Kenya Agrees to Create PM Post

Power-sharing deal would prevent new round of violence
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2008 9:43 AM CST
Kenya Agrees to Create PM Post
A Kikuyu man is attacked by rioters in the Mathare slum, Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008. Rioters attacked a bus full of people as they faced off against police who they charged were unfairly arresting people for rents gone unpaid amid weeks of postelection violence. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)   (Associated Press)

Kenya’s government agreed today to create a prime minister position for opposition leader  Raila Odinga—the narrow loser in a disputed election for president in December—in an effort to prevent a new round of violence from tearing the African nation apart. The details are still being hashed out, but a government negotiator promised the position would have real power. “We will not give anybody a hollow shell.”

Though Kenya is relatively calm now, more than 1,000 were killed in the violence that erupted after the election, which Odinga supporters and international observers believe was rigged. A senior opposition official said the deal would create “a real separation of powers,” and be consummated by this weekend. There’s plenty of power to share—one government critic likened Kenya’s president to “a demi-god.” (More Kenya stories.)

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