Kenya: Dousing the burning spear

Some analysts foretell that a current of barbaric ethnic cleansing is amiss and recall the horrors of Rwanda and Burundi in the 1990s which left hundreds of thousands brutally murdered in what has been described as genocide.

The crisis in Kenya is the country's worst political crisis since independence in 1963 and threatens to undermine stability and growth within the East African community, eastern DR Congo and southern Sudan, which all depend on Kenya as a strategic link to international trade through the port of Mombassa.

It also threatens to upset tourism which is the mainstay of the Kenyan economy. Both sides in Kenya's disputed election have accused the other of violence as diplomatic efforts to defuse the country's political crisis intensify.

The United States and United Kingdom are calling for opponents to work together and an African Union delegation led by Ghana's President John Kufour is on its way to Kenya for talks.

Police in the capital Nairobi have set up barricades at major points and halted traffic. As commuters cautiously start a new year, there are fears of renewed violence.

Mwai Kibaki who was officially re-elected president and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory by electoral fraud traded accusations, while calling for an end to the killing.

A government spokesman told the media that Odinga's supporters were engaging in ethnic cleansing, while Odinga said the Kibaki camp was guilty of genocide. Asked if he would urge his supporters to calm down, Odinga told the BBC :"I refuse to be asked to give the Kenyan people an anesthetic so that they can be raped".

UK Foreign Minister David Miliband and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice have issued a joint statement urging both sides to engage in a spirit of compromise. Reports say that what the US and UK mean by that phrase is that there should be a government of national unity. The message of the African Union chairman, whose visit is fully backed by Britain and the US, is expected to be the same. The joint US-UK statement notes reports of "serious irregularities" in the vote count but urged Kenya's political leaders to unite in calling for an end to the bloodshed.

It is good that there is concerted interest and intervention from the international community. In the interest international morality and the lives and security of millions of Kenyans, the rest of the world cannot afford to stand aside and look while Kenya burns. Beyond words though, there must be a readiness and plan for physical intervention if need be.

The situation cannot be allowed to deteriorate. For strategic reasons, Africa cannot afford a chaotic Kenya. It is heartwarming that Kibaki is already indicating a readiness to shift to low gear. He must back his words with action. Kenya is greater than Kibaki and Odinga and both men must bow to the greater interest or be made to do so. While the international community does have a moral duty to intervene in the crisis, the greater duty lies with the Kenyan leadership to secure the lives and wellbeing of their peoples and the reputation of their country as a land of love, peace and progress. Let the regional doctrine of 'Ubuntu'- mutual respect, be upheld.