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Mon, 29 Jan 2008 04:27:00 GMT

posted by ariosetyo
Last Updated: Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 04:17 GMT

Bush addresses US economy fears President Bush uses his last regular State of the Union address to try to shore up US economic confidence. Excerpts: State of Union address What is State of Union speech? Bush focuses on US finances

Kenyan opposition MP 'shot dead'
A Kenyan opposition MP is killed at his home in Nairobi as violence continues after disputed presidential polls.

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The planned peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region will take most of 2008 to deploy fully, the UN says.

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African models, designers promote peace in Kenya

Sun, 26 May 2008 09:59:05 GMT

posted by milacurt
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Scores of top African designers and models held a show in Nairobi National Park at the weekend to raise money for victims of Kenya's post-election violence and show a different face to their continent.

The "Fashion for Peace" event drew mainly West and East African models onto a catwalk in a marquee under the moonlight on savannah usually known for its lions and rhinos.

"Fashion for Peace will not change the world, although it does aim at changing people's negative perceptions of Kenya and Africa in other countries," organizers said in a statement.

"And it is a call for peace."

Proceeds from the show were to go to some of the roughly 300,000 Kenyans uprooted from their homes in fighting after a disputed December election. More than 1,300 people died.

Kenyan former model and fashion commentator Waridi Schrobsdroff took to the stage in white for peace.

"Kenyans can really make things happen when they put their hands together," she told Reuters before the show started. After cocktails at sunset on Saturday, the catwalk shows took place during a gala dinner for about 1,000 guests.

For some, the show of opulence grated.

"I don't know how this will connect to someone who lives down in the slums," said young Kenyan musician Benson Mutua, sipping a glass of champagne next to his Danish wife.

"But if the money accumulated from the people who attended the fashion is taken to the people in the slums, and something relating to peace is done, then it's ok."

Most victims of the violence in January and February were poor Kenyans, living in Nairobi slums -- some just a couple of kilometers from the park -- and impoverished rural areas.

Most people at the show were delighted that a positive image of Kenya was being shown again at last.

"It is great that fashion can be held in the name of peace. Fashion is always a good thing that brings people together and this show has really demonstrated that," said model Lisa Pitkin.

"The fact international designers came here is a good sign, definitely a move forward from where we were two months ago."

Most models wore traditional African dress on the catwalk.

The two-hour show was one of a series of high-profile events -- including a photo-shoot by British businessmen in the Masai Mara game park -- intended to restore Kenya's image after one of the most traumatic episodes in its post-independence history.

Kenyans were horrified after the election when images of machete-wielding mobs and gun-toting policemen were beamed around the world, scaring off tourists and worrying investors.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ )

Update on Kenya Election

Wed, 28 Feb 2008 14:31:00 GMT

posted by enfrank

Youths in the Nairobi slum of Kibera, caught up in election violence, Credit:Julius Mwelu/IRIN

NAIROBI, Feb 27 2008 (IPS) - Political analyst Kwamchetsi Makhokha has warned that failure of talks to address Kenya's political crisis could prove explosive. The East African country is trying to resolve a disputed presidential election that has already cost more than 1,000 lives -- and displaced up to 600,000 people.

"It will not be machetes and arrows any more, but firearms. Intelligence reports show that people are seriously arming youths in readiness for war. The next phase will be total breakdown of law and order," he told IPS.

"We have seen this happen...Protagonists refuse to negotiate or sign a peace deal to solve a contentious political issue, or ignore gaping social problems...and then it blows up in your face," added Makhokha, who is based in the capital, Nairobi.

His comments come in the wake of talks being put on hold earlier this week.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has accused President Mwai Kibai of rigging the Dec. 27 poll to gain a second term in office, while international observers have also expressed reservations about the vote. The election sparked clashes, frequently along ethnic lines: Kibaki is a member of the Kikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe, while Odinga is a Luo. The Kikuyu are a dominant force in political and economic life, often to the ire of other ethnic groups.

Violence has now declined; but Makhokha's fears of renewed clashes are shared by many. Over the weekend, about 200 youths were arrested on a ranch in western Kenya -- an Odinga stronghold -- where they were reportedly undergoing military training with a view to protecting Kibaki supporters.

Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has been mediating in talks between the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) for over a month. However, on Tuesday Annan suspended talks, saying negotiators were simply "turning around in circles".

The two parties had been discussing a power-sharing government that would include the creation of a prime minister's post which Odinga looked set to occupy. Talks apparently foundered on various issues, including the extent of powers to be granted to a new head of government, and whether the president should have the authority to fire the prime minister.

The ODM is pressing for a powerful prime minister, against the wishes of the PNU. At present, the head of state in Kenya exercises considerable authority.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited Nairobi last week to throw her weight behind a joint government, reaffirmed the need for a negotiated settlement to the crisis, Tuesday.

"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," she noted, in a statement.

"We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps."

Certain reports have the PNU obstructing talks. The party has come under fire from political analyst Jacqueline Oduor: "The entire country has been on hold, waiting for peace and a way forward, but now there are people denying us this," she told IPS.

The European Union has also pledged action against those undermining the talks, or fomenting violence.

