NAIROBI, Feb 20: At least five people have died in clashes in recent days in western Kenya, police said on Wednesday, as former UN chief Kofi Annan pressed for a deal to end the crisis sparked by December’s elections.

“In the last four days, three people have been killed in Molo and two others in Cherangani area,” a police commander said, requesting anonymity.

In Cherangani, thousands of livestock were stolen in the violence.

Police said they had boosted security in volatile western areas of the east African country that were the scene of some of the worst fighting set off by the disputed Dec 27 re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, in which more than 1,000 people died and some 300,000 were displaced.

Annan has spent more than a month in Kenya leading talks between the camps of Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of victory in the widely-contested polls.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday pressed for a swift power-sharing deal between the two leaders, but Kibaki damped hopes of a quick resolution by insisting that any accord must be within the constitution.

In a meeting with Annan on Tuesday, Kibaki said “that he was willing to work together and share responsibilities in government with members of the ODM,” the presidential press service (PPS) said in a statement.

“The president, however, cautioned that any political solution that will be proposed must be in tandem with the current Kenyan constitution.” “President Kibaki noted that the constitution must serve as a guide while the mediation team discussed what legal and institutional reforms are needed to move the country forward,” the PPS statement added.

A joint government-opposition panel formed to find a way out of the crisis reported progress on Odinga’s proposal that a both sides share executive powers equally.

“We are making some progress, albeit slowly,” opposition official William Ruto told reporters. “We have identified areas of discussion,” added government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo. Details of the discussion remained sketchy.

Launched by the African Union, Annan’s mediation is seen as Kenya’s best hope for a political solution to move beyond the violence which saw Kenyans killed by machete-wielding mobs, burnt in churches and driven off their land.

“We are working very hard to ensure that there is preservation of peace,” police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said on Wednesday.

Police overnight descended on the capital’s Mathare slums and evicted dozens of families from Odinga’s Luo tribe who had refused to pay rent over the past months, local police commander Jasper Ombati told reporters.

—AFP