2 March 2008
Nairobi — Kenya today enters what could be the historic week in which the power sharing deal President Kibaki and Mr Raila Odinga signed could be homed in the Constitution.
It could be the turning point in the history of the nation as Kibaki and Raila, their differences and clashing character aside, begin working together, again.
The nation waits, albeit with baited breath, but with faces radiating optimism, for the State opening of Parliament on Thursday.
After the ritualistic practice presided over by the President it is expected that an adjournment will follow. But when next week the House resumes, the business on the table could be the proposed draft Act on power sharing and the creation of the office of the Prime Minister and two deputies.
Already, there are indications the cardinal rules on the normal order of business may be sidestepped to allow for speedy conclusion of the proposed Act that has captured the imagination of the nation.
The week opens with the accomplished Ghana-born former UN secretary general Dr Kofi Annan expected to jet out this evening, satisfied the momentum and commitment is at the level he wants.
"But I will never be far away and can return on short notice if I'm needed. And, as I told you, I will be looking in on the talks from time to time. In my absence, the day to day work of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation will be overseen by Chief Mediator Oluyemi Adeniji," Annan said, on Saturday.
The signal that both sides have the gas pedal on the floor came through Vice- President Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila on Saturday when they announced the two groups will hold separate Parliamentary Group meetings ahead of the Thursday State opening of the House.
The President's Party of National Unity, which has a coalition arrangement with Mr Musyoka's ODM-Kenya, holds its PG tomorrow. Raila's Orange Democratic Movement meets on Wednesday.
The agenda for both sides will be the forging of a common stand on the proposed National Reconciliation Act 2008, which is an offshoot of the deal Raila and Kibaki signed.
"ODM will be holding a PG on Wednesday where they will formally take a common stand on the accord," Raila said on Saturday, after meeting Annan.
"There was a lot of give and take. We will meet on Monday (tomorrow) to plead with our members to walk the spirit of the agreement," Kalonzo said.
With Annan's temporary exit, the task of moving on the negotiations shifts to the Nigerian diplomat Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji.
Annan leaves for Geneva, Switzerland, with a stopover in Kampala, where he will chair an international meeting. Former Tanzanian President, Mr William Mkapa left on Saturday - another indicator the peace ship has crossed the turbulent stretch and it could now be smooth-sail.
"I hope I will not come back in similar circumstances. I pray that Kenyans live together in peace like brothers and sisters," Mkapa said, on the way to the airport.
With the signs it is just a matter of time before Kibaki and Raila become the pilot and co-pilot of aircraft Kenya, attention is now shifting to two former friends-turned- foes.
It is slightly over five years after necessity pushed them into a historic union that changed the politics of Kenya and defeated Kanu before parting ways in 2005.
The one-time liberation comrades when the nation cried for unity to defeat Kanu began to fall out soon after they took power in 2003, mainly over dishonoured Memorandum of Understanding.
Vowed to travel together
The falling out led to the collapse of the National Rainbow Coalition, which brought them to power, spilt over into the search for a new constitution.
President Kibaki, whose 2002 victory is credited to Raila's mobilisation forte, went ahead to fire the latter after the 2005 referendum. It eventually put the two in separate parties that fought a bitter election battle last year, which ended with the deadliest political rivalry in Kenya.
Last week, what looks like fate and destiny put them together again, making them promise to travel together through their clash-stricken country to restore sanity and amity among the people.
That journey will begin in real, concrete terms if Parliament, which convenes this week, ratifies the agreements the two leaders agreed on Thursday.
Unlike in 2002 when removing Kanu from power was seen to be good enough, Raila, Prime Minister-designate, and Kibaki, the President, have a daunting task.
Despite their differences in style, political experience and views on what really ails Kenya, Kibaki and Raila have the gargantuan task of overhauling the Kenyan State as was inherited from the Founding Fathers - Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and retired President Moi.
The deal Raila and Kibaki signed last week, charges them with joint responsibility on issues they have viewed differently.
It charges both to preside over the overhaul of the Kenyatta State, which President Kibaki was seen to be reproducing and the Moi structures, which he fought briefly then embraced for political survival.
For Raila, it is a moment to dismantle what he has always wanted to; the leftovers of Kenyatta and Moi States, which he says have been characterised by gross inequalities and concentration of power and public resources, especially land, in the hands of a power elite. These are views for which he spent long years in detention, fighting.
For a nation bogged down by about two months of election violence that followed from about a year of intense campaigns, the image of the two men clasping hands, stilled passions and may encourage the spread of peace.
Raila and Kibaki, despite radical differences in their political worldviews, cut the image of the last of the fading generation of politicians who still have some sense of ideology in politics.
A look into their politics over the years reveals an impression that Kibaki appears to believe that the way out of the problems that bedevil Kenya lies in the economy.
For Kibaki, from his early days in the Cabinet, through his days as DP chairman, all the way to his first term as president, he appears to believe that a strong and growing economy would heal the wounds and rifts in Kenya.
On the other hand, Raila's journey in politics leaves behind a strong impression that he believes the country's problems begin with the Constitution and its governance structures.
Raila appears to believe that however much the economy grows, if the country does not have a constitution and governance structures that define equal access to wealth and how power is used, national challenges will persist.
Those differences were seen during the recent campaigns. Kibaki, in his party's manifesto, gave prominence to the revival of the economy as achieved between 2003 and 2005, and how he intended to sustain it.
Kibaki's party manifesto did not mention review of the constitution. Instead, it said Kenyans elected his government in 2002 on the promise to revive the economy, create jobs and wealth, expand the democratic space, fight corruption, and reform public service.
He concluded, "My administration has delivered on these promises and exceeded people's expectations in many areas."
Their differences
Fate has brought Kibaki and Raila together to heal the nation over 40 years after the falling out between Kenyatta and Odinga.
In contrast, Raila's campaign manifesto began with the promise of a new constitution. His party said it would guarantee a new constitution within six months to ensure equity, executive accountability and devolution of power.
Raila also promised a parliamentary system of government "where power will be shared and not concentrated in one person or office."
Those are just a few of the differences the two will have to integrate as they begin work in a new coalition.
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