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Grand coalition under siege

By Sunday Standard Team

Top three politicians — President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka — are under siege for different reasons.

President Kibaki meets Ndhiwa MP, Mr Orwa Ojode at the Naivasha Stadium IDP camp. Area MP, Mr John Mututho (left) and Public Service minister, Mr Dalmas Otieno look on. Picture by Antony Gitonga

On the other hand, despite their silent and overt battles, the nation looks upon them to deliver particularly on four key areas: Resettlement of the displaced; a new constitution within a year; land reforms; and redressing historical injustices.

But first they must have a working, not warring Grand Coalition, which going by the protocol wars in last week’s three-day tour of the Rift Valley, could be getting trickier.

Kibaki, who leads the Party of National Unity, which has deep roots in central Kenya where the majority of the displaced originally hailed, is under pressure from his own people. They look upon him, armed with the instruments of government to resettle them.

He also has the onerous task of re-inventing himself, following the mud thrown at him by the disputed election, to vacate office at 2012 proud of his legacy.

Raila is in Government but not everyone is happy to have him around. He has the gargantuan task of “supervising and co-ordinating’’ ministers and their work. But even the President is not keen to show the nation the way; is he senior or junior to Kalonzo.

His supporters believe he has lost out in the power sharing accord. Though in Government, some still want to see his ‘rebellious’ streak, particularly on land and resettlement. He too, like them wants inter-communal reconciliation to take precedence.

Different language

But the President wants it done immediately under the watch of the police and other security agencies. Kibaki’s troops are not talking the same language as Raila’s allies – and again they are in one Government!

Raila, too, has the eye on the presidency which he feels was his for the taking, and so he has to spread his tentacles outside ODM without looking like he has one leg out.

But serving the interests of ODM, keeping Kibaki-Kalonzo in check, and curving out the image of a presidential material, might not just be easy to juggle. That is what the events of the last few weeks have shown. He is under siege within and outside ODM.

Kalonzo is just beginning to taste the bitter fruit of Kibaki succession, coming in the form of confusion over who precedes who in matters protocol.

At his Ukambani stronghold, opponents are asking questions if it was worth throwing himself up at Kibaki in exchange for three Cabinet positions. Then there is Water Minister Charity Ngilu and Kilome MP John Harun Mwau, abrasive and resilient, keeping the VP busy fighting the fires at the regional level.

Kalonzo still also has to work with Kibaki without appearing to be subservient to his political interests, and therefore putting himself in the line of fire targeting at the President. As he juggles all these, he still has to keep the eye on the presidency.

Last year, Kalonzo came out a distant third, there was nothing much to talk about the miracle he had promised.

It is the story of three men and the silent war playing out among them. To their credit, they each have vicious supporters.

Kibaki can count on the cast in the Cabinet from central Kenya, especially Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s Kanu and Kalonzo’s ODM-Kenya.

Kibaki facing biggest test

Raila has the Pentagon squad –youthful, and energetic. For now it is a Kibaki-Kalonzo-Uhuru axis against Raila.

As things stand Kibaki is just beginning to face his biggest test.

Resettling the tens of thousands of people displaced in post-election violence is an issue on which the President may not count much on his coalition partners to help him with.

Even some members of the coalition who accompanied him in his three-day tour of the Rift Valley believe resettling the displaced is the President’s headache. They will at best lend only cosmetic support and keep him company.

In Central Province, the President is under pressure to resettle members of his community who were displaced in the violence that erupted in far-flung lands over the December polls.

In the Rift Valley, MPs are equally under pressure to satisfy the demands of constituents who want the land ownership issue, which has been simmering for ages, resolved.

The MPs from this region, including Cabinet ministers, say it is too risky to ask for the victims of violence to be resettled unconditionally.

The President on the other hand, together with MPs from the Rift Valley, “want resettlement yesterday.’’ Most of the over 100,000 people living in tents and relying on food handouts fear returning home until their security is guaranteed.

The Government has responded to the fears of the displaced by putting up more police stations across Rift Valley.

In January, Internal Security minister George Saitoti said 32 police stations would be set up to ensure security once displaced people return to their homes. He said the stations would be built in areas that were worst hit by post-election violence.

