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More delays for Kenya Cabinet
07/04/2008 20:08 - (SA)
Nairobi - Kenya's rival politicians blamed each other on Monday for delaying a power-sharing agreement to end the country's post-election crisis, the latest sign that the reluctant partners will struggle to heal a battered nation.
Raila Odinga, who is the prime minister-designate under the peace deal, said the crisis "captures the astonishing lengths (President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity) is willing to go to ensure that it continues to monopolise power".
Kibaki, in a news conference soon after, said he is "ready and willing" to implement the deal by forming a new Cabinet, if only Odinga would "engage constructively" in talks.
Both men claimed victory in the December 27 presidential election, which sparked weeks of violence that killed more than 1 500 people and drove some 300 000 people from their homes before the two agreed to share power in February. Observers said the vote was so flawed it is impossible to say who won.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he was concerned over the slow pace of forming a new government under the deal he brokered. Annan's statement echoed the frustration many Kenyans have expressed at how long it has taken the leaders to put the power-sharing deal in effect, particularly after parliament quickly pushed through laws to legalise the deal the two men signed.
Kibaki and Odinga have been wrangling over the makeup of a new Cabinet, which is meant to be split between Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement and Kibaki's allies. But Odinga and Kibaki still have failed to agree on which party will get the most powerful posts.
A breakthrough was announced late last week, but no details were offered and the deal apparently disintegrated.
On Monday, Odinga said the government failed to compromise.
"We are forming a new government," he told reporters. "The two principals share power equally."
- AP
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