US mediates Kenya crisis as opposition rejects govt offer

A woman waits for food aid brought by the Kenyan Red Cross (background) at the Mathare slum in Nairobi yesterday. A devastating health emergency looms in Kenya where an explosion of post-election violence has killed hundreds and displaced a quarter of a million others, British charity Merlin warned Sunday. Photo: AFP

The top US Africa envoy on Sunday pushed Kenyan leaders to resolve an electoral row that touched off an unprecedented wave of violence as the opposition rejected a government offer to join a unity cabinet.
More than 360 people died in violence linked to the December 27 poll and aid groups warned of a humanitarian crisis after the displacement of some 250,000 people, particularly in the west of the country and the capital's slums.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer shuttled between both camps in a bid to unblock the stalemate with South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu also taking part in the negotiations.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims President Mwai Kibaki rigged the election and has called for his resignation, has rejected an offer made by Kibaki to form a unity cabinet.
After meeting Frazer on Saturday, Kibaki said a unity government "would not only unite Kenyans but would also help in the healing and reconciliation process."
But Odinga and his opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) dismissed the offer as a whitewash bid.
"We are not interested in Kibaki's solution to this problem. He has nothing to offer because he did not win these elections.
"I should be the one offering him the option of a coalition. We are not power-hungry... we want a properly negotiated settlement that will give a lasting solution to this problem," he said.
"There is no quick-fix to this thing as Kibaki thinks by inviting the ODM (to the government) ... what has happened is so greivous, you cannot try to whitewash it."
African Union head and Ghana President John Kufuor is expected in Kenya in the next two days to take part in efforts to talk the rivals out of the political stalemate, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC.
Poll monitors said the vote-count was rife with irregularities with both sides trading accusations of blatant rigging.
The electoral board nevertheless declared Kibaki the winner, unleashing a wave of nationwide riots that quickly devolved into deadly tribal vendettas, notably between Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe and Odinga's Luo.
At least 361 people have been killed in poll-related violence since election day, according to a tally compiled by AFP from hospitals, police and mortuaries.
Odinga's camp plans to hold a nationwide demonstration on Tuesday over alleged vote-rigging, nearly a week after police blocked an initial rally. The government has rejected an opposition call for a presidential re-run in 90 days, unless a court orders it.
Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the rallies were subject to a police ban.