NAIROBI, July 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The Kenyan police on Friday banned two political rallies due to take place on Saturday in Nairobi, which are organized by rival factions within the ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) following the delay of enacting a new constitution this week.

    Addressing a news conference in Nairobi, Kenyan Police Commissioner Hussein Ali warned supporters of the factions to stay away from the proposed venues in the capital because of worries of violence.

    "The government has today canceled both rallies. Neither the Kamukunji nor the Uhuru Park rally will be allowed to go on as both rallies pose a direct threat to law and order and could lead to violence and the loss of lives and property," Ali told reporters.

    He said intelligence reports show certain leaders have hired dissident groups to hijack the rallies.

    The Kenyan government has repeatedly promised that the country's 40-year old constitution, which dates back to independence from Britain, will be replaced.

    Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki had also promised to introduce a new constitution within 100 days after coming to power in December2002 but the deadline then slipped to June 30 this year and then further postponed.

    Instead, Kibaki on Wednesday reshuffled the Kenyan cabinet, bringing some people from the former ruling party Kenya African National Union into the government and demoted members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a faction within the ruling coalition party that had been lobbying for a new constitution.

    There has been a mixed reaction to the announcement by Kibaki on the cabinet reshuffle and the postponement of the deadline for a new constitution. Members of parliament in the ruling party said that Kenya could be headed for chaos while others praised Kibaki's call for consensus. Both camps plan rival rallies at the weekend.

    In a surprise television address on Monday, Kibaki announced that the latest deadline would not be met. He blamed the failure to disagreement on key issues and court cases but said he remained committed to having a new constitution.

    But analysts here said that actually the issue of whether to reduce presidential powers has split the ruling NARC.

    At the ongoing Kenyan constitution conference, most of the 629 delegates -- including three cabinet ministers -- voted to trim presidential powers against the government's wishes, proposing the creation of a prime minister's post after the next elections in 2007.

    A leading member of the coalition, Raila Odinga, was promised the new powerful post of prime minister if he agreed to back Kibaki's presidential campaign. But this never happened.

    The LDP party said it will demonstrate in the capital on Saturday against the delay for a new constitution.

    "We have to go ahead with our planned meeting on Saturday despite the police cancellation. So far we have not received any official communication from the government or police," one of the conveners told a news conference Friday afternoon.

    He ruled out the issue of chaos erupting, saying the organizers had so far held several meetings countrywide without chaos. "We have been holding peace meetings countrywide and this won't be the first to go chaotic. We will wear white handkerchiefs as a symbol of peace," he said.

    Responding to the wrangling situation in the country, Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori has made an appeal to organizers of the two public rallies to cancel them and give dialogue a chance.

    He said although freedom of assembly is guaranteed in the constitution, it is not in the interest of the country to proceed with the rallies in view of the charged political atmosphere, saying that the risk of confrontation is high since the two meetings, which are a kilometer apart, have opposing agendas.

    The Kenyan vice president called on Kenyans to rededicate themselves to the service of the nation. Enditem (by Yu Xinchao)