Kenya's power-sharing report card: 'unsatisfactory'

Grignon says that Kenyan politicians risk disaster in next election if they don't start to reconcile communities of the Rift Valley and elsewhere.

"Kenya's elite has to be careful," he warns. "If the Kikuyu displaced people don't have the support from government, they'll turn to the Mungiki (a violent Kikuyu militia) and take their land back. The Kalenjins will respond. Last time they used bows and arrows. Next time they will use guns."

No constitution, yet

One step that would create more trust in the Kenyan government – and perhaps lead Kenyans to resolve their disputes in court rather than in the streets – would be a new constitution. Kenya's current Constitution has the imprint of the strong-arm governmental style of independence leaders like Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi, who often used land and access to government resources to reward their cronies and constituents, and the use of police force to punish critics.

While progress has been slow, several top parliamentarians say that they will have a new constitution by the end of the year. Among the key issues to be addressed is the process for selecting judges. Under the current Constitution, Kenya's judges are hand picked by the president without vetting by parliament. This can become a problem when there are legal disputes between the president and other political leaders, such as last year's flawed election. Mr. Odinga's ODM refused to take their complaints to court, because a judicial panel selected by the president might reasonably be considered as a tool of the president.

But will the new constitution improve things? Njeri Kabeberi, head of the Center for Multiparty Democracy, worries about the proposed "media act," that would have added new layers of censorship.

"Our freedom of expression is no longer guaranteed. People are beaten, tear-gassed, I think the way the police interpret our freedom of expression, they've criminalized those freedoms instead," she says.

But government officials say that Kenyans will receive their new constitution on schedule, and it will strengthen all the freedoms that Kenyans have fought for over the years.

"We know that in the next six months, contrary to what people think, we will have a new constitution," says Alfred Khangtal, the assistant minister to Prime Minister Odinga. "The prime minister and the president work very harmoniously. When a bill goes before the government, like the constitution or any other bill, all that is required is for Kibaki and Raila to talk to their people, and they will agree to it. In the past, the strong opposition would fight against a bill because it was sponsored by the government. Nothing got done."

George Thuo, a top parliamentarian from Kibaki's Party of National Unity, agrees that "we definitely have a road map to attain a constitution, and it's been 20 years that we've attempted to do it."

But given the many fractures within the government, the large number of scandals, and the possibility of leading politicians facing criminal charges last year's political violence, Mr. Thuo cannot guarantee that the constitution will be written by the end of the year. "Are we going to be able to deliver a new constitution?" He shrugs. "Honestly, it's going to be close."

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