Kenya Announces Shared Cabinet

Prez names opposition leader PM
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2008 2:11 PM CDT
Kenya Announces Shared Cabinet
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, left, looks on as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, right, announces the cabinet and Odinga as the Prime Minister, Sunday, April 13, 2008 at State House in Nairobi, Kenya.    (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

Calling for Kenyans to "put politics aside and get to work," president Mwai Kibaki named chief opposition leader Raila Odinga prime minister today in a move to end political strife with a power-sharing cabinet. The 40-member cabinet, including two deputy PMs, was divided evenly between the two parties, though the BBC notes that key positions remained with Kibaki loyalists.

Kibaki called for “a new Kenya” of “peace, liberty, and plenty” in a televised speech, though critics called the cabinet too large and unaffordable. Talks had seemingly broken down this week over Odinga’s fight for a cabinet evenly split between the parties. (More Kenya stories.)

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