Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki is facing what some analysts are calling a political crisis. Yesterday, when he announced his list of new cabinet members to fill 30 ministerial posts, two of them turned him down. Though reported to have declined the offer of her former post as minister of health, Charity Ngilu told English to Africa’s Ruby Ofori she is keeping her options open. “I have not rejected the offer actually as minister of health,” she said, adding that she has asked to meet with the president to discuss her concerns about his choice of cabinet members. Ms. Ngilu said the new cabinet line-up is divisive because it excludes important but popular political figures who opposed the president by campaigning against constitutional reform in the referendum held a month ago. She said the president’s cabinet choices were a snub to the voters who did not support constitutional reform. “Removing, excluding some of the leaders from the cabinet who were there because of the way people voted is really to show we are punishing the people much more than the leaders,” she said, adding that she is hoping to raise these issues and the scarce representation of women in the cabinet with President Kibaki, possibly tomorrow.
