Nairobi peace talks collapse as conflict, instability resume

Accusations. The talks from the beginning were characterised by accusations and mistrust between the rebel leaders and the government representatives.

The talks also lacked international observers. From the list of people who attended, we could clearly see that only the government side and NRM representatives were present and the other party being the Kenyan team overseeing the agreement.

The involvement of international organisations could have added moral and political weight to the agreement or sprinkled more credibility and resources by becoming political and moral guarantors of the agreement.

This party would also give some advice that the Moi team could have lacked.
The answer to why the peace talks collapsed, can therefore, be linked to a series of factors but with hindsight, we can discern that the Kampala government could have rushed into the talks and that Kenya should have done better.

With the collapse of the Nairobi Agreement, conflict and instability resumed.
The new government soon found itself fighting fresh rebellions in the north and west.
Continues tomorrow

achekwech@ug.nationmedia.com