MPs intensify lobbying for review seats

By Alex Ndegwa

Jolted by the revolt against the appointment of a 16-member Cabinet action team, it has emerged each province may be represented in Parliament’s Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC).

Joint Chief Whip, Johnstone Muthama, said filling the slots would consider regional balance, with priority for the other seven going to unrepresented parties.

Muthama, also Kangundo MP, said he was aware the Cabinet had proposed membership of the committee be expanded to 21, "but we have not discussed that yet".

"We want to bring everyone on board. The eight provinces will each have a representative. The other seven slots will be shared out with priority to political parties not represented in the committee," Muthama told The Standard on Saturday yesterday.

Muthama’s reassurance is meant to avoid a falling out over the formation of the key House committee, especially among those who supported the new Constitution. Coast and North Eastern MPs have claimed they were left out of the Cabinet sub-committee overseeing the implementation of the new Constitution.

Muthama, who is allied to PNU, and Joint Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo of (ODM), are expected to compile the list of the members of the House committee, which will supervise the yet-to-be formed Commission on Implementation of the Constitution.

The joint Whips are trying to steady the ship, but the coalition partners are pulling in different directions. ODM has vowed to take disciplinary action against party MPs who opposed the new Constitution. Midiwo has stated it is hypocritical for ‘No’ MPs to expect positions.

But Muthama was conciliatory, saying PNU would not exclude anyone on the basis of pre-referendum positions. "We will not consider who did what, or was in which camp in the referendum. We want to move forward as one country," he said.

Perhaps it is this that appears to embolden so-called rebel ODM MPs who, though conceding to the boardroom coup against them by their party, are banking on a showdown in Parliament.

Midiwo and Muthama are expected to forward the list to the House Business Committee for approval before being tabled in the House by the Leader of Government Business and Vice-President, Kalonzo Musyoka for debate.

Yesterday, Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto told The Standard On Saturday they will put up a fight in Parliament. "We are not going to seek favours from anybody," he said.

"The 10th Parliament does not operate on the whims of the two principals. It does not vote blindly along party lines. It has been independent. Members will not entertain these dictatorial tendencies," Ruto said.

Fault Lines

Buoyed by conciliatory talk from PNU, ODM rebels hope to exploit routine coalition fault lines, sympathy from members who frown upon ‘big parties’ harassing members, and the so-called ‘watermelons’.

Ruto who has, however, downplayed their exclusion, dismissed the formed Cabinet team constituted early this week.

"The Cabinet committee is not envisaged in the law. Perhaps the President was appointing a ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ to discuss arrangement of seats at the Uhuru Park ceremony. It is a non-issue to us and at best of nuisance value," Ruto said.

But it is the plot to lock them out of the prized CIOC that has stirred them. Rebel ODM group at one point threatened the tenure of Party Leader, Raila Odinga, as Prime Minister is not guaranteed if they are pushed out.

An ODM minister close to the Prime Minister gave indication MPs who campaigned against the new laws could be excluded. He told The Standard On Saturday it was not possible to include them in the committee to "implement what they opposed".

"If it is an issue of communities in the Rift Valley, there are other members from the same region who were in the ‘Yes’ team. They will certainly be included," said the minister.

On Tuesday, Higher Education Minister William Ruto, Samuel Poghisio (Information) and Naomi Shaban (Gender) were left out of the Cabinet sub-committee expected to monitor implementation of the new Constitution. Twenty-three other ministers did not make it to the committee of 16.

Formation of the Cabinet team, however, triggered a feud in the group that campaigned for the new Constitution. Coast and North Eastern MPs have claimed ministers from their regions were excluded.

Popularity Contest

The discontent is likely to spill over to the formation of the CIOC where the region’s MPs are expected to demand a fair share for delivering the ‘Yes’ vote.

Adding another twist is revelations the tussle for slots could also turn into a contest between ministers and backbenchers.

"We want the same team maintained for continuity. Not a committee packed with ministers," said Ndaragwa MP, Jeremiah Kioni.

Only Mandera Central MP, Abdikadir Mohammed, and Budalang’i MP, Ababu Namwamba, have been picked as chair and deputy.

Justice Minister, Mutula Kilonzo, said he prefers former 27 PSC members take the new positions for "institutional memory". But the minister downplayed potential conflict between ministers and backbenchers.

Yesterday Muthama waved away suggestions MPs who served in the PSC be excluded from the new committee, saying: "They are all Kenyans and should not be discriminated against because of previous service to the nation."

Muthama said they would discuss names to fill the committee after the new Constitution is promulgated on August 27.