By Katie Nguyen NAIROBI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki is likely to face his main political rival for the first time since disputed polls cast their country into chaos when the newly elected parliament sits on Tuesday. Both Kibaki, 76, and Raila Odinga, 63, are due to be sworn in as legislators in a session sure to be charged with acrimony over the Dec. 27 vote which the opposition says was rigged. The two men have not met since Kibaki's disputed re-election. A wave of post-election violence killed more than 600 people, tarnished the nation's democratic credentials, dented economic growth and shocked world powers and Kenyans alike. The European Union's top aid official said on Monday the EU was considering cutting its aid to Kenya. Another EU official said the 27-nation bloc, one of Kenya's top donors, was considering suspending all aid and imposing sanctions if mediation efforts to resolve the crisis failed. The crisis has prompted a flurry of international reconciliation attempts, with former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan leading the latest push for a solution. But a senior cabinet minister and close Kibaki ally has already rejected Annan's mission, casting a cloud over the veteran diplomat's expected arrival on Tuesday. Western governments, including Britain and the United States, say the presidential vote was flawed. But election observers essentially gave the parliamentary ballot, held the same day, a clean bill of health. Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) won 99 seats in parliament to 43 for Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU), which means Kibaki will have to try to get bills approved by lawmakers who believe his administration is illegitimate. "Some people say they don't recognise the government. Are they going to refuse to get sworn in and if so, what happens next?" said political analyst X.N. Iraki. "It's going to be very acrimonious. We should definitely expect some drama." Some opposition members have vowed to occupy seats on the government side of the house, by force if necessary, guaranteeing a stormy session. Police will cordon off streets in the area to head off any trouble outside. Kenyans are preparing for three days of nationwide ODM demonstrations due to start on Wednesday. The security forces have banned all rallies. Parliament will elect a speaker, but will not begin its official business yet. Analysts say that in the current political climate, Kibaki is likely to keep sittings to a minimum. Many Kenyans have long viewed members of parliament as greedy, selfish and lazy. In 2003, the legislators quadrupled their salaries as their first piece of business. From then on, they rarely raised a quorum of 30 out of 222 MPs -- except when their own salaries were up for debate. Last July, police fired teargas at demonstrators protesting against MPs' plans to award themselves another big pay rise as a "severance package" before the December election. (Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Tim Cocks; Huw Jones and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Tim Pearce)
A mother helps her child prepare for school in Nairobi's Mathare slum January 14, 2008. Schools in the capital re-opened on Monday, after post-election violence delayed the start of the new ...
