Kibaki announces half new cabinet amid crisis

By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced part of his new cabinet on Tuesday, including Amos Kimunya as finance minister, amid a political crisis that has cost nearly 500 lives.

"I have considered the importance of keeping the country united, peaceful and prosperous under a strong, broad-based leadership," Kibaki said in a televised address to the nation.

Kimunya, a 45-year-old accountant, has been Kibaki's finance minister since February 2006.

His biggest challenge will be to push government spending proposals through parliament, where Kibaki's Party of National Unity is in a minority after a December 27 election.

Twenty of Kibaki's ministers lost their seats in the parliamentary poll, held the same day as a presidential ballot which the opposition says Kibaki rigged.

The disputed presidential result unleashed more than a week of chaos and violence.

Among the ministers Kibaki named on Tuesday was Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, who ran against Kibaki for president and came a distant third behind Kibaki and his main rival Raila Odinga.

He was appointed vice-president and home affairs minister.