11/04/2013 00:00
TW
0

by RAY FLEMING
THERE'S never any shortage of bad news in Africa. As the Zimbabwe crisis receded a little yesterday, when the Supreme Court agreed to take four or five days to decide whether the opposition has a case that the result of the election held ten days ago should be “urgently” made public, Kenya stepped into the breach with a breakdown in the power-sharing agreement reached six weeks ago. Although it is probably invidious to compare crises, Kenya's latest trouble seems almost more important than Zimbabwe's deadlock.

Zimbabwe has been a broken nation for quite a while now whereas until a few months ago Kenya could still be held up as an example of a multi-racial, economically successful African nation. It is becoming increasingly difficult to say that of it any longer and the latest development will only add to the feeling that Kenya is at risk. The power-sharing agreement negotiated by Kofi Annan between president Kibaki and the opposition leader Raila Odinga specifically required a balanced allocation of the important ministerial posts. Instead the cabinet announced by Kibaki on Monday put ministers from his own party in the key finance, defence, security and justice ministries while Odinga's party did not even get such relatively minor jobs as energy and transport. Odinga really had no option but to resign from the agreement. Almost immediately there were street riots again in Nairobi and those who thought they could soon return to the homes they left during earlier violence will be in despair.