allAfrica.com: Kenya: Soul Searching in Central Region (Page 1 of 2)

This year's Easter holiday is like no other in the country's history.

There is anxiety to see the shape and form of the new look government President Kibaki is expected to unveil next week.

President Kibaki with a delegation at State House, Nairobi. It remains to be seen if there will be a purge and radical change of guard among State House gate keeping networks, or if it will be business as usual. Pictures: File

The Grand Coalition Government will assume higher significance for the Central Kenya region, coming as it does with a cul de sac feeling after initial celebrations following declaration of President Kibaki as winner of last year's presidential election.

Too much has happened too fast and the region is yet to take in all of it: President Kibaki is declared winner of the disputed 2007 presidential elections, violence breaks out that leaves hundreds of thousands of their kin in the Rift Valley dead and others on the road, running for their lives; negotiations result in a power-sharing arrangement between President Kibaki and his nemesis, ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga.

As the country awaits the new look government, the region is pondering what will happen next.

"While we have agreed to power sharing arrangement, it is also time for the region to sit back and take stock of what has happened, go back to the drawing board and think of what direction to take from here. The truth is, the foundations for 2012 contest have been laid and we should not waste time preparing for it," said Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri, the Laikipia East MP.

He says the region should start looking for political allies and alliances.

Central Kenya voters and many of their leaders require adequate information on power-sharing in a grand coalition.

Many are waiting with guarded caution while others are openly suspicious of the new government arrangement.

What is certain is the uneasy silence will not last long; a vicious season of blame game is just about to explode.

It is not lost to observers that the war between elected politicians and a cabal of wealthy businessmen who act as gatekeepers at State House is likely to spill over into Kibaki's second term, and perhaps assume more vicious proportions.

The elders are being accused of isolating President Kibaki from Kenyans and nearly costing him a second term in spite of reviving the economy and the agricultural sector, among other achievements.

The businessmen have been around President Kibaki since he plunged into opposition politics in 1991. They have been going by the title, Democratic Party Board of Trustees and Council of Elders.

They were blamed for bungling the Referendum campaign in 2005 and may not escape blame over last year's presidential vote fiasco. They were charged with the re-election campaign under the Kibaki Tena (Maendeleo Resources Trust) and Kibaki Foundation outfits.

President Kibaki has demonstrated a strange aversion for political parties since he ascended to power and the Council of Elders has assumed the role of political party's decision making organs, to the chagrin of elected politicians.

The absence of a party creates a vacuum that is soon likely to be filled by the old political buccaneers, who use their financial muscle and clout derived from proximity to the Head of State to position themselves as gatekeepers and custodians of ownership, access and control of the presidency.

Representation

Few politicians have been bold enough to publicly take on the revered elders or question their credentials, motives and abilities to execute projects they have been involved in.

Energy minister, Mr Kiraitu Murungi, blamed the elders for mishandling the Referendum campaigns by holding the purse strings too tightly.

Late last year, immediate former MP, for Kikuyu and Safina leader, Mr Paul Muite, caused a stir in Central Kenya when he castigated the elders. He blamed them for the hostility the Kibaki re-election campaign faced in parts of the country.

It remains to be seen if there will be a purge and a radical change of guard among State House gate keeping networks or if it will be business as usual.

There have been signs that although the political leadership in the region has expressed support for the grand coalition, many of them are still suspicious about the region's position in it.

The Central Kenya Parliamentary Group (CPG) has been seeking an appointment with President Kibaki ahead of the crafting of the new-look government.

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