Optimism and caution as Kenya deal moves forward
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's rival political factions turnedto trying to solve the long-term problems laid bare by twomonths of turmoil on Friday after a power-sharing deal to endthe immediate post-election crisis.
President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed thedeal setting up a coalition government on Thursday after amonth of heated negotiations punctuated by riots and ethnicviolence around the east African nation.
The two men had come under huge pressure from world powersand Kenya's 36 million people to find a solution to forestallmore bloodshed and help repair the country's reputation as eastAfrica's business, tourism and transport centre.
Kenya's shilling currency hit a 45-day high against thedollar buoyed by positive sentiment on the deal, traders said.
Brokers said the main share index rose 3 percent from theend of last week, a sign of new life for one of Africa'sstrongest economies, badly hit by the crisis.
"There is certainly a lot of optimism from this, and wehope that towards the end of the second quarter we'll see areturn to the levels of foreign interest we were seeingbefore," said Sunil Sanger, managing director of CFC FinancialServices in Nairobi.
Many Kenyans greeted each other with "Happy New Year", areference to the fact that those celebrations were delayed byspasms of violence after Kibaki was sworn in on December 30.
OPTIMISM TEMPERED
The optimism was tempered with recognition across Kenyathat the signing was only a first step and that the proof wouldbe in the implementation, due to start when Kenya's oftenunruly parliament opens on Thursday with a mission to ratifythe deal.
Some Kenyans were less sanguine about the future, and thechances of healing deep ethnic rifts left by the killings ofmore than 1,000 people and displacement of 300,000 more.
"Kibaki and Raila have never slept in the cold hungry andthis agreement means nothing to us," said Alice Wangui, a womanfrom the Kikuyu tribe forced to leave her ethnic Luo husbandand stay in a refugee camp in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha.
Much remains to be negotiated, and Kenya's parliament issplit right down the middle between Kibaki and Odinga's allies.
Odinga told BBC radio he was confident "that everyone isgoing to try and ensure that this coalition will work andsucceed".
Asked what would happen if it fell through, Odinga said:"In my view that would lead to disintegration of the country."
Under the deal, Odinga becomes executive prime minister --a job he claims Kibaki promised but failed to give him inexchange for support at the 2002 election -- and the cabinetwill be split based on parliamentary representation.
The agreement will enshrine in law those long-soughtconstitutional changes, the first part of a complete overhaulof the document that has guided Kenya for 45 years.
Kibaki said Kenya had begun "the process of nationalreconciliation and healing", his office said.
Mediator Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general, hassaid the talks will produce lasting solutions to those issueswithin 12 months. A spokesman for Annan said the two sidesresumed discussions on Friday.
John Githongo, who quit as Kenya's first anti-corruptionadviser in 2005, told Reuters in London: "It's an extremelypositive first development. It averts the immediate threat ofviolence hanging over Kenya."
(Additional reporting by Jack Kimball and George Obulutsain Nairobi, George Murage in Naivasha and Tsegaye Tadesse inAddis Ababa; Adrian Croft in London; editing by Giles Elgood)
(For in depth coverage on Reuters Africa Web site:http://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/ )