Only Politics

Kenya seems to have been saved from the brink of civil war. The two main parties PNU and ODM have decided to merge. Kibaki will remain president and Raila Odinga will sit on the newly created prime ministerial chair. In short the two main parties (or tribes) will share power. Odinga seems happy now. He has called on foreign powers to keep on the pressure on Kibaki to stay faithful to the power-sharing agreement. In fact it was the tongue lashing which Condoleezza Rice gave to Kibaki which really turned the tables and which led to the deal. Rice had the might of the $500 million behind her, which the US gives Kenya every year as aid. But everything is not hunky-dory. The deal has to be ratified by the Kenyan parliament by a two-third’s majority. Odinga fears some of Kibaki’s followers may play truant during the voting. The major fear is how long will the Kibaki-Odinga deal last? They had teamed together before in 2002 but had fallen out later. How come one be certain that history will not repeat itself? Agreed that the stick wielded by the US will act as very effective glue, but the resentment of the Kikuyu dominance by the Lous was amply shown in the last two months. It is remains. Any disagreement between Kibaki and Odinga will lead to tribal conflict again. One can only be sure of lasting peace in Kenya after the non-Kikuyu tribes feel they are getting a fair share of Kenya’s wealth and equal opportunity as the Kikuyus. This process will take a long time. There are no short cuts. One hopes for Kenya’s sake that things hold till then.