Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki demoted some of his allies, brought in new ministers, and left a few ministries to his former opponents in the opposition in a new coalition government unveiled on Sunday.
The former Opposition leader Raila Odinga was named Prime Minister with two deputies, Musalia Mudavadi, whom he named his prospective Vice-President in the run- up to last year’s elections with President Kibaki’s key ally, Uhuru Kenyatta, son of founding President Jomo Kenyatta, becoming the second Deputy Prime Minister.
Odinga’s associates got the key ministerial posts the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) had managed to snatch from Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU).
However, the ODM failed to clinch some of the five ministries Odinga had vowed to take as part of the portfolio balance criterion, set out in the power-sharing accord.
The ODM got the ministries of Local Government and the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which was given to Mudavadi.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, went to Sally Kosgey, a key ODM ally.
The opposition party, now a coalition partner in the new cabinet, also took the ministry of Immigration and Registration, which went to its long-time Party activist Otieno Kajwang.
President Kibaki’s PNU got all the juicy ministries with the ODM settling for some postings as assistant ministers. The ex-opposition party also got the ministries of Regional Development.