But Eldoret North MP William Ruto told the presidential rallies the police stations could only supplement, not guarantee the safety of the displaced. He wants the country to first get to the root cause of the perennial clashes.

Saitoti said the Government would ensure people who participated in post-election violence are arrested and charged.

Observers say police cannot restore peace and security in this kind of conflict.

In an interview published elsewhere in this paper today, US Ambassador in Kenya Michael Ranneberger said police would not do in resettling of the displaced. While he shared the President’s position that the resettlement could not wait, the ambassador said the displaced could only return if it is safe to do so.

“You do not achieve that by building police stations. People have to reconcile,” the ambassador said.

He called for the involvement of elders in the reconciliation and talked of the need to convince all parties to the conflict that there would be benefits for all when people are resettled.

The protocol war may not end soon, and even if it does, the Kibaki-Raila catfights may continue. On June 11 five parliamentary by-elections take off, and each will have to go his way to try and bolster the numerical strength of their parties.

For now ODM is ahead of PNU by about five seats. It will be another test for the Grand Coalition, just as the pending business of uniting the country and tackling ethnicity and governance issues.

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Read the story and read between the lines. The US is making a silent coup in Kenya and God forbid, they should be stopped by Kibaki.

US to help strengthen PM role

By Dennis Onyango The United States government is promising maximum support for the Office of the Prime Minister saying it has a critical role in ensuring the success of the Grand Coalition Government

Out of the crisis that gripped the country at the beginning of the year, America sees hope for democracy.

The super power dismisses fears that Kenya could be regressing like Zimbabwe.

This is why it’s promising to work closely with the Office of The Prime Minister, that will be overseeing other ministries.

America is promising stronger ties to the civil society to sustain democracy.

“What happened in Kenya gives us hope. Kenya has a strong civil society, media and highest level of education in Africa. That is why it never degenerated into a civil war when the crisis struck. Its institutions stood firm.

The fact that Kenya has been tested this way shows it has a future. No amount of pressure would have changed things here without pressure from Kenyans pushing their leaders, US ambassador in Kenya Michael Ranneberger said.

working closely

In an interview with The Sunday Standard the US Ambassador said his country is putting “a lot of hope” in the PM’s office because of the role the Constitution has assigned it to co-ordinate and supervise government ministries.

“In a government this large, the role of the Prime Minister is going to be critical. We will work very closely with the Prime Minister in co-ordinating and supervising the Government,” the ambassador said.

He added: “We recognise that critical role, and that is why we are ready to give money to strengthen the office.”

But how long, or whether the coalition will hold is something the ambassador remains non-committal on, insisting that focus will be on achieving the urgent reforms.

Talking against the background of tension between the PM and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka over the pecking order in government, the ambassador said focusing on that order in terms of 1-2-3 serves little purpose.

“What is important is that the President has his power clearly spelt out, the V-P has his role as Leader of Government Business in the House. We like to look at the President as head of one party and the PM of the other, working together in a coalition,” the ambassador said.

“The main partners in this coalition are Kibaki’s PNU and Mr Odinga’s ODM. ODM-Kenya is a small party that received less than a million votes in the polls. The reason the Cabinet slots have been shared 50-50 between ODM and PNU is because they are the partners. ODM-Kenya had joined Kibaki earlier,” he explained.

“Having talked with President Kibaki and the Prime Minister, I notice each realise that he can accomplish nothing without the other. I think this will last a while. It is true they need each other,” Ranneberger said, adding, “PNU cannot pass legislation without ODM, nor can ODM do it without PNU. They need each other even for the Government to be seen to represent all Kenyans.”

The ambassador also announced that the US had invited Prime Minister Raila Odinga to Washington “at a mutually convenient date”.

Raila, Ranneberger said, was being invited to the US because of the importance Washington attaches to his role as the one “constitutionally required to supervise and co-ordinate the activities of government”.

The ambassador said he remained in close touch with Kibaki, adding that the President had been to the US before.

“We are inviting the PM so that we can review assistance here and show that we can co-ordinate closely. The US has such a large partnership with Kenya and we want to ensure it is properly co-ordinated,” he elaborated.

