. At the start of a two-day visit, Moreno-Ocampo held talks with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on trying the suspects in Kenya's worst post-independence unrest. "I consider the crimes committed in Kenya are crimes against humanity. Therefore the gravity is there. Therefore I should proceed," he told reporters after the meeting. "So I informed them (that) in December I will request the judges of the International Criminal Court to order an ... Read Full Story