The bitter rivalry created after President Mwai Kibaki overruled Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the suspension of two Cabinet Ministers is now set to spill over to Parliament after a section of Rift Valley MPs said they would push for Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka to head the House Business Committee (HBC).
Cherengany MP Joshua Kutuny said they would file a Motion to have Mr Musyoka appointed the Leader of Government Business.
“We will give notice of a Motion when Parliament reconvenes. We will have the Vice President as our Leader of Government Business, and you will see more surprises when Parliament re-opens,” he said.
The House Business Committee which determines the order of business to be transacted by Parliament is chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly after the president appointed Mr Musyoka to head the committee while PM Raila Odinga named himself to chair it.
Speaker Kenneth Marende said he would chair the committee until an agreement was reached.
Mr Odinga who has increasingly been isolated by MPs from the Rift Valley will now face fresh opposition after they said they would back Mr Musyoka for the position.
PNU member and Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua also said: “Next Tuesday when we go back to Parliament, the first thing we will do is to install the Leader of Government Business so that we can have a sense of direction.”
The anti-Odinga MPs are opposed to his suspension of Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Sam Ongeri of Education over alleged corruption in their ministries.
They have accused the PM of misinterpreting the law saying the President was the only authority mandated to sack or ask Ministers to step aside.
Mosop MP David Koech said: “Never shall we ever in this country allow a (school) principal to suspend or interdict a teacher. It is done by the appointing authority.”
Marakwet East MP Jebii Kilimo said she did not understand why Mr Odinga had invited former UN Chief Kofi Annan to mediate the current stand off explaining that there was no serious crisis in the government.
“He thinks he was born a leader. There are others who were born to be leaders… why is it that when it is something affecting him, he cries to an outsider and he wants leadership in this country? He should call it a day when the sun is still shining on his political career,” she asserted.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister (ODM) Musalia Mudavadi said Mr Odinga had written to Mr Annan asking him to come to Kenya to resolve the political impasse between him and the President.
Mr Annan has already scheduled a visit to Kenya to attend the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Conference scheduled for mid March.
Gem MP and ODM Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo supported Mr Odinga’s decision (to suspend Mr Ruto and Mr Ongeri) saying he was an equal partner with the President.
He said just like the President had powers to fire, the Prime Minister too has the same since they worked under a 50-50 agreement.
“I understand the Accord. I know what is to coordinate and supervise… I have never even thought Mr Odinga is junior to Mr Kibaki. Even a two-year-old will tell you Raila and Kibaki are equal partners in government,” he said.
He said the Attorney General misinterpreted the law when he said the PM erred in suspending the two Ministers.
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A.d 2010 february 9th:
ReplyDeleteOdinga lecturers professor ongeri and professor karega mutahi, telling them that investigations start by suspecting everyone (in other words, guilty before innocent). He tells them to step aside to allow investigations and says that were it his own brother, he would do the same.
A.d 2010 february 10th:
A report leaks that implicates railas p.a and p.s were involved in stealing from the kenya public kshs 6billion through inflated maize prices. The report from the pwc specifically mentions railas p.a caroli omondi
A.d 2010: february 11th
Odinga says he has not studied the pwc report and that he needs time to study it. The truth of the matter is, the report arrived at his desk in december 2009 and he knew all about the corrupt deals taking place in his office from as far back as 2008.
A.d 2010: february 11th
Another report from the parliamentary committee on agriculture chaired by john mututho says that raila chaired the adhoc committee that gave a go-ahead to afrigil pty to steal maize from kenyans. Afrigil was not among the 123 companies that submitted a tender neither was it among the 5 shortlisted ones.
A.d 2010 february 12th
Odinga says that “we should not sacrifice the innocent“ and we should wait for investigations to go the full course. In other words innocent till proven guilty. However, when it is apparent that he is directly involved in the maize scam, he tells his p.a caroli and p.s to step aside.
A.d 2010 february 14th
In a bid to keep the scrutiny of his nefarious theiveing ways from the public, he “consults with kibaki”- just that the kenyan public have never known that james orengo and otieno kajwang were also called kibaki. James orengo kibaki and so on.. After consulting “kibaki” he ostensibly is guided to suspend ongeri and ruto. When asked by the media whether he consulted kibaki, he says yes.
A.d 2010 february 14th
The other kibaki ie mwai kibaki, reverses the decision of suspending Ongeri and ruto because odinga has no powers to do so. However it is quite clear that odinga was involved in maize theft. He told others to resign, yet he couldnt take his own medicine as the biggest culprit. 2 reports from pwc and psc mention him directly as the beneficiary of inflated maize prices. In an interview with bbc, he says that he doesnt need to consult kibaki. But wait,..i thought he said he consulted kibaki? well….he did, but not the kibaki you thought. He meant that he consulted james orengo kibaki..
A.d 2010 February 15th
Odm declares a national accord crisis and call for Kofi Annan to return.Creating a new scandal Aimed at covering up the Maize scandal and the Prime Ministers involvement …..
A.d 2010 February 16th
ODM Writes to the CoE disowning the parliamentary select committee draft constitution(further creating new drama)
.. Anyway, long story. Raila Odinga was the architect of the Maize Scandal everything else is just high political drama to hide that fact