By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Thursday, November 25 2010 at 22:16
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga walked a neutral path in naming the heads of the two crucial commissions in the implementation of the Constitution.
The President and the Prime Minister dealt a blow to the wishes of political allies and public perception by appointing lawyer Charles Nyachae to head the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution and former Central Bank of Kenya governor Micah Cheserem to chair the Commission on Revenue Allocation.
Many of their political allies and supporters thought the President and premier would appoint people who had been part of their political struggle.
Perhaps that is why media reports had indicated that the President’s allies wanted him to stand by his coalition advisor, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, while Mr Odinga was to push for the appointment of Moi University law lecturer Mutakha Kangu — a key member of his political think-tank.
But sources close to the leaders say their allies were radical in their push, stating that it was either “one of them or nothing”.
Running for the top post of the Implementation Commission were Prof Kibwana, Mr Kangu, Mr Nyachae and Ms Raychelle Omamo.
In the race for the chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation were Mr Cheserem, Dr David Ndii — a reputable economist — and Retirement Benefits Authority boss Edward Odundo.
Stalemate had ensued
As late as 5pm on Wednesday, their aides were sure there was a stalemate during a meeting between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga over the names and a small team had been quickly formed to strike a deal satisfactory to both.
They said each of the two leaders wanted their advisors to head the Implementation Commission, which would have amounted to a political decision.
There was a stalemate, the aides said, with regard to the chairman of the Commission on Revenue Allocation, where the President and the Prime Minister failed to agree on who between Mr Cheserem and Dr Ndii would take the chairman’s seat.
Sources at the Office of the President and that of the Prime Minister said the two leaders chose to ignore the pressure from their allies as they decided to prove the media and critics wrong.
This meant that Prof Kibwana, Mr Kangu and Ms Omamo were edged out by this decision, just as were Dr Ndii and Mr Odundo.
Does not feature
President Kibaki and Mr Odinga had chosen to go for nominees who were perceived as “non-political”.
That is how Mr Nyachae, a lawyer who cannot easily fit in the PNU-ODM political divide, was named to head the Implementation Commission, while Mr Cheserem, a tough-talking former CBK governor, who also does not feature in the PNU-ODM radar, was handed the Commission on Revenue Allocation.
This compromise showed that the two leaders had defied the overtures of their allies to chose people who will lead the commissions without political shadows hovering over their heads.
The same spirit of neutrality applied to the names of members to the Implementation Commission.
Apart from Prof Peter Wanyande and lawyer Kamau Waiganjo, who have some connections with the PM and the President, respectively, other nominees have no political inclinations.
And this should be the way that the two principals lead the implementation of the new Constitution.
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