CHALLENGES OF RUNNING A COALITION GOVERNMENT IN KENYA
Kenya’s coalition of “the desperate unwilling” has led to partisan stresses and strains both between and within parties; but one of Kenya’s two Deputy Prime Ministers, who was one of the architects of the coalition, says it is working so far because all of the parties – and all Kenyans – cannot face the alternative.
Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, MP, in
Nairobi. Mr Mudavadi is Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government. An economist, he was first elected to the National Assembly in 1989, is a former Vice-President and has held various ministerial portfolios. He is now a Member of the Orange Democratic Movement.
Following the announcement of the results of the 2007 presidential elections, violence broke out in several parts of the country, spreading to six out of eight provinces and leading to the deaths of over 1,300 people in the next six weeks and displacement of 663,921. What sparked the political inferno was the feeling that though voters had done their duty, there was an element of fiddling with tallying of presidential results to give advantage to the incumbent. The violence ebbed after mediation by the African Union (AU) Panel of African Eminent Personalities of former United Nations Secretary-General H.E. Kofi Annan, former Tanzania President H.E. Benjamin Mkapa and First lady of South Africa Madam Graca Machel. The trio
10 | The Parliamentarian | 2010: Issue Three - Kenya
Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, MP
negotiated the signing of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Agreement (National Accord) between Raila Odinga for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Mwai Kibaki for affiliates of the Party of National Unity (PNU). The National Accord in particular provided for an equal
power-sharing formula under “Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition government”. This was a political mechanism for stabilizing the country as neither party could effectively govern alone after the polls fiasco and mayhem. The Agreement led to the enactment of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act of 2008, which effectively established a coalition government. The importance of the National Accord is in its unique provision for coalition government experiment hitherto not experienced in Africa. The National Accord spelt out actions to end the crisis and reconstruct the country. Among others, the parties agreed to “real power sharing” to begin the healing and reconciliation process. The main agenda of the coalition