Annan urges justice for Kenya chaos victims

The two-day conference to review the progress of reforms in Kenya kicked off in Nairobi on Thursday with calls that government ensures post election violence victims get justice.

Former UN secretary general and chairman of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities Kofi Annan urged Kenya to seek justice for the crimes committed during the chaos.

Mr Annan also urged the government to ensure that witnesses of the post-poll chaos and especially who will be involved in The Hague process are protected.

“We must understand that no single community or group is being targeted. It's about bringing individuals to account for crimes they committed and ensuring that victims receive justice,” said Mr Annan.

He noted that the ICC was the court of last resort and Kenya should seek a local mechanism to ensure justice for the victims.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, while assuring that the government was committed to the ICC process, also said that he believes that the stolen election was the trigger of the violence.

“The violence was triggered by the dissatisfaction with the conduct of the election and this is in my opinion what made people rise up and protest. Let us therefore not lose sight of what triggered the violence,” Mr Odinga said.

Mr Annan also said that though progress on reforms had been made, Kenyans and the international community should remain vigilant

His sentiments were shared by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who expressed confidence that the country was moving in the right direction and would succeed in avoiding a repeat of the post-election violence.

The conference, being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nairobi’s Upper Hill, has brought together participants from within and outside Kenya.

Mr Odinga said that President Kibaki had sent his apologies because he was attending the East Africa Community summit in Arusha, Tanzania.

In his opening remarks, Mr Annan hailed President Kibaki and Mr Odinga for their continued “cooperation and consultation” in decision-making. He, however, said that there was need to ensure that this trickles down to the rest of the government including Parliament.

“There is an urgent need to see this spirit of co-operation continue and expanded across the Coalition Government and Parliament to consolidate the gains of the new Constitution and to accelerate the broader reform agenda,” said Mr Annan.

His comments came as the Executive and Parliament try to break an impasse caused by  a dispute on how new 80 constituencies were created by the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission.

“Your oversight role is critical, but must not outweigh your responsibility to keep the process on track and moving forward as a cohesive whole,” Mr Annan told Parliament.

Mr Annan also warned that the country must move fast with the reforms and not allow the 2012 election campaign to slow down the process.

“The campaigns for the next General Elections will make progress harder and so the next few months are critical,” said Mr Annan.

The PM assured that the government was keen at implementing the new Constitution adding that though there were obstacles it was necessary for the country to put in place the new order.

Mr Odinga outlined the progress the country has made but said that this was but just the beginning. He noted that the country must come together and ensure that the necessary changes are put in place.

“With all these achievements come responsibility. Now the hard part of implementation is on. Of course we will face challenges. However, I assure you that as leaders we are doing everything possible to have the constitution fully and quickly implemented,” said Mr Odinga.

Just before the lunch break, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is scheduled to address the conference on the progress of the ongoing investigations to nail perpetrators of the violence that left 1,133 people dead and 650,000 uprooted from their homes.