Opposition Refuses to Swear Allegiance to Kenyan President in Parliament

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 15, 2008 — -- After promising a showdown like no other, the first parliamentary session since Kenya's embattled elections last month, lacked any knock-down brawls, but tension and drama persisted.

The more than 10-hour session was the first time President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have come face to face since the post-election violence that has killed 600 people and left at least 250,000 Kenyans displaced.

At the swearing-in for members of parliament, Odinga refused to take the oath, swearing allegiance to "the president and the republic of Kenya," instead, omitting the word "president." Members of his party took the opportunity to call Kibaki a thief and a "fraudster" during their swearing-in.

"I swear my allegiance to the president," said member of parliament Ababu Namwamba, as he nodded his head to Odinga.

One of Odinga's deputies, Najib Balala, opened the session by walking into Kenya's National Assembly chambers and announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the president," introducing Odinga to standing applause from his party, which made up nearly half of the parliament. A few minutes later, Kibaki was introduced by the National Assembly clerk.

Electing a speaker of the House and deputy speaker were the first order of business, but members from the opposition Orange Democratic Movement refused to cast their ballots in secret, sharing openly who they voted for with members of the party. Member of parliament James Orengo pulled out a parliamentary rule book and declared that he didn't see where it is legislated that votes for the speaker must be cast in secret.

"We went into the elections with secret ballots," he said. "And you stole the election."

Bickering between the opposition and the government broke out over whether the voting should be continued, or nullified and restarted. The debate quickly turned into heated comments surrounding Kibaki's re-election, which Odinga and his party accuse the government of rigging.

"These members are used to stealing votes, and are not ashamed," said Balala. "That is why we don't want secret ballots."