Unity Cabinet Formed in Kenya, Ending Deadlock

President Mwai Kibaki, right, and the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, left, at the announcement of the new cabinet on Sunday in Nairobi. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters)

NAIROBI, Kenya: April 14th. (NY Times) — President Mwai Kibaki announced a new — and enormous — national unity cabinet here on Sunday, ending weeks of anxious deadlock that had threatened to plunge Kenya back into violence. Allies of Mr. Kibaki, who was declared the winner of a deeply flawed election in December, retained the most powerful ministries, like finance and foreign affairs, but the leading opposition party managed to get some major posts, including local government and agriculture. And as anticipated, the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who claims to have won the presidential vote, was appointed prime minister. The two sides were under mounting pressure from foreign governments, especially the United States, and from Kenyans to strike a deal that would end the bitter, and often dangerous, atmosphere that has hung over the country since December. While the voting itself went peacefully, the country exploded in violence afterward with supporters of the government and of the opposition raging against each other. More than 1,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands were displaced and Kenya’s image as one of Africa’s most stable and promising countries was seriously damaged.

In late February, the government and the opposition agreed to share power, but they haggled over who would be selected for each post. On Sunday, it took Mr. Kibaki more than 10 minutes to read aloud the list of ministers and assistant ministers, totaling 94 people, nearly half of Parliament. It is the biggest cabinet Kenya has ever had. Because of all the politicking and the need to placate various interest groups, Mr. Kibaki has created several new, highly paid positions, like the minister of development of northern Kenya and other arid lands. Trade organizations and human rights groups have roundly criticized adding those positions as inefficient and wasteful, especially when thousands of displaced Kenyans are still living in tents. Mr. Kibaki defended the expanded cabinet as crucial for Kenya’s development. “Let us put politics aside and get to work,” he said in a televised address on Sunday. “Let us build a new Kenya where justice is our shield and defender, and where peace, liberty and plenty will be found throughout our country.” The opposition party said it was disappointed that it had not gotten as many powerful positions as it wanted. “But we decided that it was more important to get a government in place,” said Salim Lone, Mr. Odinga’s spokesman. “There was too much chaos and hunger and restlessness in the country.”

Opposition supporters who said they were angry about the delay in forming a cabinet rioted in several towns across Kenya last week, and Mr. Lone credited that outburst with moving the process along. “The international pressure had been there for some time, and the riots really focused our minds on how fragile things were,” he said. Mr. Lone said the deal was sealed in a secret seven-hour meeting on Saturday between Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga. The cabinet faces a mountain of challenges and needs. Kenya, after all, is a relatively poor country, with a fast-growing population, exploding slums and diminishing available land. In addition, the election stirred long-simmering grievances, which violently split many parts of the country down ethnic lines. There was also direct economic damage from the fighting, with countless homes, businesses, factories and schools burned to the ground, investor confidence low and Kenya’s fabled safari business on its knees. So it is no surprise that many Kenyans doubt that the cabinet deal will be a cure-all. While jubilation greeted the power-sharing agreement in February, with crowds cheering in the streets, this time the mood was more muted and even skeptical. “I don’t see this lasting long,” said Wambua Kilonzo, a lawyer in Nairobi, the capital. “There’s been too much bad blood already. Everything that has been done so far has only been done by the force of the arm.” What seemed to irk people most was the size of the cabinet. “We have been duped,” said Simoni Birundu, national chairman of the Name and Shame Corruption Networks Campaign, a nonprofit group. “We needed a lean cabinet so that it does not consume all our national resources.”

Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rightes, called the bloated cabinet “an insult. The politicians are not interested in us,” he said. “They’re interested in themselves. We go begging for money from other countries to feed our children. And then we use our taxpayers’ money to buy big houses and limousines. Here we are talking about a new Kenya. But instead of going forward, we’re going backward.”
By Jeffrey Gettleman and Kennedy Abwao contributed reporting.
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