Prime Minister Raila Odinga talks with Dalmas Otieno at the old Parliament chambers during an ODM parliamentary group meeting on April 28. Photo/FILE
In Summary
- ODM has taken the House Speaker’s ruling on the issue of leader of government business as victory against the PNU side following a well-planned petition to have Prime Minister Raila Odinga replace VP Kalonzo Musyoka in the positio
As MPs walked out of the chambers after House Speaker Kenneth Marende’s historic ruling last week, their body language left little doubt which side considered the decision a victory.
It was no coincidence. Interviews with ODM insiders uncovered details of the planning which culminated in the party’s successful petition against Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka automatically chairing the committee that sets Parliament’s agenda.
At the heart of the team coordinating the petition was a nucleus of MPs, including Olago Aluoch, James Orengo and Dalmas Otieno, who met last Tuesday and resolved to use a Parliamentary Group meeting scheduled for the next day to ask the party to back their plan.
This is not a new issue. Many of us had been disturbed throughout the last session by the fact that the VP was leader of government business, contrary to the tradition in most of the Commonwealth countries where the PM holds that position. We decided to raise the issue at the beginning of the new session, Mr Aluoch said.
Presidential circular
Underpinning ODM’s position was a presidential circular dated May 30, 2008 outlining the roles of various players within the coalition.
The memo, seen by the Sunday Nation, cited one of the duties of the PM as being accountable to Parliament on the overall performance of the functions of the Prime Minister’s Office.
ODM’s contention was that the PM could only effectively discharge this role as leader of government business in the House.
Mr Aluoch, Mr Orengo and Mr Otieno outlined this argument during the PG. They were backed by Prof Margaret Kamar (Eldoret East), Alfred Sambu (Webuye) and Rachel Shebesh (nominated).
Chepalungu’s Isaac Ruto, however, differed, saying the party ran the risk of seeming perennially out to pick a fight.
It is true that I disagreed with my colleagues, Mr Ruto told the Sunday Nation. My view is that this is a crucial year if we are to push through any reforms. Both sides need each other for that and any extreme positions will only derail the quest for fundamental reforms, he said.
Those backing the petition succeeded in convincing Mr Odinga to stake a claim to the position of leader of government business.
It was at this point that Mr Caroli Omondi, the PM’s chief of staff, was summoned and asked to draft a letter to the Speaker nominating the PM as leader of government business in the House.
Speaker Kenneth Marende’s decision to decline both President Kibaki’s nomination of Mr Musyoka and Mr Odinga’s own nomination and temporarily take up the position of chair of the House Business Committee himself was seen as a tactical success by ODM.
The ruling, party members say, represented a significant challenge to the powers of the President to make executive appointments without consulting the PM.
Chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo said: This is a big victory for ODM. We are very happy about the ruling, which provides a platform for us to push through the reform agenda.
But the minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development Mutula Kilonzo labelled the move by ODM as a power grab.
This is nothing short of a civilian coup, he said. Mr Kilonzo faulted the Speaker for what he described as assigning himself the role of interpreting legislation “ a task, he said, that lies outside the province of his jurisdiction.
It is said failure to make a decision is a decision in itself. The Speaker’s decision to chair the committee offends the principle of separation of powers. He cannot assume a position which should be held by a member of the Executive, the minister said.
Negotiators from both sides failed to agree on the issue and referred the matter to the principals. It was supposed to have been settled by President Kibaki and Mr Odinga alongside the question of cabinet appointments and composition of the rest of government.
It is unclear how the pair resolved the matter although Mr Musyoka continued the tradition of the VP playing the role of Leader of Government Business in the last session.
The Speaker’s ruling means the PM and the President will have to agree on the holder of the position, although the positions taken by leaders on both sides make the chances of a middle ground remote.
Mr Midiwo said the party would settle for nothing less than Mr Odinga assuming the position. But Mr Kilonzo said: Consultation is not concurrence. The Constitution is very clear about the President’s role as the appointing authority and nowhere does it say that someone else must agree with him.
Emboldened by the Speaker’s ruling, ODM leaders say their next target is the office of the Head of Public Service which, they say, was useful under the one-party system but no longer makes sense in the coalition government.
The Prime Minister coordinates and supervises the execution of government functions. It is the PM’s office where permanent secretaries should get their briefs regularly and not the office of the Head of Public Service.
Indeed, with a minister in charge of the Public Service, the office of the Head of Public Service is redundant and superfluous.
It causes more confusion and conflict in the Coalition Government than people realise. It should be abolished forthwith, says ODM secretary general Prof Anyang Nyong’o.
source.nation.ke
