NAIROBI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The Kenyan political stalemate has choked business in fellow East African Community (EAC) states, an official of the regional trade bloc said. A political impasse between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition rival Raila Odinga over who won the Dec. 27 election plunged the country into bloody protests and ethnic clashes that have killed more than 1,000 people. It has also stifled supplies of fuel, raw and manufactured goods into three of the bloc's five countries. "The Kenyan political impasse imposes a difficult and complex environment for the EAC; for investment promotion and for business players alike in the region," EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu said. "Trade flows have been negatively affected and so have exchequer and business revenues," he said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the situation threatened the region's industrial competitiveness and job security. The wrangling parties have been trying to reach an agreement on the way forward and chief mediator Kofi Annan said that he was beginning to see "light at the end of the tunnel". Odinga wants a powerful role as prime minister and the government agreed to set up the new post. But both sides have yet to thrash out the most contentious issue -- how much power it will have. Kenya is east Africa's biggest economy and the gateway to neighbouring landlocked EAC countries Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. It conveys supplies destined for southern Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The violence -- which has since abated after the worst fighting in January -- blocked the highway linking the country's port city of Mombasa and Kisumu, near the border with Uganda. Marauding gangs set up roadblocks and in some cases looted transit cargo, throttling supplies to the neighbouring countries and forcing some of them to turn to Dar es Salaam's port, which is further. Sections of the Kenya-Uganda railway were also destroyed in January, crippling movement of goods between the two countries. Services have since resumed. Mwapachu said the region would be relieved if the Annan talks yielded something soon but that the region had to learn from the Kenyan experience. "Thank goodness, there is a silver lining before us. Kenya is quickly returning to normalcy," he said. "We can only promote and attract investments sustainably as well as assure effective intra-regional trade, if we have enduring peace and stability." (Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)
Kikuyus wave clubs and machetes outside Naivasha Country Club, near the town of Naivasha, Kenya, in this January 28, 2008 file photo. Communities that have lived side by side, picking flowers ...
