ODM Wants Kofi Annan Back in Kenya

Published on Tuesday 16th February 2010

The Orange Party on Monday called for the return of mediator Kofi Annan as the crisis in the coalition government entered its second day.

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi accused President Kibaki of breaking the law by quashing Prime Minister Raila Odinga's suspension of two ministers whose dockets have been embroiled in corruption claims.

Mr Mudavadi said his party would formally invite Mr Annan to step in and save the coalition from collapse.

But Deputy ODM leader William Ruto dismissed talk of a crisis as "a figment" of Mr Odinga's imagination and said Mr Annan should find something useful to do.

On Sunday, Mr Odinga suspended Mr Ruto and Education minister Sam Ongeri for three months to clear the way for investigations. But hours later, the President quashed the suspension and said the Prime Minister had acted illegally.

And in a quick rejoinder, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula criticised ODM for seeking external solutions to Kenyan problems.

"Kenyans should be given an opportunity to focus on matters of importance to the nation and their future livelihood, including the ongoing reforms," said Mr Wetang'ula.

The minister said there was no crisis.

"Kenyans should not lose sight of the decisive and firm action already taken by the President to suspend senior government officials to pave the way for thorough investigations into allegations of corruption," Mr Wetang'ula said.

ODM warned that the government would find it impossible to work harmoniously or even pass the new constitution unless what it called loopholes in the National Accord were sealed.

Speaking on behalf of Mr Odinga, who left for Japan on Sunday night, Mr Mudavadi accused the President of breaching the accord by revoking decisions made by the Prime Minister.

"No one can be permitted to twist those clear provisions of both the Constitution and the National Accord for narrow parochial political interests," he said in a statement.

Mr Mudavadi said Mr Odinga had not revoked the suspensions. The two ministers were in office yesterday and dismissed the PM's announcement.

Mr Mudavadi said the National Accord gave the PM exclusive powers to discipline, suspend or interdict public officials, including ministers.

Written concurrence

"Although the President's statement alleges that the Prime Minister has 'removed' the two ministers without consulting him and seeking his written 'concurrence,' the law is clear; on matters of discipline, suspension or interdiction of public officials including Cabinet ministers, the Prime Minister has exclusive authority. The Prime Minister does not share that power or authority with the President," the statement said.

ODM's interpretation of the law was contradicted by Attorney General Amos Wako, who said suspension and removal of ministers was the President's responsibility, which he exercises in consultation with and which he can delegate to the Prime Minister.

Mr Ruto called press conference at which he declared: "It's him (Raila) who overstepped his mandate and not the President by trying to exercise powers he does not have."

Dr Ben Sihanya, a lecturer at the School of Law, University of Nairobi, said the coalition could collapse if urgent steps were not taken.

"A declaration of a dispute means that there is a fundamental issue that cannot be resolved under the dispute resolution mechanisms existing in the accord. The Annan team in the context of the grand coalition is the court of last resort and should it not intervene, then the government could as well collapse," he said.

Mr Justin Muturi, a member of the PNU's legal team, however, said Mr Odinga had overstepped his mandate by suspending the ministers.

"The PM has no powers to hire, fire or suspend, he can only recommend to the President their sacking and if his recommendation is not acted upon, the only recourse he has is to walk out of the coalition, not invite Dr Annan," he said.

Mr Mudavadi maintained that in suspending Mr Ruto and Prof Ongeri, the PM had exercised powers vested in the PM's office under section 15(a) of the Constitution and section 4(1) of the accord.

The two sections deal with the creation of the office of Prime Minister and define his authority to supervise government functions.

They, however, do not explicitly say what powers he has. Under the coalition arrangement, top appointments are made by the President in consultation with the PM.

Mr Mudavadi said ODM took exception to the President' statement that the PM did not have powers to appoint, sack or even suspend Cabinet ministers, including those picked by ODM.

"The National Accord expressly stipulates that both principals agreed to share power equally to bring peace to this country. Legally and constitutionally, neither the President nor the Prime minister is superior to the other," the statement said.

The party also took issue with President Kibaki's move on Saturday to suspend eight public officials, including two working under the PM.

"We note with concern that on Saturday, the President unilaterally purported to suspend for three months several senior government officers, including two in the Prime Minister's office who had earlier voluntarily stepped aside," it said.

The party was referring to Dr Mohammed Isahakia, the PS in the PM's office who the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit said was a shareholder of a company irregularly allocated maize and Mr Caroli Omondi, an aide to the PM who was accused of breaking procurement rules.