Kenya: Feuding parties agree to rewrite the constitution

(SomaliNet) In an effort to end post-election violence, Kenya\'s feuding parties have agreed to rewrite the constitution within a year.

However, the parties have yet to strike a deal on power-sharing, a government negotiator said on Thursday.

Talks were earlier adjourned until Monday, dashing chief mediator Kofi Annan\'s hopes of a final political settlement this week to resolve a crisis sparked by President Mwai Kibaki\'s disputed re-election.

Over 1 000 people have died and 300 000 have been driven from their homes in turmoil that has shattered Kenya\'s image as one of Africa\'s most stable democracies.

\"Both parties reached agreement on a wide-ranging sphere of issues affecting the country, among them being to write a new constitution within a year,\" government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo told reporters.

But the two sides have yet to strike a deal on the most contentious issue - the structure of the government.

Kilonzo said the parties agreed on \"serious constitutional, legal and institutional reforms\" in a four-page document, but gave no further details.

Opposition officials declined to comment on the record. Annan\'s spokesperson also declined to comment.

The former UN chief is due to brief the press on Friday.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga accuses Kibaki\'s team of rigging the December 27 vote while Kibaki says he won fairly.

Kenyans have been calling for a new constitution since the early 1990s to replace one dating back to the eve of independence from Britain in 1963, which critics say fosters graft and tribalism because of the president\'s immense powers.

The last attempt to pass a new constitution failed in 2005 when Kenyans rejected a government-backed draft in a referendum.-Reuters