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Kenya names 40-member cabinet after weeks of wrangling

Other News Materials 13 April 2008 19:52 (UTC +04:00)

(dpa) - Kenya's bickering leaders announced a coalition cabinet Sunday after weeks of wrangling, diffusing tensions and bringing the East African country back from the brink a second time.
Tensions have mounted over the creation of a coalition government since President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed a peace deal in February that ended a vicious spate of post-election violence that killed more than 1,000 people.
Kibaki and Odinga spent Saturday at a remote resort to hash out differences over key ministries and announced a large 40-member cabinet and it was unclear how the deal was sparked after so much disagreement.
"I know that you have all been anxious to see the conclusion of the consultations on the formation of the new coalition government ... I am today announcing the cabinet of the grand coalition government," Kibaki said, flanked by former rival Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.
As expected, Kibaki named Odinga as prime minister and unveiled two deputy prime ministers from each of the leaders' parties, as part of a reconciliation deal brokered earlier this year.
Kibaki's Party of National Unity retained most of the ministerial posts Kibaki named in January at the height of the crisis, ceding the key ministries of lands, roads and local government to Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.

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