Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due in Kenya to assess progress on much-needed reforms promised after the post-election violence in early 2008.
Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on Kenya to speed up reforms promised after post-election violence in early 2008.
Mr Annan was instrumental in brokering a power-sharing deal which pacified the country after inter-ethnic violence had killed more than 1,000 people.
Speaking at the start of a three-day visit, he said Kenyans expected more from the coalition government.
He will spend several days meeting top politicians, diplomats, members of civil society and business leaders.
On Monday Mr Annan will meet Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
But Mr Annan is likely to be extremely disappointed at the lack of progress.
He brought the men together in a peace deal last year to end violence in which more than 1,300 people died.
When the former UN leader helped secure a peace agreement in February last year, rival politicians agreed to take steps that would ensure the country stayed on a more peaceful road.
As part of the deal, politicians promised to carry out major reforms in the judiciary and the police force as well as electoral and land reform.
They promised to carry out much-needed judicial, police and electoral reform.
'Too slow'
Mr Annan, who was instrumental in pulling Kenya back from the brink of civil war, made it clear that so far the pace of reform has been too slow.
He said the people of Kenya expected more concrete action to end impunity for the perpetrators of violence and to combat corruption.
About 300,000 people fled their homes because of violence after the 2007 poll
About 300,000 people fled their homes because of violence after the 2007 poll
They also agreed to draw up a new constitution and to tackle the thorny issue of land ownership, which is seen as a major source of ethnic tension in Kenya.
Mr Annan said that despite the slow progress, the much-needed reforms were still possible.
There was a commitment to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice.
He said it was vital that the reforms were carried out well ahead of elections in 2012.
But progress in that area has been so slow that the International Criminal Court announced last week it would be prosecuting some of the key instigators. These are thought to include politicians and business leaders.
After meeting President Kibaki and Mr Odinga on Monday, Mr Annan will hold talks with civic groups and business leaders.
So Kofi Annan is likely to give the politicians an extremely poor report card.
Politicians are likely to say they are doing their best, but most Kenyans feel very little progress has been made especially in the fight to end impunity.
Political tensions
Several politicians have been accused of instigating the violence.
Many Kenyans would do the same. There is a feeling amongst a large section of Kenyan society that once the politicians had secured their positions in the very expensive coalition government, many of them then became more concerned with their own future than that of the country.
The pursuit of justice has been so slow that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has stepped in, saying it will prosecute key instigators of the violence.
Instead of sorting out the problems which beset the last election, some have been jostling for positions ahead of the next polls - even stating intentions to run for the presidency.
Bringing those people to justice could reopen some political rifts.
In order to keep up the pressure Kofi Annan has to use his leverage sparingly.
But many Kenyans feel it is a risk worth taking to help end the deeply rooted culture of impunity.
He may have helped save the country in its darkest hour but his repeated criticism at the slow pace of reforms has been batted away by some politicians who accuse him of meddling in Kenya's internal affairs.
The United States and European countries face similar accusations as they try to push reform, threatening travel bans on people considered to be blocking progress.
But on the streets of Kenya there is a feeling that the politicians need some pressure from outside especially because with a coalition government there is no real opposition.
The fact that the heat is being turned up on them is largely welcome.
