" President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga "? Why is Mwai Kibaki president? According to which constitution? Why does Kenya need elections?

".. will meet to decide on the sharing of ministries" ? Please remind us again: Why does Kenya need elections - to determine how ministries are to be shared? Why did Kenya need elections in 2002 - and why were ministries not shared then? Do Kenyans know what they are doing - or would they be better off being ruled directly by someone who knows what he is doing? "balance of high profile ministries was a key element " What balance - in proportion to the number of seats won in the elections by the various parties or according to what the foreign masters want it to be?

OK. Imagine this: One party (ODM) wins say 100 seats in the elections. Another party (PNU) wins say 40 seats. Then FAIRNESS to these clowns means 50-50 sharing of the ministries between the winners and the losers - with the top position of the presidency going to the loser. WHAT? Do the citizens of Kenya VIEW this scenario as fair? Should we care? Or de we expect to cow then into acceptance?

What precedence are we setting here? Tell us, KENYANS - will the same thing be observed in the year 2012? Would the same kind of "sharing" have been fair to Kibaki in 2002? Is a cult of the strongman being institutionalized (by foreigners and Kofi Annan) in the already corrupt and bankrupted Kenya? What did the constitution under which the elections were held say about the prevailing situation and why are the criminals rewarded and NOT punished?

we have set a very dangerous precedent which will be replacated all over africa if not the world.

The most dangerous precedent ever set was that violence earns you a seat at a negotiating table or at least the appearance that this is so. Although the putatative losers in the 2007 poll probably did not instigate any violence in their personal capacities they definitely did not do enough to stem it (and by that read they did nothing whatsoever).It is this perceived use of the "mass action" as a bargaining chip that is the most dangerous precedent ever set in Kenyan history.

Genuine mass action is an acceptable vehicle of political expression but in Kenya where it was accompanied by homicidal looting squads this threat seemed a bit more like blackmail and a little less democratic.

But that is all water off a duck's back. The important issue with the division of all the ministerial positions is not a strict adherence to parliamentary ratios but a perceived fairness. Going forward what matters is not lip-service to the "people's choice" but an authentic attempt at uplifting the living standards of all kenyans to an acceptable minimum.

A few issues: " ..the putative losers in the 2007 poll ... " Who are they and do they know themselves?

"The important issue with the division of all the ministerial positions is not a strict adherence to parliamentary ratios but a perceived fairness." ... Nice sentiment. It is also tempting to opine that Kenya is governed according to a set of principles - call it 'the rule of law' - that permeates their "way of life as they know it". The elections 2007 were held under a constitution that was in place at the time. Were its provisions (under the "rule of law") NOT observed? If fraud/crimes were committed in elections 2007 then what does that constitution say to that situation? Why adhere to 'ratios' that are not addressed by THAT constitution? Why should we assume that the "rule of law" will EVER be observed in Kenya - under the current or ANY other constitution and judicial system?

We may yet recognize Kenya to be a "failed state"

" ... what matters is not lip-service to the "people's choice" but an authentic attempt at uplifting the living standards .." That is rhetoric. It is implicit here that the people cannot determine what is good for them - and that the electoral process may be subordinated to the whims of a benevolent strongman who would tell the starving people that he wants to make an attempt. Cynical. [Maybe thats how the people came up with the guillotine]

In matters that affect the livelihood of millions and indeed the survival of the nation, "attempt" is NOT enough. And you probably don't know what you mean by "authentic". We may differ as to what constitutes "an authentic attempt". To the people in Central province, Kenyatta-Kibaki-Karume axis made a commendable "authentic attempt" at lifting up the living standards of ALL Kenyans - by lifting up those of the Gikuyu-Embu-Meru first (through cronyism, tribalism, corruption and land-grabbing) then the rest MAY or may not follow in time - if at all.

Others, the non-GEMA, may question their tribalism. And as of Jan 2008 the rejection of that supremacist GEMA stance was evident to all except the GEMA-Mungiki and their UK-USA masters.