THE Kenyan government yesterday rejected a mediation mission by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to try to end political unrest and sent a stern warning to the opposition ahead of nationwide protests.

Annan was due in Nairobi today, two weeks after President Mwai Kibaki’s contested re-election sparked violence, which claimed the lives of over 600 people and displaced at least a quarter million.

REPORTS compiled by Intelligence warned the government of the likely violence in Kenya long before the disputed December 27 presidential election but technocrats did not take them seriously, Daily Monitor has learnt.

The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) report cited likely voting patterns along ethnic lines, unwillingness by President Mwai Kibaki's backers to allow a shift in power base, the factionalism among the Kenyan security agencies and heavy campaign financing as a recipe for violence, senior government officials told Daily Monitor.

NAIROBI, Kenya — The American government on Saturday took its toughest position yet on Kenya’s disputed elections, calling on Kenya’s president and opposition leaders to meet immediately and saying that the election had been so flawed that it was impossible to know who had won.

“The United States cannot conduct business as usual in Kenya,” said the statement, written by Jendayi E. Frazer, assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

PRESIDENT Horst Kohler of Germany is scheduled to visit northern Uganda next month to assess the situation and resettlement of displaced persons in tshe war ravaged region.

This was disclosed by German officials who visited Acholi Paramount Chief, David Onen Achana II in Gulu on Thursday.

Kenya's main opposition party has called for new demonstrations to protest the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.

The Orange Democratic Movement announced plans Friday to hold rallies in more than 20 locations next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. In a statement, the party specifically asked police to provide security for a mass rally Wednesday at Nairobi's Uhuru Park.

SEVERAL top organisations have approached Makerere University to verify the authenticity of academic documents of their employees following reports that the university transcripts are easily forged.

The academic registrar, Amos Olal Odur, yesterday named the Uganda Revenue Authority and the Inspectorate of Government among the organisations which had verified the academic papers of their staff.

ELDORET, Kenya — For the first time since Kenya exploded into election-related violence that has killed more than 400 people, the president and the top opposition leader have agreed to meet, both sides said Monday.

As Kenya's humanitarian crisis worsens diplomatic efforts are being stepped up to try to bring relief to the shattered country.

The United Nations World Food Program is attempting to get more than 600 tonnes of aid from Kenya's port of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi, but it is being frustrated by the poor security situation along the way.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday rejected an offer from President Mwai Kibaki to form a unity government to end an electoral dispute that has sparked deadly ethnic violence. Odinga said instead that he wants a mediator to negotiate a settlement.

Odinga told a news conference that Kibaki, declared re-elected by a narrow margin in a vote count that international observers said was flawed, "cannot offer us anything because he did not win the election."