Muchemi Wachira
19 January 2008
Nairobi — After losing to the Opposition in the election of the National Assembly Speaker and his deputy, questions are being raised about the Government's preparedness to chart the business of the House.
Many Government supporters did not expect it to lose the battle for the topmost seat in Parliament after what was believed to have been intense lobbying during a two-night retreat at Simba Lodge, Naivasha.
The talks were attended by Party of National Unity (PNU) MPs and those from friendly parties.
What seems to be troubling supporters of PNU and its coalition partners - ODM Kenya, Kanu and others - is the confidence the MPs exuded before the elections. During the retreat, the coalition spokesman, Mr Mutula Kilonzo, said the group had brought together at least 104 members to their side.
And they were reaching out to others in the opposition, said Mr Kilonzo, who is also the Mbooni MP, adding that they had already started negotiating with them.
Majority members
According to him, the group had carried an audit which, he noted, had established that they had the majority members in the House.
This would not only give them the upper hand during the elections, but also ensure that Government-sponsored Bills would go through in the House without difficulties. One of the factors that gave them the confidence was the new coalition which Mr Kilonzo described as "historic and wonderful".
It was the first grouping of its kind, the MP said, in the history of Kenya.
So what really happened on Tuesday when their candidates for the posts of Speaker and his deputy lost to their ODM rivals?
Although the loss to ODM's Mr Kenneth Marende was marginal, the defeat of the PNU candidate, Mr Francis ole Kaparo, was not totally unexpected for people who had been keenly following the lobbying by the Government side.
And although there was much confidence on the part of the lobbying committee at the Naivasha retreat, which was spearheaded by Juja MP George Thuo, some of the more experienced MPs on the PNU side seemed not to be wholly committed to the caucus.
Indeed, by the time Mr Thuo and his colleagues, who included Mukurwe-ini MP Kabando wa Kabando (Safina), left the meeting, they believed they had done their best and were convinced that their candidates would carry the day.
But this was not to be. Their ODM rival apparently knew about the Government's plot to influence some of their members to vote for Mr Kaparo.
During their retreat at the Kenya Commercial Bank premises at Karen in Nairobi, it is understood that ODM leaders had warned any members intending to betray their cause.
It is understood also that about 10 MPs thought to have been targeted by the Government were isolated and convinced about the importance of staying together with the rest.
At the end, the ODM trick seems to have worked with their candidate, Mr Marende, getting 105 votes against 101 for Mr Kaparo in the third round of voting.
The defeat also saw the PNU candidate for deputy Speaker, Mr Gitobu Imanyara, pulling out of the race after the first round of voting.
Mr Imanyara had sensed defeat. His sole rival, Mr Farah Maalim of ODM, secured the seat.
Signs that all was not well at the PNU camp started showing in Naivasha when some MPs reported at the lodge and left almost immediately. Indeed, most of the MPs had not reported by 6.30pm on the first day. Some MPs who spoke to the Saturday Nation, expressed shock at the defeat by ODM, and accused some of their colleagues for failing to take their work seriously. "At Naivasha we were never a full house," said a PNU MP who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"Sometimes we would have 85 members, at times we would be 90. And some of the Cabinet ministers never showed up at all.
He added: "We cannot blame ODM Kenya or Kanu and even the small parties. They did their best and they were all present during the retreat.
"The problem was with our big guys in PNU who did not give the matter the seriousness it deserved."
This was in stark contrast with the situation at Karen where the ODM top leadership, the Pentagon, seemed to have pitched camp throughout the retreat.
And the prevailing emotions in the country triggered by the disputed presidential vote in which President Kibaki was declared winner seemed to have worked in ODM's favour.
And no party MP would have tried to go against the party grain.
Apparently, ODM members had agreed that their members display their marked ballot papers to show which side they had voted for before casting them.
The Government side raised the matter, which compelled the House Clerk, Mr Samuel Ndindiri, to declare the elections invalid, forcing the voting to start afresh. All this happened after more than an hour of haggling at both camps. Sources close to ODM said the party had warned its members during the third and final round of voting that those who betrayed the party cause would be captured by TV cameras. The warning must have reached Mr Ndindiri, prompting his warning to cameramen they faced being thrown out of the House if they rained their cameras on the ballots.
During the voting, PNU sources said, the Government side tried to send mobile phone short text messages to the ODM MPs whom they had earlier approached for support. They added that at least 10 who had been approached were expected to have provided the swing vote.
Mr Kabando had claimed in the House that ODM had intimidated members who wanted to vote for the Government candidate. He named Eldoret North MP William Ruto as the person who was intimidating them.
Unshaken by the accusation, Mr Ruto had retorted: "We went to the General Election using secret ballot and you stole the votes!"
Despite the accusation, the ODM group appeared to be more organised than their rivals. Unlike PNU and its coalition partners, ODM had made full use of its retreat where the members remained a full house until Tuesday when they left together in buses.
And there was no time for the ODM MPs to mix with their rivals until the elections were over. On the contrary, the PNU-ODM-K-Kanu grouping left Naivasha on Tuesday morning with each member going his or her way.
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