allAfrica.com: Kenya: Stalemate Over Cabinet Positions (Page 1 of 2)

President Kibaki and Prime minister-designate Mr Raila Odinga meet on Tuesday as a silent war rages in the backstage between key figures in the two main blocs.

Because of delay in achieving the 50-50 power sharing deal and portfolio balance, in line with the national accord, attention is turning to the lead mediator Dr Kofi Annan. The former UN secretary-general might have to come back to preside over the implementation of Agenda Three, which tackled sharing of Government positions.

So entrenched are the two sides as to who will get what portfolio, that save for direct intervention of the principals, the next crucial face may not achieve much soon.

Despite display of rediscovered 'friendship' and a working arrangement between the partners of the Grand Coalition Government, a silent struggle is going on between the Orange Democratic Movement and the Party of National Unity.

The haggling for choice ministries, especially those with a higher profile and seen as strategic, could not only delay the naming of the Cabinet but give way to a highly bloated one.

Behind the scenes, the statement by Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Mr Francis Muthaura, who dismissed sharing of civil service positions, is still being fought.

Some ODM leaders now say Annan should be recalled to oversee the implementation of Agenda Three, which entails portfolio balance. Sources within the national dialogue team reveal Dr Annan anticipated problems in sharing out of Government positions and promised to return.

"He left with the understanding that Agenda Three, portfolio balance, was going to be problematic and he would be willing to come back. There is evidence that he is needed," the source said.

"Portfolio balancing was part of the negotiations and it is part of what Kibaki and Raila signed. It was not just to accommodate MPs and ministers into the Cabinet. US Secretary of State Dr Condelezza Rice talked of real power sharing, and that cannot be about the Cabinet," an ODM official familiar with the ongoing negotiations said.

The Sunday Standard established that even the sharing of Cabinet slots is becoming tricky. Some leaders have called on Raila and Kibaki to directly discuss the issue themselves and keep civil servants, including Muthaura and Cabinet ministers, out of the talks.

Sabotage

Alternatively, they want the negotiating team to concede that it is stuck at Agenda Three and write to Annan to come back.

"Civil servants are trying to protect their positions and they are sabotaging this process. When Annan left, he did not say he was closing the chapter. In fact, he said he anticipated resistance over Agenda Three. He expected that he would return and help with portfolio balancing. He should be asked to return and do it," the source said.

Sources told Sunday Standard that at least twice, an ODM delegation to Muthaura with the party's version of portfolio balancing has come back empty-handed.

The Head of Civil Service told one ODM delegation, that included party chairman Mr Henry Kosgey and the secretary-general Prof Anyang Nyong'o, that PNU is likely to keep all its current ministries, and some of the few left, along with those to be created.

One of the ministries Mr Muthaura is said to be proposing is Fisheries, which will be hived off Livestock to create two ministries, to then be handed to ODM.

He is also said to have told an ODM delegation that the Ministry of Roads and Public Works would be split into two, with Public Works going to ODM and Roads remaining with PNU.

The developments have incensed some party officials, including some at the peace talks. They now want Annan to return to the country and take over the process again, unless Kibaki and Raila step in and shove Muthaura aside.

"If the two principals, Raila and Kibaki, are finding it hard to discuss portfolio balance, let Annan return. There is no way we are going to be asked to negotiate with people whose positions we want to take. Somebody is playing games," a source said.

As a way of ending the crisis, the US and the rest of international community called for "a governance arrangement that will allow real power-sharing ... a grand coalition so that Kenya can be governed."

The US told the Kenyan government that "real power-sharing" with the main opposition party was the best way to put the country back on track after the disputed December election.

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