Kibaki, PM set for fresh talks over key nominations

By MARTIN MUTUA

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are expected to meet on Monday to resolve the crisis caused by their disagreement over nominations to key constitutional offices.

The meeting scheduled for Monday morning, according to sources close to the two principals, will explore the options open for the two principals to find an easy way out of the mess and lower political temperatures.

Their nominations row has been a bad start for the new Constitution, and there is hope the two leaders may wish to reach an amicable solution.

The options open to them include redrawing the list before Kibaki forwards new names to Parliament.

Another option is to renegotiate the position of Chief Justice, which appears to be the most contentious of the four jobs that kicked off the latest for ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to pursue Ruto if he becomes PM, and that by the time elections are over next year, a local tribunal will have been set up to try the "Ocampo Six".

To achieve this, the Ruto-led rebel MPs plan to strike at the heart of the National Accord that saved Kenya from burning in 2007-2008, following post-election violence triggered by a disputed presidential election.

They plan to play the card of numbers, with the help of Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and force an amendment to the National Accord, by claiming Raila no longer commands a majority allegiance in ODM.

The party has been torn down the middle since the differences between Raila and Ruto, who is one of the deputy party leaders, came into the open.

But Ruto and his allies, who previously announced that they were planning to quit ODM, and would register or join another party, appear to have ditched that plan in favour of removing Raila as PM.

Easy task

With collaboration from President Kibaki’s PNU MPs, Ruto’s allies claim it will be an easy task to remove Raila as PM.

The chairman of the Rift Valley Parliamentary Group Dr Julius Kones (Konoin) said there was an advanced plan to effect changes in the coalition structure.

Kones said they would get support from PNU MPs to pass an amendment to the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, which entrenched the coalition government.

Kones said the accord made Raila the PM on the basis that he had the biggest number of MPs behind him, a situation, he says, has now changed.

"If it means repealing the accord then we will act and move with speed to replace the PM. It is wrong for him to hold on to the office as the country’s premier," the Konoin MP added.

Dujis MP Aden Duale who spoke to The Standard said that Raila’s supporters do not have the numbers to allow him to continue holding the position of Prime Minister.

"The National Accord gives the position to the leader of the biggest number of MPs and as it stands now Raila has less than 60. The accord did not give him the position on a fixed term," he said.

Duale said the test of who controls a majority can be easily proved on the floor of the House and the plan to amend the accord will easily pass.

Biggest bloc

The MP claimed most of the legislators are tired of the unending crisis in government "that are created by the PM".

Duale said that the other option was for Kibaki whom he said now controls the biggest bloc of MPs in the House to dissolve government, "because the National Accord cannot continue protecting Raila," and form a government of national unity.

Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo, who accompanied Kones to a rally in Konoin, also supported the idea of ousting Raila as PM.

Jirongo said Raila’s fate as PM hangs in the balance saying they will use the floor of Parliament to prove to him that he no longer qualifies to claim to be equal to President Kibaki.

"Raila can only be referred as a Principal if he still commands a majority MPs from his party. More than 60 MPs out of the more than 100 MPs have since abandoned him," said the Lugari MP.

An amendment to the National Accord could be a test to the Grand Coalition Government (GCG). If the plan is presented to Parliament at a time like this when tensions are high, it could easily draw support from PNU MPs.

Last week a section of President Kibaki’s PNU leaders, led by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni and Jamleck Kamau called for an urgent delegate’s conference to sanction the withdrawal from the GCG, claiming that the arrangement was not working. The MPs said that they were tired of the constant wrangling in the coalition.

The first call for Raila to quit as PM was from Naivasha MP John Mututho, who spoke on Friday at a rally where Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei announced she had ditched Raila for Ruto.

Mututho said that Raila should quit because it was clear he had lost control of a majority MPs in ODM.

Ruto, who questioned Raila’s legitimacy to continue holding the position added on Saturday: "It is not a secret that ODM MPs are divided with 50 on Raila’s side while another 50 are with me. Since he relied on number of MPs to legitimise his position in the coalition government he should disqualify himself" he said.

Ruto said the PM had no authority to claim to be speaking on behalf of ODM.

"Which ODM is he speaking on behalf of because most of the MPs who are subscribing to the party are not with him" he said.

The revelation by Kones that they would work with PNU MPs to make the changes they desired raised speculation that the plans could be a continuation of the Eldoret meeting organised by Ruto last month. The meeting was attended by President Kibaki and more than 100 MPs drawn from across the country.

Raila ditched

At the rally President Kibaki said Ruto has told him what he wants done "here and in the whole country, we have heard him and it will be done".

The plans to oust Raila raise questions about what Rift Valley MPs who had all but two (Road Minister Franklin Bett and assistant minister Magerer Langat) ditched Raila for Ruto. The latest Rift Valley politician to join the Ruto camp was nominated MP Musa Sirma, who yesterday announced that he was done with Raila.

Rift Valley MPs holding party positions in ODM had previously announced they would relinquish the posts they held in the party. Associates of Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey, who has stepped aside as Industrialisation minister, say he plans to relinquish his position as party chairman.

The Rift Valley MPs were expected to defect to UDM.

The move also raises questions about the pecking order in ODM. The question is who between Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi is second in line in the party? Musalia was Raila’s running mate in 2007 and Raila picked him to become Deputy PM, while Ruto, was made ODM deputy party leader.

On Sunday, Sports Minister Paul Otuoma said Ruto should state what he wants the party to do for him.

"Ruto, at Bomas we made you deputy party leader. What else do you want," he said at a burial ceremony.

Matungu MP David Were likened the party rebels to the prodigal son and asked Raila who was at the burial to prepare to receive them back.

Cabinet Minister Paul Otuoma said rebel ODM MPs should state how they were wronged and what they are demanding. "They will certainly come back. When they return, please allow them in," he told the Prime Minister.