In far reaching resolutions arrived at during the meeting of the
Permanent Committee on the Management of the Grand Coalition Affairs
yesterday, members agreed that ways be worked out by next week in which
Raila will be involved in the appointments.
"It was resolved that the Joint Secretaries (Prof Kivutha Kibwana for
PNU and Miguna Miguna for ODM) will at the next meeting present a paper
on the mechanisms of consultations required for such appointments,"
read a statement issued after the three-hour meeting.
However, the PM and the President will exercise this authority within the law.
This proviso has the potential of becoming the Archilles heel for the
Grand Coalition since, according to the Constitution, only the
President has power to make executive appointments.
Sources at the meeting said PNU ministers had initially rejected ODM
demands that all public service appointments be undertaken after
extensive consultation.
"It was because of this resistance that the issue of adherence to the law was included in the final resolution," said the source
But ODM argued that the National Accord, which guides the running of Government, gave ODM and Raila a stake in appointments.
The meeting chaired by President Kibaki and Raila was held at Harambee House. It started at 11.25am and went on until 2.25pm.
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Cabinet ministers Uhuru Kenyatta,
Musalia Mudavadi, William Ruto, James Orengo, Charity Ngilu and
Mohammed Elmi were present.
Work as one
Others were Prof George Saitoti and Mr Chirau Mwakwere. Mr Moses Wetangula and Mr Amason Kingi are out of the country on duty.
At the meeting, Kibaki and Raila appeared to read from the same script,
with each proclaiming the need for the Cabinet to work as one.
However, Kibaki was very categorical on the need for ministers and the committee to observe confidentiality.
"He was very concerned about frequent leakage of secret and
confidential information to the media and the public," an insider told
The Standard'.
Kibaki expressed concern that the acrimony in Government had slowed down the pace of reforms.
Raila argued that ODM had not been fully involved in the management of
Government affairs and called for frank discussion on issues affecting
the Grand Coalition.
"The PM was very emphatic that PNU shows respect and understanding to the coalition partner," said the source.
There was consensus that the reform agenda under the National Accord be given priority by the committee and Government.
The meeting, which was said to be cordial contrary to fears of acrimony
because of accusations and counter-accusations after the collapsed
Kilaguni talks two weeks ago, resolved that key ministries carry on the
reform agenda.
Areas targeted for reform are the police, Judiciary, electoral system and administrative boundaries.
The agenda of the meeting was circulated to the partners 24 hours
before the session to curb any standoff as happened in Kilaguni.
The agenda was to focus on matters of concern, which have hindered the
smooth running of the coalition and dispute resolution mechanisms.
It was also agreed that in future, the agenda and related documents
would be prepared and circulated at least two days before the meeting
by the joint secretaries.
Our protest
The agenda will be proposed through a delegated member of the
committee. The team will hold monthly meetings to take place from 10am
on the first Friday of each month. However, Kibaki and Raila have
powers to call meetings.
According to the statement, all documents of the committee will be
secretly kept by the joint secretaries and Cabinet secretariat.
"The committee may appoint task forces to deal with specific issues. It
will be supervised by the joint secretariat," read the statement.
Decisions by the committee will be reached by consensus and non-members will only attend upon invitation by Kibaki and Raila.
Yesterday, Cabinet Ministers Sam Ongeri, Noah Wekesa and Mutula Kilonzo
were at Harambee House, but left shortly after. It was not clear if
they had been denied opportunity to participate.
At Kilaguni, Dr Wekesa and Mutula prematurely terminated their stay after ODM questioned their presence.
Earlier, Raila had summoned ODM ministers to an early morning meeting
at his Treasury office to brief them on the compromise agenda by PNU
and ODM that was to be discussed at the Harambee House meeting.
The 15 ODM ministers asked the Prime Minister and his team at the
permanent committee to insist that appointments made since the signing
of the National Accord be reviewed.
But some ODM ministers dismissed such claims. One minister said ODM
will not demand sacking of serving civil servants to create room for
their appointees said.
"The fact that they sent to us the permanent committee's agenda and
accepted to cancel a Cabinet meeting following our protest was
testimony that they will no longer take us for granted".
Raila briefly chaired the meeting before handing over to Planning
Minister Wycliffe Oparanya when he left the meeting to attend a
function.
The meeting agreed that a timetable to speed up Agenda Four be prepared.
The Standard
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