The ambassador spoke soon after announcing the US had committed $500,000 (Sh30.5 million) to support the development of the PM’s office.

Part of the “large partnership” the ambassador was talking about includes some $2 billion (Sh122 million) that flows from the US to Kenya every year.

While some members of the Grand Coalition have lamented a lack of clarity on the PM’s role in government, the ambassador says he is convinced they are well spelt out.

Critical role

“It is very clear. Any manager or business owner knows what it means to be supervisory and co-ordinator of activities in an organisation. The authority of the PM and the President are spelt out. There is no confusion. That is why before I could meet any of the ministers, I had to meet with him first, and I am glad that he assembled a large team of Cabinet colleagues for the meeting,” Ranneberger said.

The US, the ambassador said, is tying its relationship with Kenya on the “full implementation of the national political accord,” a task which he says will see the PM play a critical role.

The formation of the grand coalition, the ambassador said, is not the end, but a beginning.

“The reform agenda, which includes reform of the Constitution, addressing the land question and the ECK are critical and urgent, so that we do not have a repeat of what happened during the last elections. These reforms need to be carried out within the next 12-14 months,” he said.

Like Dr Kofi Annan, the chief mediator in the peace talks, Ranneberger says the crisis has provided a chance for Kenya to tackle some of the things it has been wishing away.

Kenya, he said, would not have witnessed the violence if the Constitution had been reformed.

“If Kenya had an independent electoral body that was also transparent, what happened would not have happened. If the Constitution was properly structured to capture the new realities, there would have been a provision for a coalition government that could have been used immediately the crisis began,” the ambassador said.

Challenges

Ranneberger says the violence was “overwhelmingly, almost absolutely” land related. Land reform, the ambassador said, is one of the most critical challenges the coalition faces.

“The violence was not about ethnic hatred. Some of it was a reaction to the disputed election results. But a tremendous amount of that violence was about land. Sometimes, it takes just a spark to trigger a mighty fire that was waiting to burn. That is what happened,” Ranneberger said.

Land reform, the ambassador said, is part of the reason the PM is going to be critical, with his supervisory and co-ordinating role in government.

The ambassador says the land question will involve dealing with issues like population growth, surveys indicating who actually owns what and industrialisation so that all Kenyans do not have to depend on land for a living.

“Kenya may need some external technical assistance with this and we are ready to offer help. This could be one of the issues for the PM to explore in Washington,” he said.

Already, the US has committed an additional $25 million (Sh1.5 billion) to support reconciliation, reform and return of displaced persons to their homes.

Resettlement of displaced people, the ambassador said, is urgent and cannot wait. But he said people could only return to their homes when they are assured it is safe, warning that it would not be achieved by building police stations.

Opposition

“People have to reconcile. That is why Raila and Kibaki are out there. Involve elders. Convince each other that there will be mutual benefits when everyone returns. If you are going to give seeds to members of the displaced Kikuyu community, there are schools and clinics children of the Kalenjin attend, rehabilitate those and let the good be shared. That is the way to reconcile communities.”

Ranneberger also faulted the notion that there will be no Opposition with the formation of the Grand Coalition. He termed the MPs seeking to form an opposition within the House as “self-serving people who did not get positions in government.”

“The Coalition has checks and balances built into it. No side can pass legislation without the other. The media and the civil society will also watch the Coalition. MPs need to get in line and start serving the Government. That is what Kenyans want. This is not the time to start looking for positions,” the ambassador said.

“These MPs will be irresponsible if they become the ones causing more divisions in government. At some stage, depending on how this goes, there may be need for some Opposition. But now is not the time. It is way too early for that,” he said.

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Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.standard.ke

By Sunday Standard Team

The protocol goofs by the country’s top politicians have brought to the fore the simmering Kibaki succession battles.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Internal Security Minister George Saitoti are at the centre of the power struggle.

Consequently, a cross-section of leaders has called for a clear explanation of the power-sharing deal between President Kibaki and the Prime Minister.

Former Attorney General, Mr Charles Njonjo asked President Kibaki to give direction on protocol.

