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Kenya: Rein in This Rivalry in Public Affairs
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The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
26 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008
Njuguna Mutonya
It is becoming clear that it will not be business as usual in the running of public affairs in Mombasa, courtesy of competing interests in the grand coalition.
To most residents, this is a welcome break from many years of manipulation by godfathers, which saw the pillage of public resources.
For the first time, there are strong voices in the coalition who apparently can sway official opinion in the public interest.
Several contracts which had earlier been awarded in an opaque, hand-me-down manner have hit a deadlock before consummation as questions are raised about their processing.
This is as it should be.
But while it is a fulfilling act, the shooting down of projects by political detractors makes sense only if it is in the public interest.
The public should demand that full exposure be made through either documentation or prosecution to ensure they do not end up as back room deals in which values change according to political expediency.
First, there was an attempt to sanitise the irregular take-over of public - and even private - plots which had been sneaked into a council meeting but was rejected by some councillors.
The tender award to a private company to levy charges on parking has also caused concern over the way it was handled and there are attempts to terminate or renegotiate it.
The current issue of Jacorossi Impressi, the Italian company which has been seeking to take over the contentious waste disposal contract for Mombasa like, they claim, they are doing for Rome, Genoa and Cairo, is kicking more than its fair share of dust.
Their proposal received the backing of the influential tourism industry through the spokesman of the Mombasa Coast and Tourism Association guru, hotelier and respected human rights crusader Kuldip Sondhi.
Receiving the backing of Mr Sondhi and civic leaders considered hostile to the mayor was quite welcome to the residents who are used to bickering.
It looked like a done deal. But the next day, Tourism minister Najib Balala came shooting from both hips and dismissed it as an "unclean deal" which needed official investigation.
The issue of a French connection in some grants awarded for similar work in the past was raised. Town clerk Wisdom Mwamburi whose short term has seen massive improvements in service delivery, countered this by saying the deal was "correct " and in the interest of the Mombasa residents.
Mombasa Town badly needs a person to take over the waste disposal responsibilities and generate some employment in the process. Mayor Ahmed Mohdhar seems to have backtracked and is calling for a re tendering.
The garbage deal is just a pointer to the acrimonious relations developing in the grand coalition government which were started by the mayoral elections.
It looks as though the jostling for influence will continue between Mr Balala's loyalists and the influential group coalescing around Kisauni MP Ali Joho.
Competition may be what makes politics tick, but there are clear processes set out in the laws as to how tenders should be awarded, and this should be the only criterion for its continuation or cessation.
Mombasa residents are tired of living around garbage mounds and will support any genuine effort to resolve the crisis.
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And any distractions to the improvement of service delivery should be denounced.
The early posturing by the political players is likely to affect vital services, and the grand coalition architects must step in and whip their minions to order.
If they allow them to vent their pet peeves at the expense of public service, this will contradict the new spirit of a fresh start.
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