Kenya's opposition is to take to the streets again to protest against President Mwai Kibaki after unsuccessful international mediation talks, a spokesman for the Orange Democracy Movement (ODM) said Friday, according to dpa. The government had not shown any willingness to hold talks, the spokesman added. A mass rally originally scheduled for Tuesday this week was cancelled to create a "peaceful frame" for mediation efforts by Ghanaian President and African Union leader John Kufuor. Kufuor left Nairobi Thursday evening for Accra without reaching an agreement. Further talks would be chaired by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who is expected to travel to Kenya next week, Kufuor said before departing. Kibaki swore in his new cabinet on Thursday, as the opposition held on to its demand for new elections. Kibaki said he wanted his cabinet to be broadly representative, and also named opposition politicians as ministers. However, no members of opposition leader Raila Odinga's ODM have been named in the new cabinet. All the key posts have already been filled, and even if ODM members were to enter the new government, it would only be in a peripheral role. Kibaki was declared winner of the December 27 presidential polls three days after they were held. Odinga and his supporters, however, have charged the incumbent with widespread vote-rigging and refused to concede defeat. So far, there have been no direct talks between Kibaki and the opposition. International mediation attempts meanwhile were in full swing. After South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu tried in vain to forge a compromise, on Thursday US envoy Jendayi Frazer, four former African leaders and ambassadors from the United States, Britain and France joined the talks. In Washington, US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the United States was providing 5 million dollars to aid organizations to help Kenyans suffering from political violence. He said Frazer would remain in Kenya until Friday and hold meetings with Kibaki and Odinga. A post-election crisis has led to the deaths of up to 600 people and the displacement of 250,000. Humanitarian aid efforts for the displaced got under way Thursday as the Kenyan Red Cross began distributing food in the slums of Nairobi. Tens of thousands of people receive food from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Kenyan government. Nairobi's slums are among the largest in Africa, with most residents dependent on casual labour and out of work since unrest began.
