State House claims Annan failed to book appointment

By Oscar Obonyo

President Kibaki did not deliberately snub Dr Kofi Annan, State House claims the former United Nations head failed to secure an appointment.

The clarification came amid speculation that the President was unhappy with criticism leveled at him in Annan’s recently published memoir, titled Interventions: A Life In War And Peace. The book includes a chapter on the 2008 crisis Annan helped resolve that paints Kibaki in unflattering light.

Remarks by the former UN boss about two presidential aspirants with cases at The Hague also drew fire from one of them, who accused the Ghanaian of undermining his bid. On Thursday, Annan warned that Kenya’s ties with the international community might be strained if Uhuru or Eldoret North MP William Ruto were president. The two face trial at the International Criminal Court in April next year over crimes against humanity committed in 2007.

Head of the Presidential Press Service Isaiah Kabira says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to “firm up” a tentatively scheduled appointment for Annan and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa to meet the president. Efforts to fit in a meeting at the last minute failed due to the president’s busy schedule. Dr Annan ended his three-day visit to support preparations for next year’s General Election on Thursday.

The clarification came as TNA leader Uhuru Kenyatta attacked the former mediator for allegedly undermining his presidential bid. Uhuru said Annan has no authority to determine who should vie for elective office in Kenya.

“There were some tourists here in the country,” Uhuru said, in a veiled reference to Annan and Mkapa. “We like tourists but it’s not for everybody who has nowhere else to go to come to Kenya and purport to speak on behalf of the people of Kenya. We learnt our lessons (from the 2007 crisis) and we have a new Constitution.”

Uhuru added that no African country has opposed his presidential bid. “I am not asking to be elected president of the United States or Germany,” he said. “I want to contest for the presidency of Kenya. If some people feel they don’t want to work with me, so be it. There are many friends across the globe (I can work with). As long as Africa is fine, that’s all. I have not heard any of our neighbours raise concerns about my candidature.”

Kibaki’s indifference

Dr Annan’s memoir, released in September, includes a chapter that criticises President Kibaki’s apparent indifference and rigidity during the 2007 crisis. ODM leader Raila Odinga is slammed for exhibiting a lack of urgency in addressing the crisis.

In the book, written by Nader Mousavizadeh, Annan reveals several behind-the-scenes incidents previously kept secret. He claims Kibaki invited Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to Kenya to scuttle plans to begin negotiations. Museveni arrived in the country unexpectedly on the same day members of the so-called Panel of Eminent African Personalities officially began their mission on January 22. “PNU was against any internationalisation of the election dispute,” Annan says in his memoir. “They held power and did not want to change the status quo. So they were trying to bring in a negotiator who would dance to their tune.” Museveni called on the chief negotiator at the Serena Hotel moments after he arrived and quickly told Annan he had an answer to Kenya’s mess. He said both the Government and ODM were willing to work with the plan.

”It was based on ODM’s first accepting the results of the elections,” Annan recalls. “(Museveni) then asked me to come to State House, the residence of the President, to meet and discuss the plan. I had seen too many ploys in my career to be caught by this. It seemed to me that Museveni and Kibaki fancied a scheme that demanded that all accept the election result, and to publicly spin my visit as endorsement of this plan. I made my excuses that I still had to call all the parties before I could make any visits. When I called (Raila) Odinga, my suspicions were confirmed,” he says. The ODM leader flatly rejected Museveni as a mediator, claiming he was biased toward Kibaki. Further they had not been consulted on the matter. The Museveni initiative accordingly ended there, and he left two days later.

These and other revelations were made public only last month ahead of the visit to assess Kenya’s preparedness ahead of next year’s General Elections. Annan and Mkapa met with the Prime Minister and the Speaker of National Assembly but failed to secure an audience with the President. Some have speculated that State House may have been irked by the portrayal of the President in Annan’s book. PPS boss Kabira denies this.

“Appointments of foreign dignitaries for His Excellency are secured through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Kabira explained. “His Excellency always honours meetings that are firmed up.” The PPS head further clarified that the President had chaired a lengthy Cabinet meeting on the material day. Noting that the said meeting passed a record 14 Bills, the President’s aide wonders why focus was now being directed elsewhere and not this key undertaking.