Mr Muthaura is seen to be the man at the heart of high-profile efforts by the government to have the case against Kenyans suspended by the ICC to allow the country to establish new institutions that can try post-election violence suspects at home. Photo/FILE
By MUGUMO MUNENE mmunene@ke.nationmedia.com AND OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, February 5 2011 at 18:03
Civil Service chief Francis Muthaura is no stranger to controversy. He helps run a government headed by a President once described by Uhuru Kenyatta, then an opposition chief, as practising a “hands-off, eyes-off, everything-off” style of leadership.
On his personal website, Mr Muthaura is described as a premier administrator, a diplomat, a tough negotiator, a champion of regional integration, a reformer and a visionary leader, but at all times, he has been and has lived his life as a consummate civil servant.
On his Twitter and Facebook accounts Mr Muthaura refers those who ask questions to his website which lists lists the long and impressive list of offices he has held and what he considers to be his achievements.
Mr Muthaura is seen to be the man at the heart of high-profile efforts by the government to have the case against Kenyans suspended by the ICC to allow the country to establish new institutions that can try post-election violence suspects at home.
He was part of a technical team tasked to advise President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on the selection of the new Chief Justice and Attorney-General. Others were the PS in the Prime Minister’s office Mohammed Isahakia, presidential aide Prof Nick Wanjohi and the PM’s aide Caroli Omondi.
Mr Muthaura would naturally chair the meeting since he was the most senior civil servant on the technical team.
Trial plan
Mr Muthaura was, in effect, driving the process to choose the person who would head the Judiciary that would try him if the government were to succeed in convincing the UN Security Council of the value of trying those charged with organising post-election violence in Kenya rather than at the ICC.
By evening on January 29, there was despair in government circles over what the President would present to his fellow Heads of State at the African Union summit as proof that Kenya was indeed serious in setting up new, credible institutions with the capacity to handle the cases locally.
“It was imperative that the proposals were made before the African Union Heads of State meeting in Addis Ababa. You can understand the reason for this.
"The President has been saying that he would want to have a local mechanism, and he wanted to demonstrate before his colleagues that he was serious on this matter of appointments of new Judiciary officers,” Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka told Parliament February 1.
The rejection of the President’s nominees is at the centre of the current crisis in government. Lawyers are cautioning that Kenya has failed the test of democracy and the rule of law if the current crisis is anything to go by.
“If it was meant to show that we are ready, it has fallen flat because we are going to have a Chief Justice who comes into office in controversial circumstances. We’re trying to set up institutions headed by people whose appointments have been questioned,” said LSK council secretary Apollo Mboya.
Easier option
As one of the powerful men helping the President and the PM find a new CJ and a Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Muthaura is working with the knowledge that if the post-election violence cases were to be tried in Kenya, it would be easier on him.
After ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo named his six suspects, the civil service chief promptly fired back, calling the accusations “manifest nonsense”. Which means he will do anything to scuttle trials at The Hague.
Since being named one of the Ocampo Six, Mr Muthaura has increasingly found himself in an awkward position in office. He is the one person who directly deals with matters under the presidency and often handles official communications, including the weighty matter of the ICC. It is not without reason that he is often described as the power behind President Kibaki’s throne.
Mr Muthaura works closely with government spokesperson Alfred Mutua on matters he needs communicated to the public.
The Sunday Nation asked Dr Mutua how Mr Muthaura was coping with the current crisis and whether he was in a position to carry out his duties without bias.
Dr Mutua said he did not have an answer and promised to arrange an interview with the civil service chief in the coming days.
At a February 2 breakfast meeting with news editors, Mr Odinga was diplomatic about Mr Muthaura’s function and how he was coping with the obvious emotional and mental load Mr Moreno Ocampo had placed on him.
Mr Odinga told the journalists that the question of Mr Muthaura’s continued stay in office was a matter for lawyers.
President Kibaki said on the day his PS was named by Mr Moreno Ocampo that Kenyans should not rush to judge those who stand accused.
While addressing a ceremony in Nairobi last month, Mr Muthaura described December 30th and 31th of 2007 as the “darkest days in my life... As civil servants, we had to ensure that government operations continued and the law was followed.”
Muthaura acknowledged that the ICC matter had weighed heavily on him and asked those present to pray for him.
Mr Muthaura was speaking during the launch of Kamake Gardens Apartments in Nairobi’s Upper Hill. Roads assistant minister Lewis Nguyai and Nairobi PC Njoroge Ndirangu attended the ceremony.
Mr Muthaura is not new to controversy. Kenyans complained when he was named the Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Civil Service that President Kibaki was packing his government with people who should be in retirement.
At the time, the retirement age for government officers was 55. The outrage died down, and Kenyans got used to the President and the people he chose to work with.
The next major storm to come Mr Muthaura’s way was after the formation of the grand coalition government.
How was he going to strike a balance between the two sides since he was used to working for President Kibaki alone? How would he accommodate Prime Minister Raila Odinga?
Soon after the grand coalition government was formed, Mr Muthaura called a press conference where he announced the pecking order of government in which President Kibaki was at the top, followed by the Vice-President and then the Prime Minister.
Given the political temperatures at the time, Mr Odinga’s ODM went on the warpath, raising a host of of complaints and accusing Mr Muthaura of obstructing the proper functioning of government.
At the height of the complaints in 2009, ODM top brass convened a meeting in Naivasha and resolved to seek a parliamentary resolution on whether Mr Muthaura was constitutionally empowered to perform duties as the Head of Public Service.
Mr Muthaura survived the storm as ODM did not live up to its threat to take the dispute to Parliament.
It was not until last December that Mr Muthaura found himself facing what is clearly the most difficult period of his life--being named one of six post-election violence suspects by Mr Moreno Ocampo.
In a recent interview with the Sunday Nation, Dr Mutua defended his boss against accusations that he was involved in crimes against humanity.
“I have to admit that I was utterly disappointed to see someone like Ambassador Muthaura on the Ocampo List. This is personal. I felt personally that it was totally unfair, and a part of me died.
“Some allegations are totally untrue because I was there on the days he was supposed to have done ABCD and he didn’t. So I wonder. To me it looked like a game,” he said.
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