Kenya has been sitting on a bomb for 40 years. That bomb exploded only recently, triggered by a fiercely contested and now bitterly disputed December presidential election that has left this once proud nation counting its dead, cleaning debris, and seething with rage.

On the other hand, the month-long chaos could be a necessary catharsis and an ironic opportunity for the East African nation’s rebirth - not a downhill tumble to a Rwanda-like genocide. For starters, a huge relief came Friday when President Mwai Kibaki’s besieged government and Raila Odinga’s opposition party eased earlier rigid claims to have won. A government negotiator said the president’s party was considering sharing power with the opposition, the Associated Press reported.

The vice president, Oginga Odinga, father of current opposition leader Raila, was a Luo. Oginga said the government was becoming corrupt. He tried to start the first opposition party, but was placed under house arrest and labelled a Communist. Another popular Luo leader, Tom Mboya, was killed by a Kikuyu gunman. Luos protested in the streets. The government cracked down. People got killed. And the seeds of tribal suspicion were planted.

Much of the post election violence looks like tribal warfare, but it is really a mass revolt against this chauvinism. Kenya’s post independence generation cares little for tribal tags. Their quarrel is about decades of economic disparity. Parties at the negotiating table now concur that a constitution that prescribes a winner-takes-all government in this historically polarized nation does not work. But a premium is placed on bringing a swift end to the spiralling violence that threatens to turn Kenya into Rwanda. Second, with a Gross Domestic Product of $58 billion, Kenya is the region’s economic engine. A crumbling Kenyan infrastructure will badly affect its mostly landlocked neighbours, giving the whole region a huge incentive to promote peaceful resolution.

Third, unlike Rwanda, Kenya’s ethnic fabric is not woven by only two major tribes. It’s a complex mosaic of 42 tribes with multiple sub tribes, dialects, and customs.

Fourth, since the beginning of multiparty politics in the early 1990s, Kenya has fostered a independent press. It will be hard to stifle this freedom so fiercely guarded by largely Western trained editors.

Kenya boasts the region’s best-trained manpower, abundant resources, and a resilient people. But for 40 years, Kenyan politicians have failed to fundamentally change wobbling systems and institutions. A 15-year haggle over constitutional review ended in a stalemate two years ago. And the disputed Dec. polls finally drove the country into violent gridlock. The

government and opposition are confident that a deal will be signed this week. That would make a fresh start — and give political rivals the opportunity to share credit for finally disarming the bomb that’s threatened Kenya for 40 years. — The Christian Science Monitor