Kenya Parliament Convenes with Power Sharing Deal Topping Agenda

March 6th, 2008 | EthioPolitics.com |

VOA,BBC - Kenya’s parliament is to convene Thursday in Nairobi to discuss for the first time a power sharing deal intended to end the country’s deadly post-election crisis.

The lawmakers are expected to work under an agreement reached last week by President Mwai Kibaki, opposition leader Raila Odinga and U.N. mediator Kofi Annan. The deal calls for major changes to the country’s constitution, and allows Odinga to hold the newly-created position of prime minister.

Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki has urged MPs to pass into law a power-sharing agreement aimed at ending weeks of post-election violence. Mr Kibaki told the state opening of parliament in Nairobi that the deal would lay “the foundations for peace and stability in our country”. Under the deal, opposition leader Raila Odinga would become prime minister.

Hundreds of people have died in violence following polls in December, which Mr Odinga said were rigged. Addressing parliament, Mr Kibaki said the accord was a first step towards achieving a prosperous future for all Kenyans. “I urge honourable members to ensure that all the necessary bills to implement the accord and other socio-economic reforms are dealt with promptly so that Kenya can restore and even exceed its former glory,” he said.

More details of the pact are expected to be announced, with Kenyan MPs to begin debating the power-sharing legislation next week. The BBC’s Adam Mynott in Nairobi says the deal has helped to dispel anger, but much work remains to be done on how power-sharing will work in practice.

Militia claims

During the parliamentary session, the president is expected to reveal more details of the agreement, the National Accord and Reconciliation bill, which is expected to be published later in the day.

The agreement, brokered by UN-backed negotiators, comes after some 1,500 people died in weeks of violence following polls which Mr Odinga says were rigged by Mr Kibaki and his supporters. Hundreds of thousands of people were also displaced.

Sources have told the BBC that some of the violence carried out by a banned militia group was state-sanctioned - a claim the government vehemently denies. The sources said that meetings were held at the official residence of President Kibaki between the Mungiki militia and high-ranking government figures, but the government has labelled the claims “preposterous”.

Constitutional issues

Under the power-sharing deal, Mr Odinga is to be appointed prime minister - a post which does not currently exist under the Kenyan constitution. MPs from both sides have agreed to support the national accord and the necessary changes to the constitution, as well as plans to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

However, it is not yet clear what Mr Odinga’s responsibilities will be. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the president would appoint the cabinet and that the prime minister would work on an agenda set by the president.

“It is not what you would call power-sharing whereby the president and prime minister are equal… It is the president who appoints the prime minister and the whole idea is power sharing is bringing the opposition party into government on an equal basis,” he told the BBC. “You cannot usurp the constitution of Kenya and create two seats of power,” he said.

However, the ODM’s spokesman William Ruto told the BBC that cabinet appointments would be made by both Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga. “It is very clear in the accord that was signed that the cabinet is going to be shared on an equal basis, and members of cabinet will be chosen from the two sides,” he said.