| Hillary starts Kenya tour, calls for free, fair election |
NAIROBI US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Kenya on Saturday to hold free and fair elections and be a role model for Africa, underlining the need to avoid the bloodshed suffered during the last vote five years ago.
The general election next March will be the first since a disputed poll in 2007 that set off a politically based ethnic slaughter in which more than 1,200 people were killed.
Hillary met President Mwai Kibaki, who is barred by law from seeking a third term, and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who leads in opinion polls in the race to replace him. The two were the main rivals in the disputed presidential poll, when the then opposition leader Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing the vote.
Gangs faced off with machetes and clubs, and security forces opened fire on the streets, until mediator Kofi Annan brokered a power-sharing pact between Kibaki and Odinga that ended the violence and made Odinga prime minister.
“The US has pledged to assist the government of Kenya in ensuring that the upcoming elections are free, fair and transparent. We urge that the nation come together and prepare for elections which will be a real model for the entire world,” Hillary said in Nairobi.
Hillary made the remarks after meeting Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
Hillary, launching a seven-nation Africa tour in Senegal on Wednesday, urged Africa to recommit to democracy, declaring the “old ways of governing” can no longer work on a continent with strong economic growth and an increasingly empowered citizenry.
A statement from the Kenyan presidency said Hillary had “appreciated the frontline role” Kenya continued to play to stabilise Somalia and the Horn of Africa, and had promised her government’s support for such initiatives.
Hillary said she was encouraged by progress since Kenya adopted a new constitution in August 2010, which granted the judiciary “significant responsibilities”. “However I am well aware that there are many issues yet to be decided and many laws to be passed,” Hillary said, referring to groundwork being undertaken in preparation for the polls.
Reuters
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