Annan to visit Kenya to assess reforms

NAIROBI – Former UN chief Kofi Annan will visit Nairobi from Monday, October 4 to assess how far Kenya has come with reforms promised to end violence that erupted after a disputed election in December 2007, the African Union said yesterday..

Annan, who is visiting as head of an AU panel and will spend three nights in the Kenyan capital, plans to meet President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.Annan, who brokered a deal to end Kenya’s worst post-independence violence, will also meet religious and business leaders and other groups to get their take on how far the reforms have come.The former UN chief last visited Kenya in October 2008, when he received the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence.He has said publically that Kenya still needs to adopt a solid constitution, overhaul its electoral process and and tackle impunity.Some 1 500 people died in the violence sparked by accusations of then opposition leader Odinga that Kibaki stole the election.Earlier this year Annan gave the Kenyan parliament until July to set up a special court to try those suspected of masterminding the violence. – Nampa-AFP