Kenya crisis: Kibaki, Odinga in power struggle

Nairobi

The Orange Party yesterday 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 Mwai Kibaki of breaking the law by quashing Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s suspension of two ministers whose ministries have been embroiled in corruption.

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 else to do. “It’s him (Raila) who overstepped his mandate and not the President by trying to exercise powers he does not have,” said the Agriculture minister. Mr Ruto and one of the two suspended by Mr Odinga, also claimed that Mr Odinga bore the responsibility for the maize scandal.

Suspension
Yesterday, Mr Odinga announced that he had suspended Mr Ruto and Education Minister, Prof Sam Ongeri, for three months to clear the way for investigations. Hours later, the President quashed the suspension and said the Prime Minister had acted illegally.

Now ODM has warned that the government will find it impossible to work harmoniously or even pass the new Constitution unless what it called loopholes in the national accord are sealed. Mr Mudavadi accused the President of breaching the national accord by revoking decisions made by the Prime Minister.

Exclusive powers
“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. The two ministers were in office yesterday and had dismissed the PM announcement.

Mr Mudavadi said in the statement yesterday that the national accord gave the PM exclusive powers to discipline, suspend or interdict public officials, including ministers. Dr Ben Sihanya, a lecturer at the School of Law, University of Nairobi, said the coalition could collapse if urgent steps are 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,” he said.

Former Siakago MP and part of PNU’s legal team, Justin Muturi, however, said the PM 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 inviting Mr Annan,” he said.

Mr Mudavadi, however, maintained that in suspending Mr Ruto and Prof Ongeri, the PM had exercised powers vested in the PM’s office under the constitution and the accord. The party also took issue with president Kibaki’s move on Saturday to suspend eight public officials including two who were working under the PM.