Government, Opposition Disagree Over Coalition Cabinet

The much awaited naming of Kenya’s coalition cabinet was delayed when President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga failed to agree on portfolio balance and the size of the joint cabinet.

The two leaders met yesterday, but failed to strike a compromise and adjourned for further consultation with their parties.

Sources say ODM demanded an equal share of all high profile ministries. On the other hand, the governing PNU alliance wants the President to have a free hand in the allotment, citing his constitutional mandate to appoint the cabinet.

The contentious ministries include Finance, Defence, Internal Security, Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Roads and Public Works, Information, Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Education, Health, Agriculture, Trade, and Planning.

PNU is also said to have proposed the formation of a 44-member cabinet. ODM rejected this proposal, insisting that the number be stripped down to 34.

The power sharing agreement was reached to end Kenya’s recent post election violence, which claimed over 1000 lives and displaced an estimated 350,000 others from their homes. In the accord, President Kibaki remains Head of State, while Mr Odinga becomes Prime Minister in a shared administration.

Meanwhile, the Independent Review Committee mandated to investigate last year’s discredited Presidential election yesterday held a fact-finding tour of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) offices in Nairobi.

The Committee is said to have been on a mission to familiarize itself with the ECK’s operational structure ahead of the official start of the probe.

The team of Kenyan and international electoral experts was appointed two weeks ago by President Kibaki. It is chaired by renowned South African Judge Johann Christiaan Kriegler.