The government was on Tuesday looking forward to its meetings with Chief Mediator Kofi Annan because it believes it has tangible reform progress to show.
The draft constitution has been published and progress is being made in prosecuting election violence masterminds at The Hague.
Mr Annan, who arrives on Wednesday for meetings with President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga, is expected to increase the pressure on the government to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court.
Pace of reforms
He will meet Mr Odinga on Thursday afternoon and President Kibaki, who is attending a Commonwealth meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, at a later date.
The former UN secretary-general is expected to be briefed on the pace of reforms outlined in the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, the problems facing the coalition government and how the President and the PM were seeking solutions.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo on Tuesday said the timing of Mr Annan’s meetings was good given the steps the government had taken in implementing reforms.
He said the draft constitution had been made public, the policy on land reforms was before Parliament and ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had sought the permission of judges at the Pre-Trial Chamber to start investigating key perpetrators of post-election violence.
“Agenda Four is on track,” the minister said.
According to him, Mr Annan is returning to Kenya partly for other purposes, but the chief mediator will meet with the National Dialogue team, commonly referred to as the Serena group, to discuss the pace of reforms. The Serena group has eight Cabinet ministers, four each from ODM and PNU.
“He is not here on the Accord as such but another project. However, he will meet with the Serena team,” Mr Kilonzo said.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo went to court six days ago, seeking the International Criminal Court’s permission to open investigations into the election violence cases.
The government has refused to refer the cases to him and he expects The Hague court will give him the go-ahead to proceed with the case in the middle of the month.
According to the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, Mr Annan will be in the country until next Tuesday.
He will chair a meeting of the board of directors of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, whose headquarters are in
Source. Daily Nation
