IMF boss salutes JK on Kenya
DAILY NEWS Reporters
Daily News On Saturday; Saturday,March 01, 2008 @00:02
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director has hailed the role played by President Jakaya Kikwete in resolving the Kenyan political stalemate. Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn observed in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the power sharing deal that Mr Kikwete helped broker alongside the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would go a long way towards stabilising the regions economy. He left the country yesterday.
''This is an achievement that all the people of Kenya must share and rejoice in. I salute the statesmanship by President Kibaki and Mr Odinga,'' said the Secretary General of the East African Community, Mr Juma Mwapachu, from Arusha, the headquarters of the EAC.
While recognising the patience of the African Union (AU) peace mediators led by former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, Mr Mwapachu also hailed the role played by President Kikwete, a key partner in the EAC and the current AU chairman.
Reports from Nairobi said Mr Kikwete, who arrived in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital last Tuesday, chaired a crucial last minute five-hour peace meeting that saw Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), emerge to sign the peace pact.
Progress had been hampered by hardliners on both sides leading a frustrated Annan at one point, announce to leave the Kenyans to clean their own mess. Mediating too was former Tanzanian president, Mr Benjamin Mkapa who is also a career diplomat.
But unbeknownst to mediators, Kenyans were generally tired of the crisis after nearly two months of violence following the disputed results of the last December 27 presidential polls Mr Odinga believed were rigged and that he was denied victory.
President Kikwete told reporters on arrival from Kenya on Friday evening at the Julius Nyerere International Airport that he had detected a sense of urgency on both sides to end the crisis. Mr Kikwete decided to stay one more day than was earlier scheduled.
He said Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga signed the peace pact on their own accord, apparently as they were all eager to get their country out of the political quagmire. In Arusha, demand for the Kenyan shilling, the regions strongest currency, soared as soon as news of the peace agreement was announced.
Bureau Chief, Deo Mushi reported hiked demand for the Kenyan shilling from bureaux de change and increased travel to Namanga town, usually a beehive of cross-border activity between Kenya and Tanzania.