Kibaki Urges Kenyan MPs To Back Agreement Website
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has urged MPs to pass into law a power-sharing agreement aimed at ending weeks of post-election violence. Mr Kibaki told the state opening of parliament in Nairobi that the deal would lay "the foundations for peace and stability in our country". Under the deal, opposition leader Raila Odinga would become prime minister. Hundreds of people have died in violence following polls in December, which Mr Odinga said were rigged. Addressing parliament, Mr Kibaki said the accord was a first step towards achieving a prosperous future for all Kenyans. "I urge honourable members to ensure that all the necessary bills... are dealt with promptly so that Kenya can restore and even exceed its former glory," he said. Ahead of the opening, President Kibaki said Kenyans were "keen to see an end to partisan bickering". "They want pragmatic solutions, not ideological posturing. They want their leaders to place the country above party and individual interests," he said. The session was opened with two minutes of silence - one for two MPs killed in the violence, the other for some 1,500 others who died. Speaker Kenneth Marende, a member of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement, urged parliament to "stand tall and try to make Kenyans proud". He also blamed the country's electoral commission for the country's crisis. "The genesis of the problem that afflicted the nation would appear to have had its epicentre at the electoral commission headquarters," he said. The power-sharing agreement, the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill, has not yet been published, but Kenyan MPs are due to begin debating the legislation next week. The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says the deal has helped to dispel anger, but much work remains to be done on how power-sharing will work in practice. Under the deal, brokered by UN-backed negotiators, Mr Odinga is to be appointed prime minister - a post that does not currently exist under the Kenyan constitution. MPs from both sides have agreed to support the national accord and the necessary changes to the constitution, as well as plans to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a bill on ethnic relations. However, it is not yet clear what Mr Odinga's powers and responsibilities will be. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the president would appoint the cabinet and that the prime minister would work on an agenda set by the president. "It is not what you would call power-sharing whereby the president and prime minister are equal... It is the president who appoints the prime minister and the whole idea in power sharing is bringing the opposition party into government on an equal basis," he told the BBC. "You cannot usurp the constitution of Kenya and create two seats of power," he said. However, ODM spokesman William Ruto told the BBC that cabinet appointments would be made by both Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga. "It is very clear in the accord that was signed that the cabinet is going to be shared on an equal basis, and members of cabinet will be chosen from the two sides," he said.
Source: MJFM
