Some twelve months after a Grand Coalition government was created in Kenya as an answer to the violence which followed disputed elections, an undercurrent of dissatisfaction remains. The president and the prime minister have been powerless to discipline members of their own parties for fear of upsetting the delicate political balance, and it appears from newspaper reports that a number of members of parliament have taken the opportunity to engage in grand corruption with impunity.
In recent weeks there have been a number of public disagreements within the Grand Coalition government, and there remains the ever-present threat that the country will revert to violence. Support for the power-sharing arrangement has dropped from 77% to 33%, and most Kenyans now favour early elections to resolve the conflicts. However, the government has so far failed to agree on how to appoint a new electoral commission.
Members of parliament are currently scheduled to return for the Third Session of the Tenth Parliament, and they have a number of divisive and politically very difficult decisions to make, including establishment of an electoral body and creation of a special tribunal to try people accused of involvement in last year’s post-election violence. Kenya’s political future may well be determined in the next few weeks.