By Wangui Kanina NAIROBI, June 11 (Reuters) - Kenya's fragile coalition government faced its most significant test yet on Wednesday with the two major parties competing in five by-elections to determine who will command a majority in parliament. Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Party (ODM) and President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) are each seeking to boost their numbers in parliament. But analysts fear violence could mar the exercise. The by-elections are to fill seats where two ODM legislators were shot dead and another two constituencies that remained undeclared during the chaotic aftermath of Kenya's disputed December presidential election. The fifth seat is that of Kenya's parliamentary speaker, who resigned from his constituency after clinching the speaker's chair. Another two ODM legislators -- Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Home Affairs Assistant Minister Lorna Laboso -- were killed in a plane crash on Tuesday. Flags flew at half-mast on Wednesday in mourning. Odinga and Kibaki formed a coalition government in April, with Odinga, a former political prisoner, becoming only the second prime minister of Kenya since the east African country won independence from Britain in 1963. "Most of the (by-election) seats were already ODM's ... It is PNU who is trying to gain territory, while ODM tries to hold on to theirs," said political analyst Gitau Warigi. ODM won 99 seats to 43 for PNU in the December vote. But in practice it is an even split because Kibaki-allied legislators from other parties added to PNU's numbers make up half the parliament. ETHNIC VIOLENCE Campaigns for the by-elections were marred by some violence among supporters, but nothing like the full-scale fighting earlier this year. Kilgoris constituency in the Rift Valley was expected to be a flashpoint due to tension between Maasais -- who believe the area to be their ancestral land -- and the Kipsigis, who settled in the area. "The risk of violence in Kilgoris, in my opinion, is still greater then any other place," Warigi said. "You can see the sentiments are still very strong. It is not just a party fight, it has very strong tribal undertones." Western diplomats have warned they do not want a repeat of the bloodshed after Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing the December election, sparking off two months of violence that killed around 1,300 people and displaced 300,000. In Nairobi's Embakasi constituency, ODM supports former beauty queen Esther Passaris, who made headlines by providing street lighting in the city centre and slums to fight crime. The outlawed Mungiki gang, which runs the streets of that constituency, has also pledged to support her. Results were due overnight or early on Thursday. (Editing by C. Bryson Hull and Catherine Evans) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
A woman is robbed as she returns with goods in the Kibera slum after post-election riots in Nairobi, in this January 5, 2008 file photo. To the outside world, life in ...
