allAfrica.com: Kenya: Cabinet Dispute (Page 1 of 2)

A disagreement over the size of the Cabinet and portfolio balance has delayed the naming of a new coalition Cabinet, sources close to President Kibaki and Prime Minister-designate Raila Odinga said Tuesday.

PNU and ODM representatives in Tuesday's talks could not agree on who should get the Finance, Information and Communication, Immigration and Local Government seats among others.

Both the Government coalition and ODM sides were laying claim to the ministries.

ODM had also proposed that the Internal Security ministry be split into Internal Security and Public Service; and Provincial Administration. The party has staked a claim to the later which controls the provincial administration - including provincial and district commissioners, district officers, chiefs and the Administration Police. The seat is held by PNU's Prof George Saitoti.

The bone of contention appeared to be over who will control the crucial ministries, including Immigration and Registration of Persons.

Authority over others

The Ministry of Finance is crucial to any side because it can allocate and deny funds to other government departments. It is probably the only ministry with authority over all other departments.

Whichever side controls the ministries in charge of Provincial Administration and Local Government will have access to governance instruments at grassroots level. With another General Election in 2012 and the Kibaki succession, holders of these two portfolios can be considered to have a headstart over others in the next presidential race as they will control provinces, districts and divisions plus councillors and other civic leaders.

Sources close to the meeting said that PNU had proposed to increase the number of ministries to 44 to satisfy the interests of its affiliate parties and other groups like the youth and women.

However, ODM opposed the proposal saying the number should be retained at 34. PNU reduced its proposal to 38 seats but ODM insisted on 34.

It is understood the reason for expanding the Cabinet was to enable PNU accommodate more ODM-K MPs and satisfy the expectations of young MPs. But ODM said that pressure from the interest groups should be resisted.

Some of the ministries that were to be split included Education to create ministries of Basic Education and Higher Education; Roads and Public Works; Trade and Industry into distinct dockets of Trade and Industrialisation; Livestock and Fisheries Development; and Ministry of Gender and Sports into Women and Children Development, and Sports.

Proposals to create ministries of Nairobi Metropolitan and Urban Development, Implementation of Vision 2030, Micro-enterprises, National Cohesion and Harmony, and a full fledged Sports ministry were rejected.

Sources said the meeting between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga was adjourned after two-and-a-half hours to give the two leaders time to consult other players in their respective parties before resuming the process of constituting the Cabinet.

More consultations

The meeting was held at Harambee House in Nairobi and not at State House as scheduled. Among those who attended were Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, Internal Security minister George Saitoti and Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno.

When Mr Odinga left the meeting, he told journalists: "We have covered some ground but there is still more to do. We have agreed to hold more consultations before coming up with the final decision."

Later in the day, Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said consultations on the new Cabinet were going on into the evening as it emerged that the President left his office at about 6.45pm.

Dr Mutua described the talks between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga as "very positive". "The President is ready and will form the new Cabinet after further consultations with Hon Raila Odinga, whenever the ODM team is ready," Dr Mutua said in a statement posted on the Government spokesman's website.

"Kenyans are requested to remain patient on the knowledge that a new Cabinet will be announced soon."

However and ODM spokesman said the party was not to blame for the delay in naming the new cabinet.

Immediately after Tuesday's talks, the ODM Pentagon held a consultative meeting at Parliament Buildings. Later, the Presidential Press Service issued a statement saying that the meeting between the President and Mr Odinga focused on the formation of the new Cabinet.

web allafrica.com	Enter your search terms	Submit search form
OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine


Use our pull-down menus to find more stories