Kenya Rivals Reach Peace Agreement

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, left, and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, with Kofi Annan in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday. (Simon Maina/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya: Feb. 29th. (NY Times) — Kenya’s rival leaders broke their tense standoff on Thursday, agreeing to share power in a deal that may end the violence that has engulfed the nation but could mark the beginning of a long and difficult political relationship. The country seemed to let out a collective hooray as Mwai Kibaki, the president and Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, sat at a desk in front of the president’s office, with a bank of television cameras rolling, and signed an agreement that creates a powerful prime minister position for Mr. Odinga and splits cabinet positions between the government and the opposition. There are still many thorny issues to resolve, among them how the government will function with essentially two bosses. There is also a deeply divided country to heal. More than 1,000 Kenyans have been killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes in an uncharacteristic burst of violence set off by a deeply flawed election in December. Much of the fighting, like the voting, has been along ethnic lines.

But the two-page agreement, which came after intense international pressure and mediation by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, seemed to serve as a contract to pull Kenya back from the brink. Both leaders urged their supporters, who have battled viciously across the country in recent weeks, to respect it. “I call on Kenyans to embrace the spirit of togetherness,” Mr. Kibaki said. Mr. Odinga was beaming next to him. “We should begin to ensure that Kenyans begin to celebrate and love each other and that we destroy the monster that is called ethnicity,” he said. Kenyans were glued to their television sets and radios across the country as the news broke. In downtown Nairobi, the capital, a crowd poured into the streets and danced and cheered until they were run off by tear-gas shooting police officers. In offices across town, business executives, who have watched their profits fall and the investments tank over the past two months, finally exhaled. “Yes, I’m relieved,” said Ngovi Kitau, the manager of a large car dealership. He had just come from a meeting where his company had decided to let 10 people go a month because business was so bad. “You don’t know what we’ve been through.” But he injected a note of caution that many Kenyans seemed to feel: “It’s a marriage of convenience, and it’s the best way out because it’s going to get the country moving again. But it’s not a solution.”

Kenya used to be considered one of the most prosperous countries in Africa, known as an oasis of stability in a turbulent region. But the country spun into chaos in late December after the national election commission declared Mr. Kibaki the winner of a closely-contested election over Mr. Odinga, who claims to have won the most votes. Election observers have been unanimous that the election was tainted by irregularities, with some saying that the government rigged the tallying of votes to give Mr. Kibaki a slender, 11th-hour edge. The controversy spawned bloodletting across the country, with supporters of Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki fighting one another in brutal battles. Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki are from different ethnic groups, and the election seems to have kicked the lid off a set of simmering political, ethnic and economic issues. The violence cooled down in the past few weeks, but the tension and displacements continued, with many Kenyans saying that the country would not return to peace until the dueling politicians agreed to some sort of solution.

Mr. Annan took the lead in trying to bring the two sides together. For the past month, he has been meeting nearly every day with negotiators for Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga, searching for a political compromise. More than anyone else, he has been the hope of this country. A newly-born baby rhino was even named after him. This week the talks nearly collapsed altogether. Negotiators deadlocked over whether they would share responsibilities or share power, with the government refusing to give Mr. Odinga substantial authority or to amend the constitution to create the position of prime minister, which had not existed in Kenya’s system. Mr. Annan then decided to bypass the negotiation teams and go directly to Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kibaki. He met with them behind closed doors for six hours on Thursday. At 4:30 p.m. local time, Mr. Annan, Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga emerged. The two leaders signed the agreement with Mr. Annan standing behind them, his hands clasped, as a crowd of diplomats, cabinet ministers and political supporters clapped.

The deal creates a government of national unity, melding the president’s party with Mr. Odinga’s. Mr. Odinga will become prime minister and will “coordinate and supervise” government affairs. The cabinet positions will be divided, based on parliamentary strength. Mr. Odinga’s party has a slight edge in Parliament. This is not the first time Mr. Kibaki, 76, and Mr. Odinga, 63, have vowed to work together. The two were close political allies in 2002, when Mr. Kibaki was elected president, but they soon had a falling out. Under the deal, the two sides will work together on constitutional reform, land reform, electoral reform and a complete overall of Kenya’s political system. “Today we have reached an important staging post, but the journey is far from over,” Mr. Annan said. “Let the spirit of healing begin today. Let it begin now.”
by Jeffrey Gettleman with Kennedy Abwao contributed to this report
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