Kenya’s fragile coalition government lost its first minister on Monday, a day after talks to heal rifts within the alliance collapsed in acrimony.
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/ 13 January 2009
Tens of thousands of Kenyans have chosen to live in camps and rely on humanitarian aid rather than return home.
Kenyans voted on Wednesday for five parliamentary seats that will decide who holds the majority, a test of stability in the East African nation.
Kenya’s prime minister openly dissented with the president on Tuesday in a row over amnesty for post-election crimes. President Mwai Kibaki’s government and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s opposition came together in April to form a ”Grand Coalition” after violence that killed at least 1 300.
Kenya’s president unveiled a power-sharing government on Sunday, with opposition leader Raila Odinga as Prime Minister, aimed at ending a long-running political crisis sparked by contested elections. ”Let us put politics aside and get to work,” President Mwai Kibaki said in a televised speech announcing the Cabinet line-up.
Pressure mounted on Thursday on Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and prime minister-designate Raila Odinga to resume coalition talks amid warnings that a delay was fomenting violence. The pair met last on Sunday and failed to agree on a unity government, a key step in implementing a power-sharing deal.
Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga refused to meet President Mwai Kibaki for coalition government talks on Monday, deepening a stalemate on the naming of a new Cabinet. The coalition Cabinet is a key part of a February 28 deal that curbed weeks of deadly clashes set off by Kibaki’s disputed re-election in December.
The announcement of Kenya’s new coalition Cabinet has been delayed indefinitely over disagreements on its composition, both sides said on Saturday. "The widely expected announcement tomorrow [Sunday] of a new Cabinet that all Kenyans were so keenly awaiting has been delayed," Orange Democratic Movement spokesperson Salim Lone said.
Kenya’s feuding political factions on Thursday announced the deadlock over a coalition government had been broken and that the new line-up would be announced on Sunday. The breakthrough came after a meeting between President Mwai Kibaki and prime minister-designate Raila Odinga amid weeks of bitter wrangling.
President Mwai Kibaki commemorated on Thursday the 1 000 people killed during Kenya’s post-election crisis and urged Parliament to enshrine into law a power-sharing deal intended to keep the peace. Kibaki opened Kenya’s 10th Parliament with a minute’s silence first for two slain legislators then for all the victims of violence.
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/ 22 February 2008
Africa’s top diplomat was meeting Kenya’s feuding parties on Friday to push for a deal after the government agreed in principle to create a prime minister’s post to help end a deadly post-election crisis. The opposition has demanded a powerful role as executive premier for their candidate, Raila Odinga.
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/ 20 February 2008
Kenya’s opposition threatened on Wednesday to resume street protests in a week if talks fail to end a post-election crisis that has killed more than 1 000 people and tarnished the country’s reputation for stability. Kenyans and world powers alike have called on President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to agree a deal.
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/ 20 February 2008
Kenya’s feuding political parties returned to talks on Wednesday to end a post-election crisis, but remained stuck on how to share power. Kenyans and world powers have called on President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to agree to a deal to halt turmoil that has killed more than 1 000 people,
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/ 19 February 2008
Kenya’s rival parties were stuck on Tuesday over how to share power despite pleas for quick resolution to a crisis that has killed 1 000 people and wrecked a nation’s reputation. Foreign powers and the majority of Kenya’s 36-million people are impatient for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to find a political solution.
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/ 19 February 2008
Kenya’s feuding parties resumed talks on Tuesday after a torrent of calls from home and abroad to solve a post-election crisis that has killed 1 000 people and jeopardised the East African nation’s reputation. ”The time for a political settlement was yesterday,” United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the end of a lightning trip.
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/ 13 February 2008
The creation of a power-sharing government in Kenya appeared imminent on Tuesday after a parliamentary briefing in which former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan spoke of a possible "grand coalition" to end the country’s political crisis. He has also noted that a deal would hopefully be made by the weekend.
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/ 11 February 2008
The United Nations’s top emergency relief official said on Monday that as many as 600 000 people had been displaced following violence sparked by Kenya’s disputed elections. ”We estimate that 300 000 people were displaced and are now in camps,” John Holmes said, adding: ”There are probably as many displaced who are not in camps.”
