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Still problems in Kenya deal
28/03/2008 22:44 - (SA)
Tom Maliti
Nairobi - Kenya's two top leaders are still trying to work out how they will share power, the president's rival said on Friday, more than a month after agreeing to govern together in order to quell post-election violence.
Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement and the man expected to become prime minister under the deal, said discussions on a coalition have not broken down.
But he said disagreements persisted on the size of the Cabinet, the portfolios to be given to parties and how other top government positions would be shared out.
After two meetings this week, "we have been unable to reach consensus so far," Odinga told journalists, following a meeting with Kibaki at the president's office. "I don't think that the talks have broken down, far from it."
A statement from Kibaki's office said only that the two leaders agreed to more consultations with their party members.
Kibaki and Odinga both claimed victory in the December 27 presidential election, which sparked weeks of violence that killed more than 1 000 people before the two agreed to share power. Observers said the vote was so flawed it is impossible to say who won.
Odinga said he wanted to allay public fears about the time it was taking to name a new Cabinet. A vote last week in parliament legalised the power sharing deal the leaders signed on February 28, and many had expected a Cabinet announcement to follow quickly.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan, who brokered the power-sharing deal, spoke with Odinga and Kibaki by phone on Tuesday, said Nasser Ega-Musa, a spokesperson for the mediation team Annan leads. Ega-Musa did not give any details of those discussions and Odinga declined to comment on them.
Religious leaders and other non-governmental organisations have been calling on the two leaders to quickly agree on a new, lean Cabinet so that Kenya can deal with pressing problems like the half a million people displaced from their homes because of the violence.
"It took the Germans one full month to negotiate a coalition government, an entire package," said Odinga, referring to a left-right coalition Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel formed in November 2005.
Odinga said both he and Kibaki are under a lot of pressure to satisfy the diverse interests of their supporters. He said that this is one of the reasons Kibaki and his Party of National Unity want a Cabinet of 44 ministers, while the Orange Democratic Movement wants a maximum of 34 ministers.
"A bloated Cabinet would portray us as disconnected from the mood of the country and set a bad example for curtailing other wastefulness," Odinga said.
- AP
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