By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, March 31 2012 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, March 31 2012 at 22:30
The Monday reshuffle that saw Mvita MP Najib Balala dropped from the Cabinet has opened another battlefront against Prime Minister Raila Odinga who has been fighting political fires from numerous directions.
Mr Odinga now faces an enraged Muslim community, intense propaganda from Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto who accuse him of engineering their prosecution at the International Criminal Court — a tag he has been unable to fight — and a resurgent deputy Musalia Mudavadi, who has mounted an all-out campaign to deny him the ODM presidential ticket.
Some Muslim leaders have interpreted Mr Balala’s sacking as a back-peddling on the controversial Memorandum of Understanding signed between Mr Odinga and Muslim leaders before the 2007 General Election in which the PM reportedly committed to ensure that Muslims constitute 20 per cent of public appointments.
“The sacking of Mr Balala from the Cabinet is a breach of the agreement signed between the National Muslim Leaders Forum and Mr Odinga to safeguard the interests of the Muslim community,” said Namlef organising secretary Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa.
Other complaints came from the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya and the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims.
Condemn him
It is also interesting to note that nominated MP Sheikh Ahmed Dor, who has hitherto been close to the PM, came out strongly to condemn him over Mr Balala’s sacking.
It is also interesting to note that nominated MP Sheikh Ahmed Dor, who has hitherto been close to the PM, came out strongly to condemn him over Mr Balala’s sacking.
Mr Balala joins a long list of Mr Odinga’s allies-turned-foes whom he has kicked out of the coalition since 2008. (READ: Raila: Why I sacked Balala from Cabinet)
They include Mr Ruto, Mogotio MP Prof Hellen Sambili, as well as former assistant ministers Charles Keter, Jackson Kiptanui, Mohammed Mohamud and Aden Duale.
Mr Ruto has since formed a loose grouping termed the G7 with Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Eugene Wamalwa and Mr Kenyatta under whose umbrella they have been criticising the PM.
The once powerful Pentagon, which enabled the party to win in six provinces in the last General election, is now a shadow of itself following the exit of Mr Balala and the challenge coming from Mr Mudavadi.
Water minister Charity Ngilu has been sending mixed signals while nominated MP Joseph Nyaga, who is the only ODM MP in Mount Kenya region, has of late been drumming up support for Mr Kenyatta.
Mr Balala’s sacking is perhaps the more difficult for the former minister remembered for stepping down for Mr Odinga during the 2007 nominations at Kasarani in a speech that moved the future PM to tears.
Mr Balala is also credited with coining the party’s name at Moi Stadium, Kisumu, in the run-up to the 2007 elections.
“I said to my colleagues, let us call it ‘Orange Democratic Movement’, a name that carried convictions of democracy,” he told the Sunday Nation in an interview last week.
Mr Ruto, who has had the longest standing divorce with Mr Odinga, has repeatedly reminded the PM: “I spent sleepless nights guarding the party’s votes and fought for the half loaf he bandies around.”
Mrs Ngilu, too, does not have kind words these days for the PM whom she once described as the Mandela of Kenya.
The minister was conspicuously absent when the PM toured Machakos County recently and has encouraged Mr Mudavadi to soldier on in his quest to clinch the party’s ticket.
“The unravelling of the Pentagon paints the picture of a king whose court has emptied. I doubt Mr Odinga will re-engineer himself from his latest self-inflicted injuries,” says former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere.
While acknowledging Mr Odinga’s political acumen in times of crises, the politician said that the PM has never before faced so many challenges.
Most favoured
Mr Odinga has also had to fend off accusations recently that he was discrediting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and interfering with the Judiciary.
Matters came to a head when the PM appeared to confront ICC suspects, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, calling for their arrest in a paid advertisement.
The statement drew outrage and relish in equal measure. Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto saw it as confirmation of what they had been saying all along that the PM had engineered their predicament at The Hague-based court.
Documents tabled in Parliament by Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo to support the claims have, however, been dismissed by the British High Commission as fake.Mr Odinga was also forced to respond to a sensational claim in Parliament that he was working with a foreign government to hand over President Kibaki to The Hague when he leaves office.
Then coming hot on the heels of the ICC remarks, which critics saw as reckless given the sensitivity of the matter in a polarised electoral environment, the PM again came under attack, this time from Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, who accused him of intimidating the Judiciary.
Dr Mutunga was reacting to Mr Odinga’s statement that the January 13 Constitutional Court ruling on the date of the General Election was “fake” for failing to give a precise date for the polls.
Mr Odinga dismissed the ruling shortly after the IEBC said the elections would be held on March 4, 2013. President Kibaki supports the March 4 date as do a number of ministers and MPs.
Mr Odinga said the IEBC was interpreting a decision by “mahakama ya bandia” (fake or kangaroo court).
“Such unprovoked utterances are as unfortunate as they are unacceptable. They reek of Executive impunity and have no place in a properly functioning democracy,” Dr Mutunga said.
Mr Odinga has since apologised to the CJ and the Judiciary in a letter to Dr Mutunga and in a posting on his Facebook wall.
The CJ accepted his apology, but not before warning that any attempt to interfere with the independence of the Judiciary would not be tolerated.
Mr Odinga’s support of a December date also appears to have alienated him from his allies like Roads minister Franklin Bett, his East African Co-operation counterpart Musa Sirma and assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru who prefer that the elections be held next year.
Most favoured
Opinion polls have long shown Mr Odinga to be the man most favoured to succeed President Mwai Kibaki.
His position as a co-principal in the coalition government as well as the image he has painted as a reformer have appeared to give him leverage over his competitors.
However, his political future is now murky and has not been helped by reports that some of his loyalists have begun embracing a possible Mudavadi candidacy.
Political analyst Kipkirui Kap Telwa notes Mr Mudavadi’s Western backyard is the biggest ODM voting bloc outside Luo Nyanza and an estrangement would leave Mr Odinga dangerously exposed.
Pollsters have often attributed Mr Odinga’s high ratings to the fact that he had a party to run on and a running mate, unlike his competitors.
Mr Mudavadi’s strong bid for the ODM presidential ticket has necessitated the holding of ODM meetings, even though these have been postponed three times in the past one month after Mr Mudavadi made fresh demands.
A meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday to decide on the method to be used in the nomination of the party’s presidential candidate.
At the centre of the dispute between Mr Odinga and Mr Mudavadi is if a party leader ought to be the automatic presidential contender.
The ODM constitution says the party leader shall be the presidential candidate.
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