Kenyan president, opposition leader call truce

By Andrew Wasike and Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday met opposition leader Raila Odinga, vowing to end rivalry which led to the deaths of 100 people in elections last year.

Speaking after the rare and historic meeting, Odinga told reporters: "The time has come for us to consult and resolve our differences, these differences are becoming too entrenched, people are dying out of these differences.

"My brother [Uhuru Kenyatta] and myself have therefore come together today to say this dissent stops here. We refuse to be the leaders under whose watch Kenyans lead into a failed nation."

Kenyatta said: "We have had the opportunity for extensive discussions and this is why me and my brother [Odinga] have agreed that starting today, we will begin a process of bringing our people together.

"That, we will begin a process of discussing what ails us and what creates divisions amongst us. And we look forward to the support of every single leader."

The truce comes months after Kenyans went to two violent elections in the last quarter of 2017.