Saturday, January 12, 2013

Sweetheart deals for MPs ruin Githae’s tenure


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PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION | FILE  Finance Minister Robinson Njeru Githae.
PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION | FILE Finance Minister Robinson Njeru Githae.  NATION MEDIA GROUP
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU
Posted  Saturday, January 12  2013 at  00:30
IN SUMMARY
  • Outgoing Ndia MP likely to be remembered as the Finance minister who failed to keep his greedy colleagues away from the public coffers
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When Mr Robinson Njeru Githae was appointed Finance Minister in March this year, many had doubts about his aptitude in economic matters.
They were worried that the minister had no finance or economics experience to manage the crucial docket.
The minister acknowledged that it might be a difficult task to manage the country’s economy, and banked on his banking experience to steer the fiscal and monetary vehicle of the country. He therefore asked for a “100-day honeymoon” to learn the ropes.
One year after his appointment, some senior people in government are still worried about the minister’s stay at the Treasury. Many look at him as just a figurehead at the mercy of the technocrats in that key department.
Mr Micah Cheserem, the chairman of the Commission on Revenue Allocation, could not hide his thinking when he met the minister on Tuesday in Parliament. At the Budget Committee meeting, Mr Cheserem dismissed Mr Githae as unschooled in fiscal and monetary matters because “he is not an accountant”.
Mr Cheserem insisted that the minister was at the mercy of the mandarins at the Treasury and that was why things such as submission of key Bills to Parliament, to midwife the transition to county governments, was taking too long.
Mr Githae is a lawyer. He was at that meeting and did not like what Mr Cheserem had said. He protested. He shot back that Mr Cheserem too “is not a lawyer”. The minister was saved from the tirade by the MPs, who asked Mr Cheserem to tone down, and even apologise.
But before the apologies, Mr Cheserem, a former Central Bank governor, said his age did not allow him to malign someone without proof or conviction. He said he was just speaking his mind. All the same, he apologised.
Mr Githae’s record at the Treasury is good to the extent that he’s been able to work well with the MPs to meet the deadlines in the Public Financial Management Act. But he failed to keep the greedy MPs away from public coffers.
The MPs had failed to box Mr Githae’s predecessor at the Treasury, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta. However, Mr Githae, cut a deal with MPs. It saw the MPs drop their quest for interest rate caps, because the minister approved that they each get Sh3.72 million in severance allowance. That was on April 19, 2011.
That Thursday night, it was a quick deal. Mr Githae introduced the amendment, the temporary deputy Speaker Philip Kaloki put the matter to vote and as usual it was agreed to.
It took less than five minutes. Ms Millie Odhiambo had sought to know what was being amended but she was verbally dismissed. She was shocked.
The minister sneaked in the amendment hours after hosting MPs to a posh lunch at which, it was reported in the House, that they had been given Sh50,000.
A shocked Ms Odhiambo (nominated) who had let the world know about the Sh50,000 lunch, questioned why even the backbenchers had not been allowed to look at the amendment from the Treasury.
“Whereas I believe MPs are entitled, I will not be party to unfairness to this country,” she said.
“MPs have refused to reduce interest rates for the public, but when it comes to our own things, we are very quick and sneaky.”
Five months later, in October, again, late at night, he gave MPs Sh9.3 million each. The MPs smiled, but the President rejected it. He said it was unaffordable and unconstitutional. But two days ago, the minister conspired with the MPs to seek the money from the President. The new request is awaiting President Kibaki’s assent.
The minister has also been powerless when it comes to monetary management.
He has lamented that the CBK governor, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u should be investigated for his failure to re-open Charterhouse Bank. That’s after the governor told him off, yet, they are supposed to be big enough to ensure the fiscal and monetary policies are in tandem.
“For us, we’ve used all the options. Yes, we dialogue, but whatever dialogue is only if it meets the approval of the Central Bank. You can tell them, but it is up to them to implement. If they agree with you, they implement; if they don’t agree, they don’t implement. That’s the reality of the situation,” Mr Githae had told Parliament once.
He also sought and failed to pick the chief executive officer of the Capital Markets Authority. He said none of the people was qualified. He’s now in court over that.
The question many are asking is whether Mr Githae has the nerve to continue managing the economy, even as he goes around working on his bid to be the governor of Kirinyaga County.

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