Annan jets in for consultations on Geneva invitation

By Maseme Machuka

Chief mediator Kofi Annan made a surprise trip in what close associates say was to clarify his invitation of President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to Geneva later this month.

Annan arrived yesterday aboard a Tanzanian airline at 4.13pm and was received by Foreign Affairs Assistant Minister Richard Onyonka.

He was then driven straight to Serena Hotel where he was expected to spend the night.

A source close to the trip said the two principals were set to meet him to discuss the growing rift in Government and the hue and cry over the National Reconciliation and Peace Accord.

"He is concerned at the grumbling that arose as a result of the invite and would want to use this time to clarify this issue," said our source. Annan says the country must do all it can to prevent a repeat of last year’s chaos. Last week, the Party of National Unity (PNU) and ODM-Kenya asked President Kibaki not to attend the meeting, saying a former UN chief should not invite the President to Geneva.

Others had cited the invite as an affront to the country’s sovereignty.

Leading the pack, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka confirmed Kibaki would not be heading to Geneva, adding Annan had no powers to summon a sitting head of State.

The former UN secretary-general, who left Tanzania where he was addressing a World Bank forum in his capacity as the president of the Global Humanitarian Forum, is concerned at the sad turn of events, saying if not checked may get out of hand and put the country in bad shape again.

Learn lessons

According to a statement sent to newsrooms on the Geneva meeting early in the week, the forum has been called to assess the mediation and implementation of the National Accord, one year on, and will draw lessons that can be shared with Africa and the rest of the world.

The March 30 and 31 meeting will bring together key actors who participated in the mediation effort early last year, as well as international and civil society representatives, academics, analysts and journalists who were observers of the events that led to the National Accord.

But the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Dennis Onyango said he was not aware of any meeting between Annan and the PM, adding that, "unless it is private but anything official I am not aware of."

The Geneva meeting will assess the mediation and implementation of the National Accord agreements one year on, while also studying the way the crisis was addressed so that key lessons may be drawn to guide responses to similar situations, both in Africa and the wider world in the future."

No renegotiations

While in Tanzania, Annan had clarified the Geneva meeting was not a renegotiation of the accord as it has been claimed.

Annan said there would be no renegotiating of the document that created power sharing between Kibaki and Raila after the disputed 2007 presidential election.

"I read about renegotiations in the newspapers but nobody has invited me to do the work," Annan told a news conference at the Bank of Tanzania Conference Centre in Dar es Salaam.

Annan challenged leaders to put aside their ambitions for 2012 poll, saying the country should now focus on reforms, tackle corruption and enhance transparency in order to restore people’s trust.

He, however expressed confidence that the coalition would hold, and fulfil its mandate, despite numerous difficulties on the way.