KENYAN Prime Minister Raila Odinga took oath Thursday at the head of a new coalition government after a political crisis that unleashed violence in which more than 1,500 people died.

Odinga was sworn in as prime minister before his rival President Mwai Kibaki and former UN chief Kofi Annan, who mediated the power-sharing accord aiming to curb months of violence after contested December 27 presidential polls.

Also present were presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi.

The new government is made up of 93 ministers and assistant ministers, sparking complaints that it is too big for a nation where 60 percent of the people earn less than a dollar a day.

Former UN secretary general Annan on Wednesday urged Kenyans to support the new government, saying the deeply divided country had a long way to go after the crisis that ruined its reputation as a bastion of stability in a region beset by conflict.

Annan brokered a 50-50 power-sharing deal between Kibaki and opposition leader Odinga on February 28, paving the way for the cabinet.

(SD-Agencies)