Former UN chief due in Kenya
18/9/2008 17:58
Former UN chief Kofi Annan is due in Kenya today to receive a report
compiled by a team of inquiry set up to probe the country's disputed December,
2007 elections.
A statement from the UN Information Centre in Nairobi said
the former UN Secretary-General will meet the Kenyan leaders and members of the
Independent Review Commission (IREC) team which handed its report to President
Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga yesterday after a six-month
investigation
"While in Nairobi, Annan is scheduled to meet with President
Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Justice Johann Kriegler and members of
the Independent Review Commission (IREC) on the 2007 elections. Annan is
expected to receive a copy of IREC's report today," the statement said.
The
commission of inquiry held public meetings around the country where members of
the public, electoral officials and political party representatives gave their
views about the elections.
While presenting the report, IREC's chairman,
South African Judge Johann Kriegler, said that it would be impossible to know
who had really won the December elections.
More than 1,000 people died in
clashes after claims the poll was rigged. The violence also displaced another
350,000 people.
The commission, set up by a panel of African Union mediators,
said there was no evidence that the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) was
guilty of rigging the poll results in favour of President Kibaki or any other
candidates.
The probe team said the electoral crisis was due to systemic
dysfunction of the entire electoral system and the ECK should be overhauled or
replaced with a new body.
"There is radical reform necessary to replace or
transform the ECK with a new name - possibly a new image - composed of a lean
policy-making body," Kriegler said.
President Kibaki said the government
would examine the recommendations in the report for implementation and directed
that the report by made public tomorrow.
The probe team also recommended that
the country should adopt a new voter registration system to restore electoral
integrity in the country.
Kibaki and Odinga formed a power-sharing government
in April, after both claimed victory in the December elections.
Xinhua
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