Annan confident Kenyan coalition will hold

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DAR ES SALAAM, March 10 (Reuters) - Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday he was confident that Kenya's broad coalition government would hold despite some difficulties.

Annan told a news conference in Dar es Salaam that Kenya should focus on reforms to tackle corruption and lack of transparency.

"Yes, the coalition in Kenya is going through some hiccups and difficulties, but I do expect it to hold," he said.

"What they have to do is to focus on reforms and to tackle the issues of corruption and transparency ... which will restore their trust."

The government of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga was set up a year ago to end an outbreak of post-election political violence. But it is widely perceived to have dragged its feet on political reforms and allowed corruption to flourish.

To the dismay of Kenyans and foreign donors, a raft of scandals have come to light under the coalition -- notably in skewed distribution of oil and maize, but also in the immigration, tourism and financial sectors.

Analysts say government corruption, or "eating" as Kenyans call it, is the main reason why political factions fight tooth-and-nail for power at election times.

Kenya ranks a lowly 147 out of 190 countries on the Transparency International's 2008 corruption perceptions index. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Kevin Liffey)