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Canadians urge Harper to Support Democracy in Kenya

Naresh Raghubeer and David Harris - 1/8/2008

Ottawa, Canada - The Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) and members of the Kenyan-Canadian community applaud Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda for their initiative during the post-election crisis in Kenya, and commend the Government for its initial offer of financial assistance to the people.

"We are thankful for Canada's contribution of $1 million to the Kenyan Red Cross," said Tegi Obanda, International Coordinator of the Coalition for Constitutional Reforms Kenya (CCR-K). "It is a good start, but more must be done."

"Canadians and Kenyans have so many Commonwealth and other longstanding ties," said former Secretary of State for Africa, David Kilgour. "We and our government should stand with Kenya's people in their time of trial just as we did with Ukrainians after their flawed presidential election in 2004."

On behalf of all Canadians, and most notably members of the Kenyan-Canadian community, we call on the Government of Canada, as a member of the Commonwealth, to:

* reject the December 27 election results for the presidency because, while the casting of ballots was done in an orderly and peaceful manner, the counting of ballots and transmission of results appears to have failed to meet minimum standards of fairness, accountability and transparency;
* call for an interim national unity government in Kenya comprised of all elected political parties to establish and adopt a democratic citizen-driven constitution within one year;
* support the holding of a new presidential election to be observed by the international community (including Canada) following the adoption of a new democratic constitution;
* offer the assistance of Elections Canada to provide technical advice and support for new elections;
* support the activation of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to assist in restoring stability and democracy in Kenya; and,
* increase humanitarian assistance for the construction of numerous homes and shelters lost as a result of the post-election violence.

"The root cause of the problem is the lack of a democratic constitution," added Tegi Obanda. "Without a new constitution, Kenya is heading towards becoming a failed state, with the attendant risks and cost to other nations, including Canada."

"At this time, Canada's leadership can help pull Kenya from the brink," said Naresh Raghubeer, Executive Director, CCD. "Time is not on our side, and we must act now both to help Kenya restore peace and democracy and to serve Canada's own security interests."