Raila: Courage, wise counsel prevailed on President's part

By Standard ReporterPrime Minister Raila Odinga was caught off guard by President Kibaki's withdrawal of the list of nominees for key constitutional offices.
The PM, who was in a burial in Maragwa, told his news conference, scheduled on Monday, he had to ‘recast’ his statement to take into account the President’s statement he had recalled the nominations.
Though it is not clear what was in the PM’s earlier statement, whose rewriting delayed the news conference, Raila sounded pleasantly surprised by Kibaki’s climb down. He praised the President, saying he had let "reason, good faith, courage, and wise counsel to prevail". The PM’s earlier statement was subject of speculation during the day with some politicians quoting intelligence sources claiming he was expected to table a parallel list of nominees. Others were even speculating he might make a statement that could have drastic consequences on the Grand Coalition Government.
"We now know the other side acted out of exaggerated fear of what they believed the PM was going to say. But we are happy it has gone this way; it is more than we expected,’’ said a source in Raila camp at the end of President’s statement.
The picture of Kibaki and Raila addressing the nation with good news was a far cry from the weekend’s depressing picture when they went on television to row over the ruling by Speaker Kenneth Marende the nominations were unconstitutional. Though Raila welcomed the decision he called for the reconstitution of the Public Service Commission to which the President referred the nomination of Director of Public Prosecutions and Controller of Budget.
Though Raila was emphatic the President acted boldly and allowed the bid to smoothly implement the new Constitution, he did not spare his critics allied to the President. He claimed they had left the king ‘naked’ by not telling him the truth.
But he still seemed to imply the next battle could be over PSC, which his aides claim is yet to be compliant with the new Constitution. The commissioners, however, act within a raft of professional guidelines and are chosen because of their integrity and track record in serving the public.
Independent interviews
But the 16-member commission could become the centre of focus as the country kick-starts the critical leg of implementing the new Constitution. The PM said it was not properly constituted as per the Constitution and called for independent and professional bodies to conduct the interviews for DPP and Controller of Budget.
He said PSC should only advertise the positions, but leave the interviews to be conducted by the proposed professional bodies. The Judicial Service Commission as outlined in the new Constitution, he said, should appoint the Chief Justice. He said the position of the AG should be filled after consultation between him and the President.
But in the President’s statement he appeared to restrict consultations with Raila to the AG post, while leaving that of CJ entirely to JSC, and the two other posts to PSC. "The names will be forwarded to the President for onward transmission to Parliament,’’ explained the Presidential Press Service regarding the posts of DPP, Budget office, and the CJ. This went against the view given by Raila who still saw a chance of his involvement in the picking of all the four nominees at the end of the process before forwarding to Parliament.
Raila termed Kibaki’s move as "a victory for co-operation" explaining it had paved way for collaboration as outlined in Constitution and the National Accord and Reconciliation Act.
"Let me pay tribute to President Kibaki for his courage in withdrawing the controversial nominations ... wise counsel has prevailed," said Raila. He promised he would work with Kibaki to ensure all "legal and constitutional means" are used in making the envisaged public appointments.
But even as he congratulated the President, Raila blamed Kibaki’s advisors for the nominations mess. "Quality of leadership is sometimes as good as the advisors around the leader. It was wrong to go against the advice of the Attorney General, who is the chief legal advisor of the Government, the Chief Justice, Law Society of Kenya, Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, Federation of Women Lawyers, and other legal bodies," said PM. These groups condemned the nominations as unconstitutional.
"The advisors did not do their job, that is why they left the king naked," said the PM.
Given the controversy around the nominations, Raila said the coalition has learnt "the lesson" and all pending public appointments should be done with gender and regional representation in mind.
The row over the nominations had put the PM on a running battle with Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret MP William Ruto, Vice-President, Kalonzo Musyoka, and a retinue of PNU ministers and MPs. When Marende ruled against Kibaki, Uhuru banged a table at a press conference last Thursday, questioning why Raila was allegedly vetoing presidential decisions.
Wrong message
"At times you think better when you keep your cool. The moment we lose our cool and bang tables we send the wrong message. They decided to hit me below the belt, but I said I have no business down there,’’ said Raila in relation to indirect reference to his circumcision status by Uhuru.
"We don’t want to make a nation of thugs, we need to use our brain power not brawn," he added.