MUDAVADI SPEAKS OUT

By Juma Kwayera

The trouble that has been brewing in the Orange Democratic Movement has reached boiling point, with indications the rebels may soon quit.

Apparently, the disagreement between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and some Rift Valley MPs has wearied the party to the extent even a minor issue has the potential to erupt into a major dispute.

And for this, Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi blames the rebels whom he asks to ‘regain sanity’.

The decision by Mudavadi to roll up his sleeves for a duel with party rebels signals a beginning that could see the rebels finally leave the party. In a rare but candid talk about power tussle in the Orange party, Mudavadi who has often been criticised for leaving Party Leader and Prime Minister Raila Odinga exposed to attacks by rebels, termed as "nonsensical and cheap politics the rush by an individual to claim credit for consensus at the negotiations".


Mudavadi’s criticism comes at a time some Rift Valley MPs have turned against their party and are warming up to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, widely expected to be the Central Province flag-bearer in the 2012 General Election.

The DPM’s remarks are a pointer ODM is bracing for fresh round of squabbling as ‘generational change’ politics gain momentum in the party that has not known harmony since the formation of the Grand Coalition Government in April 2008.

Claims that ODM was ‘overrun’ by Party of National Unity (PNU) during the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) meeting in Naivasha, has intensified the rivalry that has seen some Rift Valley MPs oppose party positions at every turn.

Before the Mau conservation dispute boomeranged, some Rift Valley MPs had made capital out of it, painting their party as composed of inhumane leaders. The issue had caused a lot of division in the party to the extent of gnawing away at the fanatical support it enjoyed in the Rift Valley.

But Mudavadi says the ‘herd mentality’ is dangerous at party and individual levels. He says of the rebellion in the party: "Haste can be good and disastrous. Experience is also important. You cannot collect first term MPs who are not sure of being re-elected and claim to be in charge of their destiny."

As the controversy over the Mau forest conservation petered out, the rebels were deprived of reason to keep hammering at the ODM leadership.

The latest, an attempt to credit Agriculture Minister William Ruto with the consensus that saw ODM agree to support a pure presidential system based on the United States model, has not only riled the party, but also left PNU, with whom the Ruto group has been mooting a Kalenjin-Kikuyu-Kamba alliance equally unsettled.

"There was a lot of caucusing. All parties used to consult every time there was a contentious issue. It would be impossible for one person to think for the party or PSC on every subject," says Mudavadi, also Minister for Local Government.

ruto defender

Attempts to speak to Ruto failed as his telephone went unanswered.

But The Standard on Sunday reached his defender, Isaac Ruto, the Chepalungu MP.

Isaac Ruto was hesitant, and even guarded, when asked to give information on how consensus on sensitive issues such as the type of government was reached during the Naivasha PSC meeting.

"It is not true that there was complete consensus. The spirit of give and take guided the process. The country is already fatigued and we wanted to move the process to the next level, which we did," said Isaac Ruto.

The Chepalungu MP would not, however, be drawn into talk about how ODM agreed to support pure presidential system, saying: "The presidential system is still contentious with some people saying we had returned the country to the era when the President was too powerful.

"We are also yet to agree on how the Government will be constituted, whether the President will appoint the Cabinet from outside Parliament and how it would be subjected to the checks and balances," he says.

ODM was represented during the talks by MPs who were well grounded in various fields.

The party strategy was to have Dr Sally Kosgei speak on matters to do with Civil Service and Provincial Administration because of her vast experience in former President Moi’s regime.

James Orengo was the party’s resource person on constitutional and legal issues. Maj-Gen (retired) Joseph Nkaissery was the expert on security and defence matters.

Deputy Prime Minister, Mudavadi, covered land issues given his background in land economics.

"Every party also had strong technical teams that advised us on specialised issues where none of us was an authority. So, for somebody to try to claim credit for all the work that was done by a team of professionals is being selfish," the DPM says.

The push for credit adds a fresh dynamic to the relations in the party, that of style and strategy.

Isaac Ruto is on record having said that they misled their supporters into voting for ODM and Raila. But Mudavadi says issuing such an apology to voters was an admission they are likely to make another mistake.

"It is a fallacy to imagine that you can control Rift Valley, which is represented in Parliament by several parties. The province is cosmopolitan in terms of ethnic composition and spread. You need to be narrow-minded to imagine you control such a vast province," Mudavadi says.