Thursday, April 03, 2008

Cabinet woes in Kenya

Kenyans wait expectantly for the announcement of the coalition cabinet by President Kibaki. This follows the enactment by parliament of fresh legislation that paved the way for the Grand Coalition government and ‘legalised' the positions of Prime Minister and two deputies.

In a previous article, I explored the pact that brought forward the coalition deal, and the legislation that followed. I criticised the legislation as flawed and permissive. It was filled with such ambiguities that made certain that mischievous translation and misunderstanding as we had sought to avoid would surely follow. In reactions by readers on this site, those of us who were skeptical of the details in the agreement were accused of a lack of goodwill, and it was alleged that such criticism constituted part of a plot by the PNU to cheat the ODM out of what belonged to it by right of the signed document. That was not the intention then, and neither is it now. However, I remain persuaded that the weaknesses in the agreement means it will have a very short life span and we should be thankful if it lasts us to the end of this year.

Read more from Kamale T here.