Presidency remains most coveted job

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Presidential apirant James ole Kiyiapi. The former Permanent Secretary says the future president will be a manager and diplomat. Photo/FILE 

By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, August 31  2012 at  23:30

IN SUMMARY

• Fears are now being expressed that, despite reforming the overarching presidency which underscored the clamour for constitutional change, appetite for the office appears not to have dissipated and reducing the do-or-die duel is not within sight

Despite its powers having been considerably whittled down by the Constitution, the Kenyan presidency remains the most sought-after position with a record 12 aspirants jostling to fill it come next year.

The man or woman who steps into President Mwai Kibaki’s office after the March 4 elections will be more of an ordinary leader, far from the ‘emperors’ who have occupied it before.

Such were the sweeping powers of the president, who ruled virtually unchecked, that he would hire and fire ministers during the one o’clock news and public figures listened to the bulletins as if their lives depended on them.

And often they did. In the words of the historian Charles Hornsby, author of Kenya: A History of Independence, the past president was in effect an uncrowned monarch whose writ was law.

But the new Constitution sounded the death knell to the omnipotent presidency which characterised the reigns of Presidents Kenyatta and Moi, and the better part of the Kibaki administration, as his or her appointive powers are now subjected to consultations with various commissions and need the approval of the National Assembly.

Unbridled prerogative

“The next Head of State will have no choice but to submit and sometimes pander to the public will,” says Prof Hornsby.

The President no longer enjoys the unbridled prerogative of dismissing a state officer. No less a personage than President Kibaki, considered the last ‘monarch’, has borne the brunt of the new law.

In February last year, he was forced to eat humble pie and withdraw a list of four nominees to four constitutional offices after a public outcry over the manner in which they were nominated.

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The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and a legion of civil society groups rejected the nomination of Alnashir Visram as Chief Justice, Githu Muigai as Attorney-General and Kioko Kilukumi as Director of Public Prosecution.

For the first time since independence, ministers, who will be called cabinet secretaries and will number no more than 22, will be appointed from outside the National Assembly and they will have to be approved by it.

That means the President will no longer have the power to build cronyism by promising MPs ministerial posts. 

By dispersing resources from the centre, the Constitution also sought to further reduce the glamour of the presidency.

This transformation, which directly places food in the sufuria of “Wanjiku” by stipulating that 15 per cent of the country’s revenue, which translates to up to some Sh200 billion, has reduced the grassroots dependence on the ‘Big Man’ president.

Mr Wamwere however sees the President still controlling the country’s economy since only 15 per cent of national income has been given to the counties.

Ugly face of imperial impunity

The President has also been stripped of the authority to allocate public land, which for years was the ugly face of the imperial impunity which saw water towers, road reserves and public utility land dished out to well-connected individuals.

The President can now be impeached by Parliament and can no longer suspend or dissolve the National Assembly, whose members will be elected to fixed five-year terms.

The Head of State will also no longer exercise control over the country’s electoral commission, now completely independent.

However, despite these diminished powers the presidency is still attractive because it is the one office that unifies the country.

Those looking for it are leaving nothing to chance with economists predicting that some might spend up to Sh12 billion in their campaigns. This is more than double what President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga spent in 2007, according to Coalition for Accountable Political Financing (CAPF), a Nairobi-based think-tank.

In 2007, the fight for State House claimed more than 1,000 lives and forced close to 500,000 people were forced out of their homes after the election results were disputed.

Fears are now being expressed that, despite reforming the overarching presidency which underscored the clamour for constitutional change, appetite for the office appears not to have dissipated and reducing the do-or-die duel is not within sight.

According to former Education Permanent Secretary James ole Kiyiapi, an aspirants on the Restore and Rebuild Party of Kenya ticket, the office has even been more enhanced by the counties.

“With the advent of 47 county governors, the incoming president will be the numero uno (first among equals) as the president of 48 governments,” said Prof Kiyiapi, however adding that the future president will be a manager and diplomat rather than the ruler of yesteryears wielding the big stick.

Former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere concurs, saying the holder would still be the country’s number one citizen, complete with the trappings of royalty.

“Kenya is among the chart-topping nations in terms of remunerating its leaders, with President Kibaki earning more than many of the world’s richest nations – such as Germany, Russia, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia,” the author of Towards Genocide in Kenya: The Curse of Negative Ethnicity noted.

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At Sh2 million a month ($26,000) basic salary, President Kibaki earns Sh24 million ($312,000) a year, higher than German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s $303,000. Germany is Europe’s largest economy, and the world’s fifth.

President Kibaki’s salary also tops that of the Prime Minister of the UK, a trillion-dollar economy. Mr David Cameron earns $279,000 a year, or Sh1,787,925 per month.

The President’s retirement package is also one of the most attractive in the world.

The Presidential Retirement Benefits Act 2003 gives the retired Head of State provides for a Sh17 million lumpsum gratuity. Every month, he will receive a pension of at least Sh950,000, a housing allowance of Sh300,000, Sh300,000 for electricity, water and telephone and Sh200,000 as entertainment allowance.

Water down the law

He will also be entitled to two four-wheel-drive cars with an engine capacity of 3,400 cc and two others of at least 3,000 cc, and Sh200,000 monthly as fuel allowance, and a fully furnished “suitable” office with equipment and supplies. An insurance company will provide the retiree and their family full medical and hospital cover locally and overseas.

The beneficiary is entitled to a staff of 38, including 12 security officers drawn from the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU). Others are two personal assistants, cooks, housekeepers, gardeners and laundry persons as well as four drivers, messengers, secretaries and house cleaners.

Mr Wamwere also sees the future President as having a leeway to roll back some of the concessions made during “desperate times of constitution-making”.

“Can’t you see, for instance, the move by the Cabinet and Parliament to water down the law on leadership and integrity?,” he said and lamented: “There is no guarantee at all that the presidency as envisaged by the drafters of the Constitution will be as restricted.”