NAIROBI, Kenya — Rival factions in Kenya’s political crisis reportedly agreed Thursday to write a new constitution, a move that could allow for power-sharing as part of a deal aimed at ending weeks of violence in this East African country.
The announcement of an agreement came as President Bush said he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya to demand an immediate halt to bloodshed that has killed more than 1,000 people since the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election.
Incumbent Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner, but opposition groups claimed the results were rigged. The election fight blew up into a broader conflict among Kenya’s many ethnic groups.
A spokesman for former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who has been mediating in closed talks between the government and opposition, announced that the parties signed off on a deal Thursday, but he offered no details. Annan scheduled a news conference for today, and the talks were recessed until Monday.
A few hours later, government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said part of the deal was to revise Kenya’s constitution within a year.
“The two parties agreed to write a new constitution,” he told The Associated Press. “A new constitution is required.”
Kilonzo did not divulge any other aspects of the agreement.
An opposition member with close ties to the negotiations confirmed there was a deal on writing a new charter, but he said it was “trivial” because the government had not formally agreed to any changes in the government.
Kenya’s current constitution was drawn up in the lead-up to independence from Britain in 1963 and has been revised repeatedly, giving the president sweeping powers. Kenyans have said they want a constitution that would reform how their country is run following decades of abuses by successive governments.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who served as a Cabinet minister in Kibaki’s administration for two years before being booted out in December 2005, fell out with the president over a previous attempt at constitutional reform.
