By Oliver Mathenge omathenge@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Tuesday, February 22 2011 at 21:00
In Summary
- Top guns and allies held a series of meetings that led to the President’s move
President Kibaki’s withdrawal of the controversial list of nominations was the culmination of a series of high stakes meeting by PNU leaders and their allies.
The meetings started at the Palacina Hotel on Monday night and went on yesterday at the same venue with a luncheon at the Panafric Hotel.
Ironically, it was suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto who stepped in on Tuesday morning when he convened a meeting at 9am at the Palacina Hotel to discuss the option of withdrawing the nominations and skipping Prime Minister Raila Odinga in appointments to some of the positions.
Among those who attended the morning meeting at the Palacina were Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Cabinet Ministers Kiraitu Murungi and Amos Kimunya and a host of MPs.
Sources at the meeting said the discussions were meant to stem the row over the nominations before it escalated to levels difficult to control.
The meetings also discussed how to deal with Mr Odinga and his party ODM and what motions should be tabled.
After the meeting, Mr Ruto, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Murungi went to meet the President at Harambee House to brief him on the latest position and the need to withdraw the names.
It is understood the President agreed with the idea, which was later communicated to some PNU MPs who were meeting at the Panafric Hotel.
The final meeting was a larger PNU meeting at the KICC, which was attended by, among others, Cabinet Ministers Najib Balala and Hellen Sambili and ODM chairman Henry Kosgey.
The President, who walked from the Harambee House office to KICC, arrived in the company of Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his advisers.
Sources said Mr Ruto conducted the meeting that agreed on a tactical retreat by withdrawing the names and letting the Judicial and Public Service commissions to play a key role in the recruitment of the Chief Justice (DJ), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Controller of Budget. The principals, it was agreed, will nominate the Attorney General (AG).
“It was our view that the President should invoke Article 166 on the appointment of the Chief Justice since this is what ODM was demanding, but this does not mean that the battle is over. We just agreed that let the country move forward, but we have to continue fighting,” one of the sources said.
It also emerged that from the meetings, the PNU side had resolved to push the PM from the position using Parliament and motions to that effect had already been drafted.
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