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Cabinet naming sparks new rift
09/01/2008 08:13 - (SA)
Nairobi - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki unveiled a partial cabinet on Tuesday, sparking a fresh rift with opposition leader Raila Odinga as a key mediator flew in for talks on unrest that had left hundreds dead.
African Union chief John Kufuor arrived in Nairobi on a crucial mission to broker talks between the rival leaders in a bid to build on intense diplomatic efforts of recent days led by top United States envoy to Africa Jendayi Frazer.
And after Kibaki and Odinga jousted with various proposals that might allow them to talk for the first time since violence erupted 10 days ago, leaving 600 dead and 250 000 displaced, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Frazer to prolong her mission.
"The secretary asked her to stay in the region as long as she, Jendayi, could play a useful and helpful role," Rice's spokesperson Sean McCormack said.
'The whole thing is a gimmick'
Kibaki briefly met Kufuor, the Ghanaian president, at the airport after naming part of his new cabinet in a televised address.
Kibaki said: "In naming the cabinet, I have considered the importance of keeping the country united, peaceful and prosperous and a strong broad-based leadership."
Moments later, Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) charged that the cabinet announcement was evidence of the president's unwillingness to negotiate a way out of the crisis triggered by last month's disputed presidential elections.
ODM secretary-general Anyang Nyongo said: "The whole thing is a gimmick, the cabinet is a joke. We do not recognise the president and therefore we won't recognise his cabinet."
The opposition insisted that Kibaki's victory over Odinga in the December 27 elections was rigged.
In the western city of Kisumu, a police commander said officers fired into the air to disperse up to 300 young demonstrators who had blocked a road, lit bonfires and carried placards asking why the president named the cabinet.
The protests took place at the entrance to slums surrounding Kisumu city, a scene of recent deadly riots and an ODM stronghold.
Kibaki's partial line-up included two members of the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya, led by third placed presidential contender Kalonzo Musyoka, who was appointed as vice-president.
There was no slot for any member of Odinga's party.
Other appointments included key Kibaki allies, such as Uhuru Kenyatta, the head of the former opposition Kenya African National Union (KANU), as local government minister, and Moses Wetangula, from Kibaki's Party of National Unity, as foreign minister.
Attempts to bring Kibaki and Odinga together had so far failed, although the president had extended an invitation to his rival for face-to-face talks on Friday.
Odinga rejected the offer, saying he would only meet Kibaki with Kufuor's mediation.
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