Talks to name cabinet underway.

Talks are underway between incumbent president Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga to pick a new cabinet. However a first meeting between the two men on 25 March delivered no concrete results, dashing hopes that the new government would be named quickly.

Under the terms of the power-sharing accord brokered by former United Nations (UN) secretary general Kofi Annan and Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete at the end of February the leaders now have to craft a new cabinet on a 50-50 basis and with a balance of portfolios. Each of them also has to name a deputy prime minister from their respective parties. Odinga is the premier-designate and will be the head of government while Kibaki will retain the title of head of state.

This is only the second time since independence that Kenyans will have a prime minister named as head of government. The founder of the nation, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, was Kenya