By David Mageria

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's parliament voted on Friday to preserve the bulk of the president's powers under a new constitution, in a move likely to anger many ordinary Kenyans and deepen divisions in the ruling coalition.

In a heated parliamentary session, 102 MPs voted in favor, while 61 voted against amendments to an original draft of the new constitution which would have curbed the president's powers.

Three days of clashes between riot police and protesters outraged over President Mwai Kibaki's handling of the constitutional reform, have left one person dead and many more injured in the capital Nairobi.

The government welcomed the vote, calling it a landmark in Kenya's efforts to change the constitution for the first time since independence from Britain in 1963.

"We are very happy," Justice Minister Kiratu Murungi told Reuters. "We are sure that by the end of the year, we will have a new constitution."

But the opposition said the protests showed many Kenyans were against the amendments that left Kibaki with sweeping powers.

"The events of the last few days clearly show that many Kenyans are not happy with the process, I hope that the government side will see that," opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Fourteen people were charged in court on Thursday with various offences related to the demonstrations in which police fired teargas and looters went on a rampage through Nairobi's rubble-strewn streets.

The unauthorized protests have galvanized disillusionment with Kibaki's rule, characterized by his failure to make good on election promises to end corruption, tribal politics and deliver a new constitution within 100 days of coming to power.

"The protests are really a case of pent-up frustration," said Patrick Kiage, political commentator and Nairobi lawyer.

"Kenyans were promised a people-driven constitutional review process, but all of that has come to nothing because parliament has decided what will go in the constitution."

Lawmakers wrangled late into Thursday night in an acrimonious session that was extended to beat a deadline on the vote. It was only the second time in post-independence history that parliament had sat so late.

Kenyans will vote to accept the new constitution in November. If it passes it will be promulgated on December 12.

DISILLUSIONMENT

Kibaki was elected on a wave of euphoria in December 2002, wooing voters disenchanted with the sleaze and mismanagement that pervaded predecessor Daniel arap Moi's 24 years in power.

Two and a half years on, many Kenyans accuse Kibaki of failing to live up to his promise of using the new constitution to trim his powers and set up a prime minister's post to take over some of his duties.

Kibaki supported the post in opposition, but has since backtracked on the idea of another center of power to exist during his rule.

Critics see his stance as a throwback to the strong-arm rule of Moi. It has divided the ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) between supporters from Kibaki's powerful Kikuyu tribe and those who back Liberal Democratic Pary leader Raila Odinga, a Luo.

Odinga, a popular figure, who sits in Kibaki's coalition was promised the prime minister's job.

However, one political analyst said a government with two centers of power would not serve the east African country's 32 million people.

"If you have a strong Kikuyu president and a strong Luo prime minister, there's a chance they will pull this ethnically divided country in two directions," Ahmed Nasir Abdullahi said.

(Additional reporting by Katie Nguyen)

Source: REUTERS

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