Njonjo said the country and the President himself were being embarrassed in public through pecking order mistakes, which should be clarified.

“Kibaki can direct an order of precedence consistent with the power-sharing accord and spare the country further embarrassment,” he said.

He said the recent clash between the PM and the VP was unfortunate, especially when the country was crying for reconciliation.

“The stand-off between Raila and Kalonzo on protocol issues is embarrassing and sending wrong signals to the public,” he said, on Saturday.

He added: “The Prime Minister has constitutional powers while the VP is junior and has no constitutional authority. In my time we would not allow the President to be embarrassed at all. But the Head of Civil Service and other senior officers seem to be enjoying this.”

The Accord, he said, was a political agreement between two parties and the principals Raila and Kibaki.

“Kalonzo had no business visiting Rift Valley. The displaced people wanted to meet the President and the Prime Minister,” he said.

Njonjo asked President Kibaki to settle the issue and reciprocate Raila’s gesture.

“Raila has graciously conceded that Kibaki is Head of State and Head of Government. It behooves the President to reciprocate that gesture by ensuring the Prime Minister, if not on equal footing to him, is second to him in precedence,” he said.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and other civil society organisations have branded the “seniority mind game” a political statement of the intense Kibaki succession battles.

LSK vice-chairman, Mr James Mwamu said under the coalition arrangement, Raila was equal to President Kibaki politically, and ranked second followed by the Vice-President.

“But some people who have the 2012 presidential race in mind want to sideline Raila from his number two slot in the pecking order,” he said.

The ICJ country director, Mr George Kegoro said there was lack of magnanimity from the top leadership.

“If they can sort themselves away from the public glare the better,” he said.

And two Cabinet ministers have asked the VP and Government protocol officers to recognise that the PM was senior in the pecking order.

Forestry Minister, Dr Noah Wekesa and his Immigration and Registration of Persons counterpart, Mr Otieno Kajwang’ warned Government officials against introducing “funny games”.

Wekesa said Kenyans recognised that Raila’s office only compares to that of the President.

“It is good to jostle to feel great, but let us accept the reality, everybody knows for God’s sake that Raila’s office is sharing power with the Office of the President,” he said.

Kajwang’ asked the Vice-President to stop indulging in what he termed unnecessary “small power games” and accept that his office was subordinate to that of the Prime Minister.

“There are two partners in this extra ordinary Government, the President’s partner is the Prime Minister, who happens to be Raila Odinga and they are equal partners,” he said.

But Nairobi Metropolitan Development minister, Mr Mutula Kilonzo said the Vice-President was at the top of the Prime Minister in the pecking order.

He argued that the Constitution was superior than the National Accord and Reconciliation Act.

“We did not create a coalition that supercedes the Constitution. It was not an usurpation of the constitution,” he said.

He termed the protocol mess in Rift Valley unnecessary and undermined the reconciliation process.

“When President Kibaki, Raila and Kalonzo are out there addressing Kenyans, there should be no debate over who speaks before the other between the PM and the VP,” he said.

But a civil society official, Mr Cyprian Nyamwamu said Kenyans must live with the infighting.

“The protocol saga we are being treated to is merely a tip of the iceberg. We are convinced that Raila, Kalonzo, Saitoti, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Musalia Mudavadi and Mr William Ruto will want to use their offices to angle for 2012,” he said.

Kibwezi MP, Mr Philip Kaloki regretted the ongoing protocol wars and said the three leaders have a vital role to play in spearheading reconciliation.

“The three leaders have a golden chance to prove to the world that all is not lost in Kenya,” he said.

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Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.BusinessDay.SA

By Sam Mkokeli and Karima Brown.

Public intellectuals are watching with interest what a Jacob Zuma presidency means for them and their space to operate.

Under President Thabo Mbeki, their space was generally limited, with the president known for his intolerance of public criticism. Unisa rector Barney Pityana tested the waters recently with his scathing criticism of Zuma, who is the frontrunner for the country’s highest post. In his speech to the Stellenbosch Law Society, Pityana said the African National Congress (ANC) president was a much flawed character, resulting in a public row between him and ANC heavyweights reminiscent of the bad blood between Mbeki and Archbishop Desmond Tutu a few years ago.