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/ 11 February 2008
Negotiators for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga re-started talks on Monday in a mood of national optimism that a political solution to Kenya’s worst crisis since independence may be near. Mediator and former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has predicted the two sides will agree on a formula this week to overcome their dispute.
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/ 25 January 2008
Ethnic fighting killed at least 12 people in Kenya’s Rift Valley and forced thousands from their homes on Friday. The violence, and a denial by opposition leader Raila Odinga that he would agree to serve as prime minister under President Mwai Kibaki, followed the first meeting between the two rivals since a disputed December 27 election triggered a political crisis.
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/ 25 January 2008
A new flare-up of violence shook Kenya on Friday and fresh political recriminations dulled hopes a meeting between the president and opposition leader could resolve a month-long crisis. The local Red Cross said clashes related to a disputed December 27 poll had engulfed areas around the town of Nakuru.
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/ 15 January 2008
Kenya’s new government and opposition clashed in Parliament for the first time on Tuesday in a bad-tempered session reflecting deep bitterness over the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki. Despite demands for urgent action to end a crisis in which hundreds have been killed, opposition and government legislators argued for an hour.
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/ 15 January 2008
The dispute over President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election in Kenya moved to Parliament on Tuesday as the government and opposition prepared to wrestle for control of the East African nation’s legislature. Roads were closed and riot police ringed the building in downtown Nairobi from early morning before the opening session of the new Parliament.
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/ 14 January 2008
The Kenyan government on Monday rejected a mediation mission by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan to try to end political unrest and sent a stern warning to the opposition ahead of nationwide protests. Two weeks after President Mwai Kibaki’s contested re-election sparked violence that has left hundreds dead, Annan was due in Nairobi.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced part of his new Cabinet on Tuesday, including Amos Kimunya as Finance Minister, amid a political crisis that has cost nearly 500 lives. Meanwhile, opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected bilateral talks with Kibaki, dimming hopes for a breakthrough to end the turmoil.
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/ 30 December 2007
Kenyans waited for the result of their closest-ever presidential election on Sunday, fearing more unrest after a chaotic vote count marred by widespread ethnic violence over accusations of rigging. Several people were killed in tribal disturbances on Saturday across the East African nation, usually seen as an island of relative stability in a volatile region.
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/ 29 December 2007
Kenya’s opposition claimed victory on Saturday in a presidential vote after official figures gave their candidate a four-percentage point lead over President Mwai Kibaki on three-quarters of the count. Delays announcing the results ignited deep ethnic tensions as youths wielding machetes fought, looted and burned homes in opposition strongholds.
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/ 29 December 2007
Kenya’s opposition challenger, Raila Odinga, led on Saturday in the race to govern East Africa’s largest economy but tempers flared over the slow pace of vote tallying in the incumbent’s strongholds. In a third day of ballot counting, Odinga, heir of a wealthy nationalist hero, led President Mwai Kibaki.
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/ 28 December 2007
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki trailed his main rival on Friday in the race to lead East Africa’s biggest economy for the next five years, according to early tallies by local media. Partial results from three main television stations all gave opposition challenger Raila Odinga a strong lead over his former ally.
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/ 27 December 2007
Guarded by police, Kenyans voted on Thursday in a presidential election preceded by violence, tainted by allegations of rigging and likely to be the closest in more than four decades since independence from Britain. President Mwai Kibaki (76) having unseated the country’s 24-year ruling party in 2002, himself faces the possibility of losing power.
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/ 26 December 2007
Two heavyweights of Kenya’s post-independence politics square off in a presidential vote on Thursday after a campaign that has overshadowed Christmas and seen the opposition holding a small lead in opinion polls. The closeness of the vote has raised fears that fraud and intimidation may be used to try to swing results.
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/ 25 December 2007
Kenyan police fired teargas to disperse stone-throwing supporters of the country’s main presidential contenders on Monday after the candidates made a final push to win votes in a race deemed too close to call. Scuffles briefly flared shortly after President Mwai Kibaki and his opposition challenger, Raila Odinga, addressed huge rallies in the capital.
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/ 17 December 2007
Kenya’s presidential race entered its final stretch on Monday, with the economy, corruption and tribalism looming large in ageing incumbent Mwai Kibaki’s bid to secure a second term. The last batch of opinion polls before the December 27 vote gave flamboyant opposition candidate Raila Odinga a slight edge on Kibaki.