The extraordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State meeting that was supposed to take place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi yesterday has been postponed indefinitely. The summit which was expected to devise means of mitigating the ongoing post-election violence in Kenya was suspended due to lack of quorum, officials said. The New Times yesterday carried a story in which officials confirmed that President Paul Kagame and his counterparts from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda Tanzania and Uganda, were due to meet in Kenya. The Burundian President (Pierre Nkurunziza) could not attend as he is in the United States on an official visit while President (Jakaya) Kikwete of Tanzania was also pre-occupied with other programmes, and thus would not have attended Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Charles Murigande, said yesterday. The Kenyan violence which has affected most countries in the region has claimed over 1000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands others. Murigande said that the date to which the meeting would be rescheduled has not been set yet. But the Chairman of EAC (Ugandan president Yoweri Musiveni) is coordinating with his counterparts to get a convenient time for the meeting, Murigande said. The violence erupted following the much disputed election held in December last year that saw incumbent Mwai Kibaki declared winner at the expense of opposition leader Raila Odinga. Meanwhile, BBC reported yesterday that there had been some progress made by the efforts of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan in mediating the warring parties. Annan told reporters in Nairobi that a deal could be reached next week but that earlier reports of a deal had been premature. We are all agreed that a political settlement is needed, that a political settlement is necessary and we are working out the details of such a settlement, Annan said. President Kibaki’s party said there had been an agreement in principle, while the opposition spoke of a positive development. Speaking at a prayer service in Nairobi yesterday, Kibaki said he was encouraged by the commendable progress in the peace talks. Ends
