By Daniel Wallis
May 6 (Reuters) - A year after it was formed to end post-election violence, Kenya's coalition government is reeling from crisis to crisis as both sides bicker over sharing power.
Investors are watching the following issues closely:
MORE GOVERNMENT RIFTS?
The unity administration of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the former opposition leader, has been plagued by squabbling from the start. No one forecasts a return to the bloodshed that followed the December 2007 poll but the discord has dismayed Kenyans and international donors while effectively halting government business in parliament.
East Africa's biggest economy is a trade and transport hub, so any more unrest in Kenya will be felt across the region. Business leaders in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda are worried about political instability.
WHO WILL FILL IMPORTANT POSTS?
At the centre of the infighting is the issue of who will lead government business in parliament, a powerful position previously held by Kenya's vice president.
The parliament speaker declined to rule on the dispute last week, forcing Kibaki and Odinga back to the negotiating table.
Veteran lawyer and Kibaki ally Mutula Kilonzo was named this week as the new justice minister. He replaces Martha Karua, who quit in anger at the slow pace of political reforms.
Kilonzo must sort out wrangles over setting up a special tribunal for perpetrators of the post-election violence. A bill failed to pass in the last parliamentary session with many legislators saying they did not trust the judicial system. If it is not established, the 10 primary suspects are meant to face trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
ECONOMIC PROSPECTS?
Kenya's $35 billion economy is double the size of the region's next biggest, Tanzania. It has grown at an average of 5.5 percent annually until last year's violence, which helped push the rate down to about 2.3. The World Bank said last month it expects 2-3 percent growth in 2009.
Lower export earnings, reduced remittances from Kenyans abroad, fewer foreign direct investments and potentially less overseas development assistance are all seen taking their toll.
Kenya's shilling has slumped by more than a quarter against the dollar over the last 12 months to trade at around 78.25/35 on Tuesday. It touched a low of 80.30 in late March.
STOCK MARKET ACTIVITY?
The Nairobi Stock Exchange, Africa's fifth biggest bourse, has seen a steep fall recently after years of growth. The decline is blamed on the global financial crisis and corporate governance problems that saw two brokerages fall in two years.
The NSE index has lost almost 47 percent over the last year. In February, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta overhauled the board of the regulatory Capital Markets Authority and has called for similar action with the NSE board.
The CMA head says Kenya will speed up plans to demutualise and float the bourse to boost investor confidence.
The government also intends to privatise its stake in more than 26 firms through strategic partnerships or share issues.
They include the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (Kengen), Kenya Ports Authority, which runs operations at Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast, and Kenya Pipeline Company, which manages the only oil pipeline from there to the capital Nairobi.
FLOWERS, TEA AND TOURISM
Horticulture is the biggest foreign exchange earner, bringing in $923.5 million last year, up 29 percent compared with the year before. The global crisis is dimming the sector's prospects though.
Kenya is the world's top black tea exporter and the leaves are its second largest source of hard currency. This week officials said production had fallen 7 percent in the first quarter of 2009 due to dry weather.
In third place is tourism but visitor numbers to Kenya fell 30.5 percent to 729,000 last year because of the turmoil.
REGIONAL RELATIONS
Kenya hopes to benefit from increased regional commerce through the five-nation East African Community, which wants a common market by 2010. The EAC, which also includes Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, covers more than 121 million people and has a combined gross domestic product of more than $57 billion.
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda launched a customs union in 2005 that Rwanda and Burundi are due to join in July. The bloc wants to set up a monetary union, then a political federation.
The government last month invited bids on a feasibility study on a proposed new transport corridor linking its northern coast with neighbouring nations.
SOMALI SPILLOVER?
The government is worried about al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia slipping across the desert border.
Pirates have hijacked ships going to and from Mombasa port.
THE MUNGIKI GANG?
The Mungiki crime gang, which is notorious for extortion rackets as well as beheading or skinning its victims, is causing havoc, sometimes bringing traffic and business to a standstill.