File | NATION President Kibaki and Raila Odinga before they signed a grand coalition deal in 2008. ODM aides are now pushing for structured consultations.
By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Saturday, March 5 2011 at 22:00
In Summary
- Key party leaders and advisers to Raila fine-tune a draft to be submitted to their PNU colleagues as a guide
The Orange Democratic Movement is pushing for a deal on structured consultations between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The decision to have future consultations conducted in a way that allows taking of minutes by their aides, party sources said, was driven by the need to avoid a fall-out between the principals in their future talks.
ODM key leaders and advisers to Mr Odinga held a strategic meeting at Nairobi Club to agree on a draft they will submit to their Party of National Unity colleagues as a guide to consultations.
“We met to agree on the need to have consultations between the President and the Prime Minister to be guided by a particular structure. We have already seen what can happen if the present form of consultations is allowed to go on,” said an ODM minister who requested not to be named since the meeting was confidential.
Sources at the meeting said MPs and the technical team were of the opinion that only structured consultations will resolve the impasse like the recent one on the nominations of top four state jobs.
“We are, in particular, cautious about the way things are happening. It seems our counterparts the other side have an agenda, and it is our duty to handle them,” said another minister who also attended the meeting.
The breakfast meeting appeared to be taking a cue from Mr Odinga’s remarks during his interview with NTV last Monday night that there appears to be a disconnect between him and the President a few times on the threshold of consultations.
The PM cited the decision by President Kibaki to reverse his suspension of Cabinet ministers William Ruto and Sam Ongeri in February last year and his denouncing of the list of nominees for the jobs of Chief Justice, Attorney-General, Director of Public Prosecutions and Controller of Budget in late January this year as examples.
“I consulted President Kibaki before I suspended my ministers but there was a change of mind in that particular regard, just like President Kibaki believed that he consulted me in the nominations,” he said.
Alluding to the consultations whose spirit is captured in the National Accord with no stipulation to the threshold, the PM said the essence of putting together minds with the President was meant to make them walk one path to deliver the wide ranging reforms.
“The Accord said that we shall move together and work together in the spirit of compromise and co-operation to deliver a new Kenya. That is what we want for Kenya,” he said.
Lands minister James Orengo said ODM wants the meetings to be on record to avoid the aides engaging in “guess work” when attempting to explain the meetings.
Referring to the recent storm over nominees to four top government jobs, Mr Orengo said whereas minutes of the consultations between the President and the PM were produced in Parliament, the fact was that no records are kept.
“There must be structured talks, structured decisions. The two principals must have it on record so that there is no guess work by those who are close to them,” he said.
He blamed the PNU side for the turn of events that led to both local and international pressure, stating that those around the President insist on him taking unilateral decisions. That was the reason, he said, they gradually killed the Committee on the Management of Coalition Affairs.
“The cabal around the President wants to emasculate him. They are of the view that the President should be left to govern and that is why they don’t want the coalition committee,” he said.
The push for structured consultations was said to be driven by the fact that soon President Kibaki and Mr Odinga will start consultations on the nomination of the next Attorney-General.
Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch said the lawmakers were concerned about the manner of consultations between the principals but argued it was only the two who can decide the structure of consultations.
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