Patrick Wachira
18 April 2008
Nairobi — The Grand Coalition Cabinet is now complete, after Orange Democratic Party ministers and their assistants were sworn in at State House, Nairobi, in a historic ceremony Thursday.
President Kibaki speaks during the ceremony that also saw the swearing in of Cabinet Ministers and Assistant Ministers.
The ministers now join their Party of National Unity counterparts and those from other small parties to form what President Kibaki called a unified Government devoid of divisions.
And foreign envoys accredited to Kenya described Thursday's development as a milestone, but called for caution in implementing the remaining phases of the peace deal brokered by former UN chief, Dr Kofi Annan, on February 28.
The unity of purpose demonstrated by the two leaders was taken a notch higher when the Head of the Civil Service, Mr Francis Muthaura, led the ministers and their assistants in taking their oath of office.
US Ambassador, Mr Michael Ranneberger, and his Germany counterpart, Mr Walter Lindner, said the ceremony was a milestone. They, however, added that the rest of the peace deal should be followed.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga takes the oath of office during the swearing in ceremony at State House, Nairobi, Thursday.
Indeed, Ranneberger announced a $25 million (Sh1.5 billion) grant to Kenya to help resettle those displaced during the post-election violence. Kibaki and Raila were unanimous that there were no two centres of power in the country as they aim for greater heights of development for the sake of the people.
Said Raila: "Hakuna pembe mbili sasa katika serikali. Tutakuwa pamoja na kuendeleza mambo ya serikali ili kupata mendeleo" (there are no two centres of power but a unified government keen on development for its people).
Kibaki underscored the need for Kenyans to forget the events that followed the December election and strive to better their lot through hard work, diligence and unity.
The President said the coalition Government would marshal public concerns on the "few outstanding issues" that had stood in the way of a new constitution and ensure it is concluded in the next 12 months.
The Prime Minister echoed his sentiments, saying it was possible to write a new constitution in a year.
The Government would turn the economy round that had been slowed down in the past three months due to post-election violence to attain the 10 per cent mark in two to three years.
Yesterday's ceremony was attended by Annan, who flew in on Wednesday, as well as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who jetted into the country yesterday and was driven to State House when the function was already underway.
Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi taking the oath.
Vice-President, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, who was the master of ceremonies, congratulated Annan, Kibaki and Raila and all those who had made peace possible.
He recalled the mayhem that rocked the country after the election, but said with the coalition Government, peace had returned.
Others present were former Presidents Moi and Malawi's Bakili Muluzi, Burundi's First Vice-President, Mr Ivsa Viziguvu, Tanzania's Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Kayaza, Rwanda's Prime Minister, Mr Bernard Makuza, and Southern Sudan's Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Mr Luka Monoja.
Others were former Vice-President, Mr Moody Awori, House Speaker, Mr Kenneth Marende, Police Commissioner, Mr Hussein Ali, Administration Police Commandant, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua, Service Commanders, ambassadors, heads of parastatals, permanent secretaries and top Government officials.
In his speech, Annan told Kibaki and Raila: "You are on an important journey: Stay the course."
Annan lamented that peace was not taken seriously in many instances.
"We tend to treat peace the way we treat our health: We seldom take it seriously. We take it for granted until we lose it," he said.
Raila, on his part, said he was humbled and happy that the day had come when he would stop being referred to as "Prime Minister designate".
He paid tribute to President Kibaki for showing statesmanship and said: "The grand coalition is not two in one. It is now one coalition Government."
The life of institutions, he said, was larger than that of individuals.
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta takes the oath. Pictures by Jacob Otieno and Stafford Ondego
Raila said that in leadership and Government, "it is not the size of the wave, but the motion of the ocean that moves the ship".
The Prime Minister, who was in a blue suit, said Kenya "will never again have a ruling class. The rulers will be the people of Kenya".
President Kibaki said a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission would be set up soon to foster national healing ushered in by the new Government.
The Government, Kibaki said, would publish the Inter-Ethnic Relations Bill aimed at outlawing hate speech and crimes against humanity.
He urged leaders to be ambassadors of peace and reconciliation in every part of the country and chided those opposed to the resettlement of displaced people in their former farms, saying they ought to repent and catch up with the rest of humanity.
The President caused prolonged laughter when he said the violence that rocked the country after the December election stemmed from "upumbavu" (stupidity).
"Haki ya mwenyezi Mungu, hiyo ilikuwa ni upumbavu tu!" (I swear that was extreme stupidity!).
"Sasa tuendelee na style nzuri. Tuelekee maendeleo. Na hiyo itakuwa style yetu mpya." (Now we must style up. And that will be our manner of doing things. We must aim at development) said the President.
Museveni lashed out at development partners for prescribing solutions to African states regardless of the local conditions. He said multilateral donors prescribed solutions that were unworkable.
Museveni dismissed the institutions, the World Bank among others, as visionless and chided them over terminologies such as "poverty alleviation", which he said meant the vice should just be suppressed.
He insisted that the focus should be poverty eradication and wondered why development partners advocated "alleviation".
"The biggest battle is with multilateral institutions - the World Bank and that crowd of people. They have no vision at all," he said.
Museveni caused laughter, when he spoke figuratively and asked the gathering what "sustainable pregnancy" would mean. He was, of course, being sarcastic over the multilateral institutions' penchant for terms such as "sustainable development".
"In Uganda, we fight battles with these groups Everyone is a lecturer on Africa," he said amid laughter.
The Ugandan President said foreign answers to local problems had been prescribed for his country when it wanted to build more dams, but was told there would be too much electricity!
The result of listening to such counsel, he said, was Uganda was hit by a shortage of electricity "because of these experts".
"We were told 'No, build one at a time'. They delayed us. Now we are building a dam and the problem of power will be soon be solved," he said.
Museveni caused even more mirth when he referred foreign advisors as "mobile advisors".
Museveni also singled out the archaic railway system in East Africa as an obstacle to development, saying it should be modernised. He described local railway lines as only fit for the museum.
"We are ready to work with you. Uganda needs this railway to become a modern country. We cannot compete internationally with high transport costs," he said.
Museveni, however, said Kenya's post-election violence was a blessing in disguise for him as he used the example to tell Ugandans that the East African Community was like a family as they, too, were affected.
Uganda went without fuel supplies as it relies on Kenya's railway, which was destroyed at Kibera during the chaos, to access the port of Mombasa.
He stressed the need for social transformation in Africa, saying the continent needed to move from an agricultural economy to an industrial one.
During the ceremony, Medical Services minister, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o, was absent as he was said to be in New York for an official function of the United Nations.
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