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NOW APPEARS OBAMA’S COMMUNIST MUSLIM COUSIN IS PM OF KENYA
Cabinet: Kibaki meets ministers
Story by NATION Team
Publication Date: 2008/04/01
Cabinet ministers have said they are ready to work with ODM leader Raila Odinga to implement the power-sharing deal signed in February, sources close to the meeting have revealed.
President Kibaki chairs a Cabinet meeting at his Harambee House office in Nairobi on Monday. Photo/PPS
In the first formal Cabinet meeting since President Kibaki and the Prime Minister-designate signed the deal to end post-election violence, the ministers also agreed on the need to speed up the resettlement of displaced families.
They also challenged the police to beef up security and crack down on those threatening the refugees who are willing to return to their farms.
However, the 15 ministers said President Kibaki should not share executive authority with any other office. The President can consult on who should be in government but the final say on who should occupy which position should be left to him, sources privy to the talks said.
Determine size
Sources said the ministers wanted the President to determine the size and structure of the Cabinet and insisted that he should not be dictated to.
The team said it was ready to work with Mr Odinga, the Prime Minister-designate, but claimed that he was “a man under siege”.
According to the sources, the ministers said Mr Odinga was “a different man” when he consulted with the President but often appeared to be a changed person after consulting his party.
However, Mr Odinga’s spokesman, Mr Salim Lone, said in an interview with the Nation that the party was ready to meet the Government coalition to resolve the impasse over the Cabinet.
He said ODM had a clear perspective on what the accord signed between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga entailed.
The accord was signed on February 28, to end post-election violence in which over 1,200 people were killed after a dispute over the presidential election results.
The deal also provided for sharing of power between the President’s party, PNU and ODM.
And while addressing the Africa economic minister’s conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, Mr Benjamin Mkapa said the power- sharing deal signed by President Kibaki and Mr Odinga provided the framework for peace.
The former Tanzanian president was a member of the team of eminent Africans that negotiated the deal.
“I don’t think there is a Cabinet crisis since they are already agreed on the framework,” said Mr Mkapa.
Give up slot
He said the task of naming a Cabinet should be left to the two leaders.
According to the sources who attended Monday’s Cabinet meeting, some ministers are said to have expressed willingness to give up the slot of Local Government Ministry to ODM.
The ministry, alongside those of Finance and Internal Security, are among those yet to be agreed on. Both PNU and ODM have been laying claim to the portfolios, sparking the crisis.
However, a Government source later said that the issue of giving up the Local Government seat had not been discussed.
An ODM source later said that the offer was not sufficient.
Monday’s meeting was attended by 15 of the 17 ministers because Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula was away on official duties in Maputo, Mozambique, while Science and Technology minister Noah Wekesa was out of Nairobi.
The Cabinet appeared to add new qualifications for those hoping to be in the new line-up to be named by the President and the Prime Minister-designate, Mr Odinga.
Those to be named in the grand coalition Cabinet should be clean people who are not facing any pending court cases and who will help drive economic growth.
On resettling internal refugees, the ministers expressed frustration at the inability of families to return to their farms over alleged threats and called on the police to act against those perpetrating violence.
Education minister Sam Ongeri explained the status of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam which was marred by what the ministry described as a computer hitch.
Over 4,000 candidates had their results downgraded after they were allegedly given a mean score that was higher than what they actually scored.
Finance minister Amos Kimunya gave an update on the Safaricom share flotation saying the Government was likely to raise the Sh50 billion budgeted for in the sale.
Accompanied President
After the meeting, the President met Prof Saitoti, Mr Kenyatta, Mr Kimunya and Mr Michuki. The Roads minister later accompanied the President to State House.
The President and Mr Odinga have met twice and failed to reach an agreement on the sharing of Cabinet positions. PNU had initially proposed that the Cabinet should have 44 members but later revised the figure to 38. ODM has been advocating a 34-member Cabinet.
So far, only 17 ministers have been appointed but the other seats cannot be given to ODM because appointments must take portfolio balance into consideration.
ODM is on record saying it will not accept the “bones” of the Cabinet slots and would go for “the steak”.
On Monday, Mr Lone said a large Cabinet would burden taxpayers in view of the economic challenges facing the country.
“ODM is being realistic that a bloated Cabinet is not good for the country and we believe that is what Kenyans want,” he added.
In the Cabinet meeting, the ministers agreed on the need to speed up the resettlement programme for internal refugees.
But their resolution came as families camping in some Rift Valley towns received threats warning them of death should they go back to their farms.
Many internal refugees have been exposed to water-borne diseases and other complications due to the cold and rainy season which started last month.
On the Safaricom Initial Public Offering, the Cabinet resolved to encourage Kenyans to participate in the buying of shares, especially because the unit price was set at an affordable level, Sh5 per share. The minimum number of shares that individual investors can apply for is 2,000, which cost Sh10,000.
The Cabinet considered the IPO one of the most effective ways of empowering Kenyans and distributing wealth.
It also considered amendments to the East African Community Treaty and approved the ratification of the amendments.
The President had arrived at Harambee House 10.30am ahead of the 15 ministers.
The ministers, who included Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the meeting.
A statement from the Presidential Press Service said the President had “outlined the implementation of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act,” that was passed by Parliament and assented into law last month.
Support accord
“The Government is fully supportive of the Accord and its full implementation,” the statement said.
The accord, which was witnessed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and President Kikwete, outside the Office of the President, created the post of Prime Minister and two deputies.
PNU and ODM will appoint one deputy prime minister each. While Sabatia MP Musalia Mudavadi is expected to fill the ODM slot, it is not yet clear who will be the PNU nominee.
The race appears to be between Justice minister Martha Karua, Local Government minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Internal Security minister George Saitoti.
Besides the seats, the Accord also required PNU and ODM to share the Cabinet seats equally, while taking portfolio balance into account.
Last week, President Kibaki held two separate meetings with Mr Odinga at Harambee House but they could not agree on the size of the new Cabinet nor on the portfolio balance.
In the last meeting, the two agreed to adjourn before reconvening to agree on power-sharing after consulting their parties.
Government spokesman Alfred Mutua later said that Mr Odinga failed to return as agreed while ODM wrote protest letters to the Head of the Public Service, saying what the party had been offered was unacceptable.
The ministers left the meeting in two groups, the first 10 included the Vice-President and the Justice minister.
The second group stayed behind for about 10 minutes with the President and left after he and Roads minister John Michuki left for State House.