Monday, October 31, 2011
G7 aligned politicians accused of tarnishing PM’s name
Written By:Winnie, Posted: Sun, Oct 30, 2011 | ||
ODM leaders in Western province have accused politicians aligned to the G7 alliance of attempting to tarnish the name of the prime minister by implicating him in the misappropriation of funds meant for the Kazi kwa Vijana project.
Speaking at Matayos market in Busia County, the ODM leaders argued that no funds allocated by the World Bank to the project had been stolen.
The ODM leaders led by Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba defended the PM saying he is not directly involved in the implementation of the Kazi kwa Vijana project.
They said the G7 is out to tarnish the PMs name to earn political mileage.
The leaders also accused Eldoret North MP William Ruto of misleading Busia residents on the establishment of a sugar factory in Busia.
An assistant minister in the office of the PM Alfred Khangati and Butula MP Alfred Odhiambo accused saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa of attempting to sabotage the house speaker by supporting ole Kaparo for the post.
The Mps argue that Eugene Wamalwa was behind all the woes that faced Moses Wetangula, Nambale MP Chris Okemo and the former AG Amos Wako.
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Sideshow time
Why ‘Political Responsibility’ Talk is all in the Succession Mix
The Grand Coalition’s dysfunction mode was particularly evident in the week Kenya’s Defence Forces entered Somalia in the hot pursuit operation against the Al Shabaab militia known as Operation Linda Nchi. For a nation at war, it is essential that a united front at the top be maintained at all times and certainly, even for an unwieldy coalition, in the first weeks of hostilities. But, for some reason, Prime Minister Raila Odinga chose his appearance the same week as a witness in a case brought by a journalist against former President Daniel arap Moi to accuse President Kibaki of “political responsibility” for the post-election violence of 2007-08.
A swift rejoinder came from the President and was even more swiftly followed by the cancellation of a political tour by the PM of Othaya Constituency, the President’s electoral political backyard. A couple of weeks before that, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta made the same charge of “political responsibility” for the PEV against Raila in Pretrial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Long before Uhuru’s appearance at The Hague and on an entirely other subject, Raila introduced the “political responsibility” principle into the Kenyan political lexicon when he demanded that Cabinet ministers William Ruto and Prof. Sam Ongeri resign in the face of the un-masking of corrupt activities in their ministries.
In the very same week of the war on Al Shabaab, the apparently all-purpose “political responsibility” factor reared its head again and this time went straight for the PM’s own jugular. A World Bank aid project audit of the Kazi kwa Vijana initiative appeared to have found that senior officials in the PM’s office had embezzled or otherwise misused hundreds of millions of shillings, even billions, under his watch.
The PM’s political foes were exultant, with Eldoret North MP William Ruto going as far as asserting that the entire Kazi kwa Vijana initiative was conceived of and has been executed entirely as a scam.
Citing the Westminster tradition, Wikipedia defines the consequences of “individual ministerial responsibility”, the core of the Kenyan spin on “political responsibility”, as entailing, “. . . if waste, corruption, or any other misbehaviour is found to have occurred within a ministry, the minister is responsible even if the minister had no knowledge of the actions.
A minister is ultimately responsible for all actions by a ministry. Even without knowledge of an infraction by subordinates the minister approved the hiring and continued employment of those civil servants. If misdeeds are found to have occurred in a ministry the minister is expected to resign. It is also possible for a minister to face criminal charges for malfeasance under their watch.
The principle is considered essential as it is seen to guarantee that an elected official is answerable for every single government decision. It is also important to motivate ministers to closely scrutinise the activities within their departments”. The ultimate sideshow on the road to the Kibaki succession would surely be a scenario in which Raila “stepped aside” in the Kenyan tradition and an acting Prime Minister, for instance Lands Minister James Orengo, held the fort until, say, Easter.
But the strict tradition as defined by Wikipedia has been much eroded in many Commonwealth countries, including Britain, Canada and Australia. What’s more, the erosion began in the year following perhaps the most famous resignation for reasons of “political responsibility” in a Commonwealth nation, that of Lord Carrington, the then British Foreign Secretary, in 1982, at the outbreak of the Falklands War, under “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher as Premier. Wikileaks reports: “. . . in 1983, when 38 IRA prisoners broke out of the Maze prison, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Prior, did not resign, explaining that the break-out was not caused by any policy initiative originating from him. This latter position has become the general norm in British politics”.
It is a general norm that Kenya politicians have long borrowed from, whether they stay put in office or step aside and then almost ritually return to office upon inconclusive or totally exculpatory investigations. It will almost certainly constitute Raila’s own core self-defence when he faces his detractors on this issue in Parliament and elsewhere.
According to a House of Commons Research Paper (Paper 04/31 of 5 April 2004), titled “Individual ministerial responsibility - issues and examples”, what Kenyans are now characterising as “political responsibility” is an area that is governed less by statute than by precedent and guidance. In Kenya, all three are woefully lacking.
