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Kenya: No Breakthrough On New Cabinet
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The Nation (Nairobi)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Samuel Kumba
Nairobi
ODM and the Government coalition have yet again failed to compromise on the nature and size of the Cabinet.
According to ODM, the contentious issues are the size of the cabinet, portfolio balance and ODM's participation in all political appointments in the civil service including permanent secretaries and diplomats.
ODM leader Raila Odinga, in a press conference on Friday afternoon said his meeting earlier in the day with President Kibaki failed to resolve the issues and they agreed to consult further.
"In our meeting we revisited the issue of size of the cabinet and the allocation of portfolios to ODM and PNU. But we have been unable to reach a consensus so far," Mr Odinga said.
Even a statement from the Presidential Press Service only stated that the two leaders met and agreed to consult further with focus on the implementation of the signed peace accord.
However, there was no indication when they would meet next.
On cabinet size, PNU continues to prefer 44 ministries while ODM wants 34.
On this Mr Odinga said: "Such a bloated government, I am afraid, is not good for the country. We would like to see a lean cabinet, preferably of 34 ministries, because the President has already appointed 17 ministers."
During the press conference at Pentagon House, Mr Odinga who was flanked by Pentagon Members Musalia Mudavadi, Joe Nyagah and Najib Balala, maintained that a lean cabinet is necessary because the government needs to contain public expenditure.
He insisted on this especially at such a time when there is abject poverty and deprivation among other people, but also because a leaner cabinet can more efficiently deliver on the services and policies that Kenyans need.
On the other key outstanding issue of portfolio balance, Mr odinga said no consensus has been reached, with the other side preferring to retain the most important ministries.
"This is contrary to the cardinal principal of power sharing that is at the heart of the new arrangements. The National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008, specifies, in Section 4 (3) that, "the coalition government shall at all times reflect the relative Parliamentary strength of the respective parties and shall at all times take into account the principle of portfolio balance," he said.
ODM also staked a claim to involvement in all forms of government.
"The government is not just the cabinet, which is only a part. There is the bureaucracy. As you are aware the Permanent Secretaries are all the time appointed afresh whenever a cabinet is reshuffled. So nobody should claim that these are professional and so on. We want to be involved in appointment of PSs, diplomats and all other political appointees including heads of parastatals and their chairs," Mr Odinga said.
This contradicted earlier comments by the head of Public Service Francis Muthaura that government sharing does not run outside the Cabinet.
But Mr Odinga was still optimistic that the talks would continue arguing that it took over a month for Germany to strike a deal and form a coalition government. According to him, it is better to do it once and do right other than do it wrongly because of haste.
Asked about the haggling over the ministry portfolios, Mr Odinga was categorical that it is about service to the people of Kenya.
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"Since we are going to be part of the government, we would like to have a say in key ministries. We just don't want to be passengers to the government," he said.
Insisting that talks have not broken down, the ODM leader said each side has its demands and goals adding that what was lacking is just consensus.
"As discussions continue we must keep in mind that the public would like to se us eliminate wasteful public expenditures, and a bloated cabinet would portray us as disconnected from the mood of the country and set a bad example for curtailing other wastefulness," said Mr Odinga.
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