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Pakistan and Kenya

My Lords, I confirm my noble friend’s observation about the power of civil society to cross over ethnic boundaries and build a real national consciousness. That is true of both countries and we will encourage it. In addition to the groups he mentioned, I did not respond earlier to the point about business in Kenya. There have been extensive contacts through our high commissioner in Nairobi with the business community, both British and Kenyan. There has been a lot of support from that community, as there has been from other groups in civil society, for an initiative to ensure real power sharing and real change in the country. That is the view of civil society groups in both countries—businesses, trade unions, lawyers and social activists of all kinds. Let me make a further point on whether it would be possible in Kenya to assemble or reconstitute a vote count based on rural numbers. It may or may not be possible but we are doubtful about it. In addition to the destruction of some ballots, meaning that only an indicative total would be available, which would not provide the proof of the actual ballots, in some areas observers from one side were not able to attend the election count because they were kept out by the other side. Therefore, we do not have a completely valid rural count on which to reaggregate a national total, but I think that this will be something for President Kufuor to look at.