Yesterday, President Kibaki finally announced the new cabinet. Now, you may not even have been aware of it, but since the signing of the national peace accord, Kibaki and Raila have been fighting over how to share power - how to divide up the various ministries and the seats in the cabinet. Here's a time-line as a reminder:
December 27th, 2007 - Elections
December 30th, 2007 - Results are announced
December 31st, 2007 - Post-election violence and riots begin
January 22nd, 2008 - Kofi Annan arrives in Kenya to mediate between the government party and the opposition
February 28th, 2008 - National Peace Accord is signed by President Mwai Kibaki and Honorable Raila Odinga
April 13th, 2008 - President Kibaki announces his cabinet
For the last two or three weeks (I can't even remember anymore), Raila and Kibaki have been meeting to determine the cabinet (after the parliament had worked out the details of the of the peace agreement). It was supposed to be announced last weekend, but they were not able to agree. At that point, it looked like the coalition was about to collapse, and there were people talking about a new vote etc. Many people here were just getting annoyed and fed up with politics. Others started rioting again in protest of the proposal of an enlarged (or inflated) cabinet - or whatever it was they were rioting about.
Now they have finally agreed on what the coalition government should look like, which means that we can hopefully move on to more important things: resettling the displaced people who have been waiting all this time, getting the economy back on track and reworking the constitution (which has been the plan since 2005, I think). Resettling the IDPs (internally displaced persons) is a matter of urgency for two reasons. The rain makes living in camps miserable, not just because of the mud, but because there is the danger of diseases (cholera, typhoid etc.) and sicknesses because of the rain and the cold. Many of the people depend on being able to plant and farm for a living, and if they do not plant before the rains start, it will be too late. Even though this is supposed to be the rainy season, we have not had a large amount of rainy days yet (which I am glad for), but there is also fear of drought (Dürre).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Good Afternoon, my name is Tricia, and I work with Becky here at the library.
I wanted to pass on to you what joy it has been to read your blog. I just enjoy your writing style very much. I sit here and laugh at times and the partons will look at me, with a very questioning grin.
I really would love for you to write a book. I would definately be one of the first in line to purchase a copy.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us and for all that you are doing to spread God's love and encouragement to the people of Kenya, as well as to us here in the states.
God Bless you and keep you.
Hi Tricia - thanks so much for your comment and your encouragement. I have never thought of myself as much of a writer, and I do not think I would have the endurance to write a book, but I am motivated to keep writing my blog! Thanks!
Post a Comment