A power-sharing deal between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga is a “triumph for peace and diplomacy,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says.
Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga signed the deal to form a coalition government in Nairobi before the chief mediator, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, and the head of the African Union, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania.
“I applaud the courage that Kenya’s leaders have shown in taking the tough decisions necessary to put Kenya back on the path to the prosperity, democracy and stability which it so richly deserves,” Mr Brown said in a statement.
“Kenya’s leaders have reached a power-sharing agreement that represents a triumph for peace and diplomacy, and a renunciation of the violence that has scarred a country of such enormous potential.
“Commonsense has prevailed, and the Kenyan people have the outcome for which they have hoped and prayed.”
The deal creates the post of prime minister and two deputy prime ministers to end the impasse after disputed presidential elections two months ago that saw violent clashes between their supporters and led to some 1,500 deaths.
- COURTESY OF THE AFP
