The Memorandum of Understanding between Kibaki and Raila Odinga formed the constitutional foundation of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) and specified the power-sharing arrangements that would govern a post-election government. The MOU promised the Prime Minister position to Raila in exchange for Raila's support for Kibaki's presidential candidacy and for NDP's merger into the NARC coalition. This arrangement was unprecedented in Kenyan politics and reflected the lessons that opposition leaders had learned about the necessity of formal pre-election power-sharing agreements to prevent post-election conflict.
The MOU's terms allocated key ministerial positions and specified the Prime Minister's substantive powers within a NARC government. Rather than leaving power-sharing arrangements to post-election negotiation (which had been the case in previous elections), NARC codified the arrangement before the election. This pre-election agreement was meant to ensure that coalition partners understood their respective positions and to prevent disputes about power allocation from destabilizing the coalition if NARC won.
However, the MOU contained a critical weakness: it was not enforceable through any independent mechanism. Once NARC had won the election and Kibaki had been sworn in as president, Kibaki possessed the authority to ignore the MOU if he chose to do so. The MOU was a political agreement, not a constitutional provision, and without institutional mechanisms for enforcement, it depended entirely on Kibaki's willingness to honor his commitment to Raila. The post-election history revealed that Kibaki was unwilling to honor the arrangement, dealing a devastating blow to the coalition and to Kenyan politics more broadly.
See Also
- 2002 Election
- National Rainbow Coalition (NARC)
- Kibaki's presidency
- Raila Odinga
- 2007 Election tensions
- Power-sharing agreements in Kenya
Sources
- Kanyinga, Karuti (2002). "The National Rainbow Coalition and Democratic Transition in Kenya." https://www.doi.org/10.1093/acprof
- Branch, Daniel (2011). "Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1992-2011." Yale University Press. https://www.yalebooks.com
- International IDEA (2003). "The 2002 General Elections in Kenya: Findings and Recommendations." https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/2002-general-elections-kenya
- Electoral Commission of Kenya (2003). "The 2002 General Elections in Kenya: Official Results." Nairobi: ECK. https://www.eck.or.ke/public-documents/election-results