Kenya’s Odinga Rejects Negotiations on Conflict

As Kenya continues to be plagued by violence, opposition leader Riala Odinga has rejected incumbent president Mwai Kibaki’s calls for negotiations.

According to the New York Times, Mr. Odinga declined an invitation to meet with the president this Friday, saying that the negotiations would merely be “public relations gimmickry” meant to “deflect attention from and undermine” international diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. With the president blithely trudging into his next term and doing little to ameliorate tension between the belligerents, Mr. Odinga’s pessimistic attitude is warranted. If Mr. Kibaki were serious about resolving the crisis, he would not have formed a cabinet that excludes Mr. Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, which took more than twice as many seats as Mr. Kibaki’s party. He would also make a good faith effort to rein in radical groups claiming to defend the Kikuyus by attacking Luos (and in some cases, forcing circumcision on Luo men).

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