A week ago Kenya's Justice Minister, Martha Karua (right), predicted the political crisis that's roiled her country in the weeks following a disputed Presidential election would settle down. Karua told the BBC she expected that "cooler heads" would prevail: "We expect that eventually everybody will come to their senses, realise that we've got to learn to live with each other."Sadly, her prediction's proved premature.
Here's the latest news from Nairobi: "Nine people were hacked or burned to death in new violence linked to Kenya's political crisis on Tuesday, as former UN secretary general Kofi Annan arrived to revive mediation efforts."
Since violence erupted in the wake of the 
December 27, 2007, balloting, more than 700 Kenyans have been killed. Another 250,000 have fled their homes.
December 27, 2007, balloting, more than 700 Kenyans have been killed. Another 250,000 have fled their homes.Opposition leader Raila Odinga's called it a "constitutional crisis," a contention that our colleague Mary Dudziak, author of a forthcoming book on Thurgood Marshall's role in drafting the Kenya Constitution, has analyzed here.
Odinga and his rival, incumbent President Mwai Kibaki, came together in the same room last week for the 1st time since the election, to vote on who'd become Speaker of Parliament. Though Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement won, the vote was close, and the victory did not stop the turmoil.
Indeed, yesterday an Odinga spokesman said the movement had "sent a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court in The Hague notifying the panel about the 
charges that authorities committed crimes against humanity during the crackdown on demonstrations" -- a charge the government met by saying it'd be complaining to the ICC that the oppostion was "involved in planning 'mass genocide.'"
Annan, a 2001 Nobel Peace laureate (right), was to have arrived in Nairobi to launch mediation talks a week ago but delayed on account of flu. Now that he's there, he's got his work cut out for him.
charges that authorities committed crimes against humanity during the crackdown on demonstrations" -- a charge the government met by saying it'd be complaining to the ICC that the oppostion was "involved in planning 'mass genocide.'"Annan, a 2001 Nobel Peace laureate (right), was to have arrived in Nairobi to launch mediation talks a week ago but delayed on account of flu. Now that he's there, he's got his work cut out for him.