Then, as is the case now , sparks flew as the chattering classes aimed their missives at each other, all in the name of œrobust debate and the need to hold power to account. A political analyst at Wits University, Prof Susan Booysen, says Mbeki has a serious intolerance of criticism but that did not stifle criticism. Some critics were scared of being blasted in Mbeki’s weekly online letter and some trod carefully to ensure they did not say anything that would antagonise him.

She says it is too early to tell if Zuma and his leadership will be tolerant. We still have to see, maybe the intellectual police will be out soon in the new regime … it’s an interesting, challenging transitional period.
She says the onus is on public intellectuals to carve open that space for themselves and test the waters irrespective of authorities attitude to them. The Pityana incident was a case in point. He stood out and tested the waters. Some were not happy with him … he went right to the core of the matter, directly criticising the ANC’s presidential candidate, he was brave enough.

Public intellectual Xolela Mangcu says Mbeki sees himself as a philosopher king and is not tolerant of different views. Although Zuma appears different on that score, public intellectuals will have to wait and see what he will be like. He is a human being and prone to the attraction of power and prone to be corrupted by power, Mangcu says. However, It’s not up to political leaders; public intellectuals are not asking for permission … their space is not dependent on politicians.

It’s always to the better of society if politicians are willing to entertain criticism. Centre for Policy Studies analyst Aubrey Matshiqi says while there are many contending truths in society, the ANC under Mbeki and Zuma ring-fences its conception of truth. This is what happened to Pityana and Tutu. Because of the construct of embedded intellectuals within the South African context, one finds that they either promote the values of the liberation movement, or take aim against them.

This leads to what Matshiqi calls struggle realism” meaning liberation movements constructing their own reality. During the first decade of SA’s freedom, there were complaints about declines in debates. This has been attributed to a number of reasons . These real and perceived reasons include a euphoria over the transition, the uncertainties accompanying all major political transitions, the emphasis on reconciliation to stabilise SA’s democracy, a perceived ANC leadership intolerance of debate on major issues, and lack of public platforms for debate other than the mainstream media.

University of Johannesburg vice-chancellor Prof Adam Habib says: The idea is for elites to engage intellectuals when they disagree, and it would be good if we have a more plural layer of intellectuals that is not only able to take on the old order but also the new postliberation government and powerful types such as organised labour.

South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande says that in class societies, the issues that affect ordinary workers and the poor tend to be absent in the public arena. And even when these issues surface in the public arena, they are presented from the standpoint and the interests of the powerful.

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Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.IWPR

By Caroline Ayugi.

Gulu (Uganda) – As peace settles across north Uganda and the lives of civilians return to something approaching normality, it is becoming painfully clear how much rebuilding there is to do in the war-devastated region.

While pupils are once again flocking to long-abandoned schools, dire shortages of staff, and basic supplies, such as books, desks and chairs, are severely hampering their education. Meanwhile, many people living in internal refugee camps say they are unable to return to their villages as the government has not fulfilled its promise to supply them with the resettlement packages they need to rebuild their villages. A 20-year rebellion by the Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, forced more than 1.7 million people into internal refugee camps in northern Uganda. The region’s schools were also forced to close, causing an entire generation to miss out on a solid education.

Since the rebel group has been based in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, from where it has been engaged in peace talks for the past two years, people have begun to leave the camps, and many schools have reopened. Gulu District Inspector of Schools Robinson Obot told IWPR that more than 60 primary schools are now operating in the area, and only five remain closed. However, there are few teachers, text books or desks. Students are forced to sit on concrete floors and share the few books available, he said, and many schools even lack basic toilet facilities.

While students say they’re happy to be in class, they complain that conditions are tough. Nelda Lakop, a student in the sixth grade of the once-abandoned Pupwonya Primary in Atiak, about 80 kilometres north of Gulu, said many classes have been merged and children œall squeeze in one classroom. There are no textbooks, complained Lakop, œso we can’t expand on the knowledge we get from our class lessons. Vicky Aol, who is in the fifth grade of the same school, said only 84 pupils out of 230 in her school sat at desks. The rest sit on the bare floor and write on their laps, she said.

