By David Clarke NAIROBI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Kenya's coalition government agreed on Thursday to establish a tribunal to judge senior politicians and businessmen accused of organising bloody ethnic violence after a disputed election. An official report into the bloodshed that killed 1,300 people and drove 300,000 from their homes early this year called last month for around 10 people to face a special Kenyan tribunal or be sent for prosecution by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The report by judge Philip Waki sparked a political storm in east Africa's biggest economy and analysts see its implementation as a key test of whether Kenya can break with its corrupt, ethnic-based politics of the past. An official statement said President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga would head a committee "to prepare an implementation work-plan" of the Waki report. The two men lead a power-sharing government set up to end Kenya's worst violence since independence. The cabinet also agreed on Thursday to implement the report of another commission of inquiry which called for extensive reform of the electoral system to avoid a repeat of this year's chaos. The violence erupted after Kibaki and then opposition leader Odinga both claimed victory in a presidential election, but it was rooted in long-standing ethnic and land issues and the huge gulf between rich and poor. Odinga's decision to support the implementation of the Waki report, despite vocal opposition from within his ODM movement, was seen as a signal that Kenya has turned a political page. Waki warned that without fundamental change Kenya could become a failed state. He handed a sealed envelope containing a list of the accused to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to avoid the fate of previous inquiries whose conclusions were swept under the carpet. This move put unprecedented pressure on the government to implement the report despite protests from some of its key supporters. An opinion poll last week said most Kenyans want the accused to be prosecuted, with fewer than 18 percent against the report being implemented in full. It also recommended radical reform of the police, accusing them of rape, incompetence and extrajudicial killings. Kenya's economy has started to recover from the severe damage caused by the electoral turmoil, but experts say only measures to tackle the root causes of the bloodshed will avoid a repeat. (Editing by Barry Moody)
Two Topis fight on the plains of a Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya November 12, 2008. The Topi (Damaliscus korrigum) is an antelope species of the genus Damaliscus. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh ...
