Kenya sunk deeper into a political crisis Thursday barely a day after President Mwai Kibaki unveiled his new cabinet comprising mainly his cronies and excluded ministers who campaigned for the rejection of the draft constitution during last month's referendum.

At least two ministers and 15 assistant ministers have declined to take their new positions and accused Kibaki of shortchanging their political parties by failing to initiate structured dialogue before making such appointments.

Many observers had expected the president, who a day after conceding defeat in the referendum sacked his entire cabinet in an unprecedented move by a Kenyan leader, to name a unity government composed of both his political foes and allies as a sign of reconciliation.

Local Government Minister Musikari Kombo, who had supported Kibaki's failure push for a new constitution turned down his reappointment and Orwa Ojodeh, also declined the offer to become environment minister after being named to the post.

Ojodeh said he declined the post because the people of western Kenya had been sidelined.

"I was not consulted before this appointment neither was party consulted. I have decided to turn down the offer because it even won't benefit my constituents," Ojodeh told reporters in Nairobi.

Kibaki dismissed his entire team two weeks ago after he lost a referendum on a new constitution -- a vote seen as a protest against him.

The new cabinet is comprised mostly of old friends and colleagues who supported the Kenyan leader in campaigning for the rejected charter.

Kibaki, who rejected all the leading politicians who stood against him and backed the successful rejection of the draft constitution in the November 21 referendum, is reportedly in a crisis meeting at State House, Nairobi.

"You find that in my community, we have been sidelined completely apart from this departmental ministry which has been offered to me," said Ojodeh.

Soita Shitanda, one of the politicians who turned down an assistant ministerial post, said Kibaki had failed to consult his party before offering him the job.

Analysts say Kenya is moving toward very uncertain political times, with opposition parties saying Kibaki should now call an early general election.

The draft constitution was rejected by about 57 percent of voters in the country's first referendum on November 21.

Kombo, who is the chairman of Ford Kenya, a key partner that formed the ruling coalition in 2002, said they were shortchanged and given a raw deal.

The Ford Kenya chairman who snubbed President Kibaki's inclusion in the Cabinet accused him of dishonesty and " shortchanging the party."

"In 2003 we were shortchanged as a party and this year (2005) they have done the same. We are not going to accept any posts offered to the party members," Kombo told reporters in Nairobi.

"The way forward is for the president to call an urgent consultation meeting," said Kombo.

Analysts say Kibaki's exclusion of the former rebel ministers from his cabinet will encourage more opposition to his rule as the dissidents will dislike being shut out of power.

While dismissing his cabinet on November 23, the Kenyan leader said he wanted to reorganize and unite his cabinet, which has hardly met in the last three months and has been sharply split to pass much-needed reforms.

He then indefinitely suspended the scheduled late November reopening of parliament a bid to reassert his political authority.

But Kibaki rejected opposition demands for him to dissolve parliament and call snap polls ahead of the next general elections set for 2007 and then banned rallies it had planned to press its case.

Last week, the opposition including the former seven ministers dropped its call for early elections and instead urged the president to recall parliament next month to begin work on drafting a new constitution that would be more acceptable to the public.

Opponents of the draft, including dissident ministers in the former cabinet, had fought against its adoption as it retained near absolute powers in the office of the president and defied popular demands for significant authority to be devolved to a prime minister.

Analysts attributed the split within Kibaki's shaky coalition to failure to adhere to a pre-election deal that Kibaki's National Alliance Party of Kenya share power with the Liberal Democratic Party.

Source: Xinhua