Tony Ocaya, one of eight teachers at the school, said that while he was supposed to teach two classes, he now has to take four due to understaffing. He said classes of more than 200 pupils mean it is hard to pay attention to every child, Teachers’ effectiveness in knowing every pupil’s weakness is a great challenge, and it becomes hard to help a child with special problems. Given the dire condition, standards of education are low. The school’s students did poorly in last year’s primary school examinations, said Ocaya.

As a result, the government ranked Amuru district, where the school is located, as one of the worst for schools in Uganda’s Universal Primary Education, UPE, programme. The ranking system also takes into account the number of pupils per teacher and the number of pupils per classroom, among other things. By comparison, Gulu, which also saw many of its schools emptied by the war, was ranked 20th out the country’s 80 districts.

Susan Adong, whose child goes to Lamin-Luluka Primary School in Gulu, said the building was in a terrible state. Parts ..have cracks and others [metal roofing] sheets [have been] blown off by winds, she said.
According to her, pupils sit in the dilapidated chairs and benches that existed before the school was abandoned. There is also a dire need for housing for teachers, she said. Some teachers sleep in classrooms, she explained. They were using tents distributed by NGOs, but a few weeks ago, the tents were destroyed by strong winds.

Obot said the district has approached local organisations as well as the government for financial help. The district education authorities had also asked parents and community members to build housing near schools to attract teachers, but to no avail, he said. The community is non-responsive [to the request], he complained. This has made other teachers miss lessons as most of them travel far from town to the villages.
It is not only teachers in the region who lack a roof over their heads.

Many northerners remain in internal refugee camps because the resettlement kits that the government promised them more than a year ago “ which were to include the tools and materials they needed to rebuild their homes and villages “ have failed to materialise. Gulu District Commissioner Walter Ochora announced this month that the resettlement packages would be restricted. Ochara told IWPR that a limited supply of metal sheets was available, and that these would only be given to those who have already built their houses to roof level.

Those who want roofing sheets had to register, he said, and have their house photographed as proof of construction. Only then will they be given the materials. The restrictions, which also include signing an agreement to use the roofing sheets only for housing, are an attempt to stop the resale of the materials. Ochora said that those caught violating the terms would be prosecuted. Many residents are angry that the roofing materials are in such short supply, when entire villages have to be rebuilt.

“These iron sheets are not enough even for a single camp like Pabbo camp, said Patrick Oryema, an official in the Armuru district. Pabbo is one of the largest camps with an estimated 60,000 or more residents.
Supposing all the returning [refugees] manage to set up their houses where would we get [enough] iron sheets from? he asked. “It is ridiculous for government to just give a symbol of assistance, while proclaiming to be resettling them.

“The concerned authorities should first ask the government for more iron sheets, or withdraw the programme altogether.” Former resident of the Opit camp Robert Opira said that the new restrictions had not been relayed to villagers. He said some think the metal roofing will never arrive, ‘We have not been told to build houses [to] get iron sheets. Others even doubt when and how the iron sheets will be distributed.
Oris Olal, who is from the same village, said the new rules have come too late. The rainy season has arrived and the rain makes it difficult to bake mud bricks and built houses. It is now wet season and we can’t lay bricks because they will be washed by the rains, he said.

But Amuru district official Bazil Odongpiny urged refugees to return to their homes, and suggested that waiting for the resettlement kits to be delivered first was futile. “Some camp dwellers are emphasising that the government brought them to the camps, and should therefore give them kits to return home, but please do not try to chase an animal that you cannot kill, he said. His colleague, Amuru District Resident Commissioner Edwin Yakobo Komakech said that if aid organisations stopped giving assistance to residents in the camps, and instead delivered the aid directly to the villages, it would encourage camp dwellers to return home.

However, Ketty Ladur, a resident of the Lacor camp, told IWPR that she was nervous about going back to her village with no guarantee of support from the authorities. I have stayed for many years in this camp with limited access to most basic needs. Sending us back like this without any help would be an equivalent of transferring my camp condition to another location, she said. “At home, there are inadequate building materials like grass, and if the government could give us the iron sheets they promised, I would be so grateful.

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