Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga reached a deal Saturday on a coalition cabinet following protracted talks on implementing a power-sharing deal meant to end the political crisis over a disputed election, officials said.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga, left, looks on as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, right, announces Odinga as the country's new prime minister on Sunday.
(Karel Prinsloo/Associated Press)

The officials said Kibaki and Odinga planned to announce the new cabinet ministers Sunday afternoon. They reached the agreement after seven hours of talks outside the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Kibaki's spokesman, Isaiya Kabira, would not confirm the reports, but said there was a "good chance" a cabinet could be announced Sunday.

Kibaki and Odinga agreed in February to share power after weeks of post-election violence that left more than 1,000 dead and 300,000 displaced. Observers said the Dec. 27 election was so flawed it is impossible to tell who won.

The two leaders had not yet worked out how to implement the accord, with both sides trying to secure the most powerful positions in a new cabinet.

Kibaki and Odinga had earlier said they would announce a new cabinet on April 6, but they did not do so after failing to reach agreement on how to divide power among 40 ministers.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party suspended talks with Kibaki on Tuesday, saying the president must first dissolve the current cabinet and share the posts equally.

The public has grown increasingly impatient with Kibaki and Odinga failing to agree. Protesters angry over the delays scuffled with police for three days this week in Kenya's largest slum, Kibera, the scene of some of the worst post-election violence.

Kibaki and Odinga came under international pressure this week to reach agreement, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoning them and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressing dismay at the delay.