Kenya signs political reform into law

KENYA’S president signed a new constitution into law yesterday that institutes a US-style system of checks and balances and has been hailed as the most significant political event since Kenya’s independence nearly a half century ago.

Kenya’s new constitution is part of a reform package that President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga committed to after signing a power-sharing deal in February 2008. That deal ended violence that killed more than 1,000 people following Kenya’s disputed December 2007 presidential vote.

“This is the most important day in the history of our nation since independence,” said the 78-year-old Kibaki.