Political pundits will long ponder the true nature of relations between the Principals of the Grand Coalition Government on the road to the succession in 2012 and wonder why President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga did not enjoy a much closer rapprochement if only by dint of occupying a unique leadership partnership in Kenyan political history.
The road to the Kibaki succession has clearly entered a phase that can be characterised as Sideshow Time. At this point ahead of the first Presidential transition General Election back in 2002, President Daniel arap Moi found himself and the nation diverted by all manner of political sideshows, including massive outbreaks of violence in the capital city’s Eastlands areas in which Mungiki and other illegal militias routinely slaughtered scores of commuters in overnight attacks and counterattacks and then-ruling party Kanu staged political marriages of conveniences that turned out to be its ultimate undoing only months later.
At that time as now, the unblinking national pretense was that the sideshows had no bearing on the then looming transition presidential election.
The Week's Columnists
COLUMNISTS
Dominic Odipo—THE STANDARD
Columnist Dominic Odipo did not mince his words when he wrote that “reports from sources very close to some of the G7 principals indicate that the alliance, if ever there really was one, is on the verge of disintegration.” Odipo argued that “the main reason the G7 alliance is collapsing is simple. The William Ruto wing of this alliance appears to be have belatedly discovered that the 'Establishment' actually wants to impose Uhuru as the de facto leader of this alliance and thus it presidential flag bearer in the elections due next year.”
Charles Onyango-Obbo—THE EAST AFRICAN
The real test for Libyan new leaders begin now
With the brutal death of Libya strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, columnist Onyango-Obbo argued that the rest for the now fragile country was in creating a post-Gaddafi Libya that will stay united and forge ahead economically and politically. “The story in Libya will be if it doesn'tbreak up, not if it does,” wrote Obbo. This is because from the Soviet Union, Iraq, to Sudan,history teaches us that if one party, one family one ethnic group, or one religious lords it over a country for more than 35 years it loses power to a popular uprising, the country rarely holds together.”
MIGUNA MIGUNA—STAR
Kenya's military escapade in Somalia is a tall order
Prolific columnist and Canadian-trained lawyer Miguna Miguna trained his pen on the Kenya's military venture in Somalia and hinted that the military which is not battle tested and has not been engaged in a full scale war since it formation, could be chasing a phantom in the lawless terrain of Somalia. “All we have done is besiege Somali cities. We don't know is size. We don't know its capacity. We don't know the true identity of the 'enemy'. We don't know the locations. Clearly we can't defeat something we don't know, can we?”
NENE MBURU—DAILY NATION
Dr Nene Mburu is a former Kenya Army officer who is now based in the UK as an academic in war studies. From his UK station he has been following the Kenya Army latest excursions in Somalia and an old hand in the Kenyan military he is not amused. This is what he had to say. “Deploying an infantry brigade 200 kilometres from the Kenya-Somalia border into a hostile environment has its attendant logistical difficulties. Movement by road is difficulty as bogged down vehicles become easy picks for militants and opportunistic bandits. In conclusion, the invasion is a strategic miscalculation.” Bottom line? Mburu said Kenya needed to reconsider its asymmetrical warfare tactics.
FABIENE FAUR—THE PEOPLE
Mormonism on the spotlight as race for White House hots up
As the US presidential elections hots up, Mormonism, a “suspicious” non-mainstream Christian faith practiced by just about six million Americans is on the spotlight. Why? Because some of the leading Republican candidates seeking its ticket are Mormons, otherwise known as Christians of the Latter Day Saints. Fabiene Faur, a journalist who has been following the debate argued that “while critics have have branded Mormonism an anti-Christian cult, those who belong to the church say the possibility of of a Mormon winning the White House could help the faithful to make their beliefs better understood.”
JOEL COHEN—BUSINESS DAILY
The World must tame its expanding population
Joel Cohen a population statistician at Columbia University and the author of How Many People Can the Earth Support is weary that the world population is growing exponentially at the expense of the limitations of the scarce resources that the world can can afford to accommodate. Posed Cohen: “Can the earth support seven billion people who are expected to be added by the end of this century? Are the enormous increases in household, cities, material consumption and waste compatible with dignity, health, environment quality and freedom from poverty?”
WYCLIFFE MUGA—STAR
Watch your back Raila—your enemies will never rest till they bring you down
There is no doubt that the recent scandal “unearthed” by the World Bank involving the Office of the Prime Minister as the supervisory institution has tended to show the possibility that the PM and his cabal of supporters could have dipped their fingers in the jar. Commented columnist Muga on the scam and the OPM: I personally suspect that this 'scandal' will prove to be not quite as deep as it seems to be the case at this moment. Bit it carries a greater lesson both for the PM and for his political rivals who are also in the race too state house.”