Kenyan PM's Wife Declines Pay Offer

The wife of Kenya’s prime minister has waived a $6,000 monthly allowance offered to her by the government. Speaking to a local newspaper, Ida Odinga said she did not need the money to create a legacy. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka’s wife, Pauline, who has also been offered a similar allowance, has so far not indicated whether she will accept it or decline it. The allowances have sparked off an outcry from several legislators, civil societies and ordinary Kenyans, who say the country is already straining to finance a large 40 member coalition cabinet that was formed to resolve ethnic skirmishes that killed thousands after President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga – then Opposition leader - both claimed to have won the country’s discredited December 2007 presidential election. [PE]