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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
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(Newser) – 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.”

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)
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...   (Associated Press)
Displaced children at a transit camp in Kisumu, western Kenya, on Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. 60,000 Kenyans have been displaced since violence erupted over disputed election results. (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)
Displaced children at a transit camp in Kisumu, western Kenya, on Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. 60,000 Kenyans have been displaced since violence erupted over disputed election results. (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)   (Associated Press)
Rioters dismantle a bus for scrap metal 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/Bernat Armangue)
Rioters dismantle a bus for scrap metal 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...   (Associated Press)
A man screams while holding a rock over his head after he and a angry mob, mostly belonging to the Luo tribe, had ealier in the day had set a bus on fire and had been clashing with police on Feburary 20, 2008. (WALTER ASTRADA/AFP/Getty Images)
A man screams while holding a rock over his head after he and a angry mob, mostly belonging to the Luo tribe, had ealier in the day had set a bus on fire and had been clashing with police on Feburary...   (Getty Images)
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, 2nd-R, accompanied by Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, left, walk into the Kenyata International Conference center in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday Feb. 20, 2008. As talks continue between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition rival Raila Odinga over how to create a government that will usher Kenya out...
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, 2nd-R, accompanied by Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, left, walk into the Kenyata International Conference center in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday Feb. 20, 2008. As...   (Associated Press)
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Kenya • prime minister • power sharing deal • Kikuyu • Mwai Kibaki • Raila Odinga • Luo • Kenyan elections • ethnic violence

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