PNU Big Three take a hit over secret meeting

By Standard Reporter

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, and Internal Security Minister George Saitoti have been accused of secretly handpicking members of the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC).

The three senior PNU leaders allegedly ignored the House Standing Orders requiring them to consult parliamentary parties, precipitating a crisis in the party.

Mr Kalonzo, Mr Uhuru and Prof Saitoti allegedly met at Norfolk Hotel where sources said they agreed on the list presented by the Vice-President in Parliament on Thursday afternoon.

The list raised acrimony in the House after members demanded that a more inclusive one be constituted for their approval.

Parliament was forced to adjourn until Tuesday, when a new list is expected to be tabled by Kalonzo, who is the Leader of Government Business in the House.

On Friday, the President’s party emerged from a crisis meeting confident it had stemmed a falling out over nominees to a crucial parliamentary committee, the latest threat to unity for the troubled coalition.

But after all the hullabaloo, only one change was made and the list to be tabled next week would largely be the same one rejected on Thursday.

Kimilili MP David Eseli Simiyu was nominated to replace Kathiani MP Wavinya Ndeti.

During the PNU Parliamentary Group meeting held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Kalonzo, Uhuru, and Saitoti pledged to work together to build a formidable political force.

Kalonzo and Saitoti separately acknowledged holding secret talks on Thursday together with Uhuru to try and heal rifts in the fledgling coalition and chart the way forward to a successful union.

During the stormy Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by Kalonzo at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre on Friday, members of the PNU coalition argued for over four hours before finally agreeing on the initial list of 13, but with one alteration.

Ms Ndeti (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) was replaced with Dr Eseli of Ford-Kenya to ensure representation for the Western Province that had been left out.

Gender balance

On Friday, Kalonzo, who left before the meeting ended to attend to other official engagements, Uhuru, and Saitoti assured the PNU MPs that they had resolved to work together to forge unity in the troubled PNU coalition.

Kalonzo acknowledged that the meeting was to lay ground for the Parliamentary Group meeting to stop divisions rocking PNU.

Sources told The Standard on Saturday that the meeting opened on a stormy note, with furious members putting the leadership to task for unilaterally picking party representatives to the CIOC.

They rubbished the 13-member list tabled by Kalonzo on Thursday, opening free-for-all proposal for replacement of names.

They included calls for Kanu Nominated MP Amina Abdallah to be replaced by the party’s Wajir West MP Adan Keynan.

At the end of the heated exchanges, PNU remained with eight slots, ODM-Kenya two, Kanu one, while Ford-Kenya and Safina one.

The only ministers proposed in the committee, Beth Mugo and Chirau Ali Mwakwere were also in the crosshairs of the MPs who questioned why PNU chose them yet ODM-allied ministers had been excluded.

A proposal to drop Amina and Mugo was reportedly dropped in the interest of gender balance.

Another suggestion to swap PNU vice-chairman Mwakwere with Garsen MP, Danson Mungatana (Narc-Kenya’s secretary-general), was stopped in its tracks because it would tinker with party allocations.

It was argued that opening up the list to effect changes would create problems, since those already named would not give up their slots, without putting up a fight. The threat by MPs from Eastern Province to pull out of the PNU coalition if any of their representatives was ejected from the committee complicated matters.

At the centre of the Thursday row were protests within PNU that Eastern Province got the lion’s share, with five of 13 positions.

Runyenjes MP, Cecily Mbarire, and her Yatta counterpart, Charles Kilonzo, had threatened to lead a protest of Eastern MPs against those from central Kenya if changes were effected.

Gender balance

“They want Eastern to surrender two names because they want to replace them with their brothers in Rift Valley, but if any is removed, then the marriage is over,” said Kilonzo.

Mbarire also threatened that very serious political implications could emerge if such changes were made on Tuesday.

Faced with this dilemma, members are understood to have opted for the status quo, albeit sacrificing Wavinya – who is seen as a rank outsider for her perceived closeness to ODM – with Eseli.

MPs were reportedly satisfied that they had made a point to the party leadership — that it would no longer be business-as-usual and that unilateral decisions would not be tolerated.

The party top brass assured their troops that the PNU coalition would be holding constant consultative meetings. While addressing the Press, Kalonzo, Uhuru, and Saitoti stressed the renewed unity of purpose to steer the coalition to be a political force.

“As a result of the consultations we had yesterday with my brothers Uhuru and Saitoti, we are meeting in order to get together as members of the PNU coalition,” Kalonzo said.

Uhuru said the meeting had resolved to hold regular meetings to exchange views and consolidate the coalition.

“As leaders, we vow to take a common stand to ensure we are united going forward in the implementation of the new Constitution. We want to ensure we have one solid team,” Uhuru said.

The Kanu chairman invited Saitoti to buttress the unity show. “The three of us, I, Uhuru, and Kalonzo had a breakfast meeting to deliberate how to work together as a team in PNU. We have decided we are going to move together as a team,” Saitoti said.