Kenyan leaders clinch coalition cabinet agreement: officials
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and would-be prime minister Raila Odinga agreed on a new coalition cabinet to be unveiled tomorrow.
By Agencies |
NAIROBI: Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and would-be prime minister Raila Odinga agreed on a new coalition cabinet to be unveiled tomorrow, Kenyan and diplomatic sources said, ending weeks of delay that threatened to explode into new violence.
"The two leaders held talks today and agreed on a new coalition cabinet that will be unveiled tomorrow around lunch time," a top Kenyan political source, close to one of the leaders said.
A Western diplomat, whose government has been pressing for a quick deal, confirmed that an accord had been clinched. Both officials refused to disclose details.
"We have been informed that a cabinet deal has been reached and we expect it to be announced tomorrow. The two leaders are keen to have a cabinet before parliament resumes on Tuesday," added the diplomat.
The agreement was struck after Kibaki and Odinga held closed-door talks in Sagana State Lodge in central Kenya, they said, a day after Odinga dropped his pre-conditions of demanding dissolution of the current 17-member cabinet and to get an equal share in top diplomatic and civil service posts.
The much-delayed cabinet was scheduled to be unveiled on April 6 but was put off after the two leaders failed to agree on a 50-50 sharing of key infrastructural and administrative portfolios.
The new government is a key step in implementing a February 28 power-sharing deal that quelled violence that broke out following Kenya's disputed December polls, killing at least 1,500 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.
"The two leaders held talks today and agreed on a new coalition cabinet that will be unveiled tomorrow around lunch time," a top Kenyan political source, close to one of the leaders said.
A Western diplomat, whose government has been pressing for a quick deal, confirmed that an accord had been clinched. Both officials refused to disclose details.
"We have been informed that a cabinet deal has been reached and we expect it to be announced tomorrow. The two leaders are keen to have a cabinet before parliament resumes on Tuesday," added the diplomat.
The agreement was struck after Kibaki and Odinga held closed-door talks in Sagana State Lodge in central Kenya, they said, a day after Odinga dropped his pre-conditions of demanding dissolution of the current 17-member cabinet and to get an equal share in top diplomatic and civil service posts.
The much-delayed cabinet was scheduled to be unveiled on April 6 but was put off after the two leaders failed to agree on a 50-50 sharing of key infrastructural and administrative portfolios.
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The new government is a key step in implementing a February 28 power-sharing deal that quelled violence that broke out following Kenya's disputed December polls, killing at least 1,500 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.
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