WATER minister Charity Ngilu has written to President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga accusing the Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka of "continuous interference" in the affairs of her ministry.
In a letter addressed to Kalonzo and copied to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila, Ngilu lists projects carried out by her ministry in which she alleges Kalonzo has interfered. "I am concerned that you have continuously made statements to the public on projects/programmes under my ministry which do not represent the right position.
Further, you do not formally inform me or my Permanent Secretary or even seek clarification on the correct position of such statements before making them. This has led to public anxiety and made leaders follow up on these projects that you promise," Ngilu wrote on October 18. On Monday, Medical Services minister Anyang' Nyong'o formally complained to Kibaki and Raila that Kalonzo was interfering with the affairs of the Moi Teaching and Referral hospital in Eldoret. Kalonzo visited the hospital over the weekend during his tour of North Rift.
Yesterday Kalonzo declined to comment. "Just publish the whole letter, without removing a comma," the VP said. Later his spokesman Kaplich Barsito denied that the VP was interfering with the Water minister. "Some of the ministers see the VP as only being in charge of Home Affairs. They conveniently fail to realise that he is Vice President of Kenya and his docket cuts across government. His is an institution that is part of the presidency.
The VP sourced funding from Egypt for these projects. They were to benefit wananchi and one of them was in his constituency. Does the VP abandon projects that will benefit Kenyans simply because they fall under the mandate of another ministry? Anything initiated by the VP to benefit wananchi should be supported by Ngilu and anything Ngilu initiates to help wananchi will equally be backed by the VP 100 per cent," said Kaplich.
Two weeks ago Ngilu publicly snubbed Kalonzo at Uhuru Park when she refused to shake his hand at Wangari Maathai's state funeral. Ngilu believes Kalonzo is responsible for her problems with the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission that has been investigating the implementation of several water projects. Ngilu's son in law, Billy Indeche and assistant minister Cecily Mbarire's husband Denis Apaa have been charged with corruption.
The EACC's attempt to charge Ngilu failed after the Director of Public Prosecution returned the file with a recommendation that they investigate further. When the EACC started conducting further investigations earlier this month, Ngilu ignored a request to record a statement over alleged intimidation of staff in her ministry and instead went to CID headquarters where she recorded a statement.
In her letter, Ngilu cites last year's statement by Kalonzo promising that the government would drill 1,000 boreholes in the country as an example of how he was interfering with her ministry. She said the promised boreholes were not in the ministry's development programme."These unsubstantiated remarks led to a MP requesting for a ministerial statement on the distribution of boreholes drilled in the country resulting in my being summoned by a Parliamentary committee on equal opportunities to elaborate on the same. I will not wish to be in the same position again," said Ngilu.
She also claimed Kalonzo had been summoning and issuing instructions to her ministry staff without informing her or the PS David Stower."Your breach of procedure in communicating with senior/ junior ministry officers without following the chain of command is unacceptable," wrote Ngilu, adding that it contradicted the rules for smooth running of institutions under the policy of collective responsibility.
She accused Kalonzo of trying to "hijack" a small-scale irrigation farming project in Kitui conducted by the University of Nairobi in conjunction with the Alexandria University of Egypt and of trying to get a similar project established in Mwingi North. "The smallholder irrigation scheme in Mwingi North is a case in point where you have wanted to get support from universities, one Alexandria University of Egypt and Moi University.
You know very well that we have our own SEUCO (South Eastern University College) in Kitui county which is a campus of University of Nairobi and whose main programme is to deal with dry land agriculture. They would therefore be more suited to provide capacity, expertise in how best we can use water resources and new irrigation technology and skills," said Ngilu in her letter.
However, Kaplich told the Star that the VP sourced funding for the irrigation project in Mwingi North from Egypt. "It was an MoU signed between Alexandria University and Moi University. On returning from Egypt, the VP mobilised the community to form a co-operative to benefit from the technology. Moi University through Rivatex wants to encourage the growing of cotton.
This project is in his constituency to benefit from his constituents. Ngilu has been asking the VP to show his development record. How can she fight it when it is going to benefit wananchi? Since it is a water project, asking the PS to accompany him does not amount to interference," said Kaplich.
He said Kalonzo was entitled to promise that the government would drill 1,000 boreholes as this would be done with the assistance of the government of Egypt under a deal was struck by the former Egyptian PM. "The VP was talking about this deal. We all know that the leadership of the country has since changed. It was a promise made by Egypt that has not been met," explained Kaplich.
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