Kenya expects to seal deal on power sharing today

A POLITICAL deal to end Kenya’s post-election crisis is expected today, with the two sides having largely agreed on a government structure, including a prime minister’s post, officials said yesterday.

The prime minister’s post is a huge demand of the opposition, which accuses President Mwai Kibaki of stealing the December 27 election. The agreement could mark a breakthrough in a political crisis that has unleashed weeks of violence leaving more than 1,000 people dead.

The election, which observers say was rigged, returned Kibaki to power for a second five-year term after opposition leader Raila Odinga’s lead evaporated overnight. The controversy has stirred grievances over land and poverty that have bedeviled Kenya since independence in 1963.