Accordingly, certain Kenyans could find themselves confronting sanctions such as travel bans, a hindrance for those who journey abroad and have their children educated in Western countries.

Kenya Post Election Crisis Solution?

Sun, 11 Feb 2008 19:44:00 GMT

posted by enfrank

Kikuyu men shout and gesture at Luo tribe members as they are evacuated by the police. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Karel Prinsloo

POLITICS-KENYA: Hopes of a Breakthrough in the Post-Election Crisis By Kwamboka Oyaro NAIROBI, Feb 11 (IPS) - Negotiations to bring an end to the political chaos in Kenya that was sparked by disputed presidential elections entered their third week, Monday, in the capital of Nairobi, amidst reports that an agreement may finally be in sight.

The talks, dubbed the ‘Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation’, are being chaired by former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan. Leading child rights activist Graca Machel and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa are assisting in the mediation between Mwai Kibaki, declared the winner of December’s poll, and his main opponent in the vote – Raila Odinga. Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) each have four representatives at the negotiations.

More than 1,000 people are said to have been killed and some 300,000 displaced in violence that broke out after the Dec. 27 elections, which Odinga claims were rigged. International observers have also expressed doubts over the credibility of the ballot.

Briefing the media Friday at the Serena Hotel where the talks are being held, Annan said negotiators had gone "far on the political issue, but wait for the details early next week."

It is understood that ODM representatives have dropped their insistence that Kibaki resign ahead of an electoral re-run, and that the PNU is no longer demanding that challenges to the election be pursued in court. The ODM had claimed that the courts would not make an impartial ruling on allegations surrounding the polls.

"Initially, our stand was that we won the elections and Kibaki did not, that he should resign and we be sworn in. But we are not static on that point. We are willing to yield," Odinga told journalists Thursday.

A power-sharing government may now be on the cards with Odinga becoming prime minister, a post that would have to be created for him as it not provided for in Kenya’s constitution.

Under ODM proposals, cabinet positions in a joint administration would be allocated in proportion to the number of parliamentary seats won by this party and the PNU, respectively. Following parliamentary elections, also held in December, the ODM currently holds 97 seats in Kenya’s 222-strong legislature, while the PNU holds 43.

The ODM is also calling for elections to be re-held in three to six months – a demand rejected by the PNU.

Alternatively, it has been suggested that Kibaki and Odinga might share the five-year presidential term, with Kibaki ruling for the first half of the term – and Odinga completing it. Annan will brief a special sitting of parliament Tuesday on the status of negotiations.

Failure to forge a way ahead would doubtless create further hardship for the country, where the prices of fuel and food have already increased by about 30 percent. In addition, the political turmoil has come at a cost to neighbouring states which export goods through Kenya, and depend on imports from this country.

President George Bush on Whirlwind Tour in Africa

Fri, 16 Feb 2008 14:52:00 GMT

posted by Onelove
President Bush hanging with the homeys in his natural milieu...... Not!

It was refreshing to see that President Bush decided to visit the continent of Africa before the end of his term in office. To his credit, he has tripled direct humanitarian and development aid to the world's most impoverished continent since taking office and has vowed to double that increased amount by 2010 to $9 billion. This is indeed noble of a man who has been shunned by black voters, myself included, in the United States. Four African nations--Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Uguanda--rank among the world's top 10 recipients in aid from the United States. This begs the question of why is it that we cannot curb the atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan, for example. Beyond increasing aid to Africa, Bush has met with nearly three dozen African heads of state during his six years in office.

Even as Bush defended an emphasis on the positive, he entered into one of Africa's most disturbing recent developments. December's presidential elections in Kenya unleashed weeks of ethnic violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands, a worrisome sign in a country typically regarded as one of Africa's most stable. This time around he will not visit Kenya, but has endorsed a power-sharing agreement to help resolve the dispute and he decided to send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region instead to deliver his view. My only question to this move is where has she been since this quagmire began? The violence from the rigged elections have been ongoing for quite a while. Oh, how could I forget--Kenya does not have black gold, oil that is. Secondly, isn't Bush slated to make a stop for three nights in Tanzania, Kenya's neighbor?

"The key is that the leaders hear from her firsthand U.S desires to see that there be no violence, that there be a power-sharing agreement that will help this nation resolve its difficulties," the president said. Convenient is all I can say to that! Media reports further stated that Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said the purpose of Rice's trip was to support former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is mediating the political talks. Bush does not need to go to Kenya, she said. "Right now, we don't want to supplant Kofi Annan's mediation. That is not the intention." You be the judge, but it seems to me like he did not want to go to Kenya in the first place. He doesn't want to accentuate the negatives on this trip, so to speak, is my opinion.

President Bush also talked about the worsening violence in Sudan's western Darfur region, which is now spilling over into escalating tensions with neighboring Chad, and said he "had a tough decision early on as to whether to send troops to Darfur." Once he decided not to, a decision he said was guided in part by recommendations from groups working in Darfur that he did not identify, Bush said "there's not many other avenues except for the United Nations and the peacekeeping forces." Funny, wasn't this the same thing the UN wanted to accomplish in Iraq with inspectors before military action was justified?