allAfrica.com: Kenya: So Who is Senior Between Kibaki And Raila? (Page 1 of 2)

A draft policy document that structures the Grand Coalition Government and outlines how it will work has put President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the top of a six-tier arrangement.

Referred to as the "Grand Coalition Principals", the two leaders will be perched at the pinnacle of the proposed governance structure.

Directly beneath them will be a panel of five members to be known as the Grand Coalition Panel.

Leaked to The Standard on the eve of a crucial two-day bonding meeting that starts on Friday at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies, Nairobi, the draft is guided by the principle of accommodation.

It is structured in a horizontal manner, with the President and PM being side-by-side and the VP and the two deputy prime ministers below them respectively. The panel will serve as the supreme governing body. The rest of the hierarchy, in descending order, includes the Coordination Board, Negotiation Panel, Grand Coalition Joint Parliamentary Group and coalition partners' parliamentary groups.

The document, which is a working draft prepared by Metropolitan Development minister, Mr Mutula Kilonzo, titled Grand Coalition Documents on Policy, Structure and Procedures, is aimed at creating a solid structure upon which the Grand Coalition will operate.

Mutula, who is alos the Mbooni MP, was mandated to prepare the draft by the Serena Talks team. It will be tabled before the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee on May 14 for deliberation, refining and final adoption.

It proposes clearly defined procedures of governance and conflict resolution mechanisms ostensibly designed to ensure the fragile coalition does not crumble.

Built on six pillars, the structure is designed to work in harmony with Parliament, ministries, Cabinet, Office of the President and Office of the Prime Minister.

Tomorrow's historic forum will be opened by the President and will bring together the Vice-President, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, the Prime Minister and his two deputies, Cabinet ministers, Assistant ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

The meeting will also double up as an induction seminar for ministers and PSs. A statement from the Presidential Press Service on Thursday said the Head of State will arrive at the venue at 9am accompanied by Nairobi PC, Mr James Waweru.

On hand to receive him will be the Prime Minister, the Minister of State for Public Service, Mr Dalmas Otieno, and Head of the Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Mr Francis Muthaura.

The document calls for "accommodation" of one another as the key principle of the coalition and "consensus" as the preferred method of arriving at decisions.

The partners will seek to build compromise where there is no consensus with a view to eradicating the winner-takes-it-all mentality, according to the draft.

Further, it proposes that the Grand Coalition appoints a committee of 10 members, five from each coalition partner drawn from the Cabinet and party hierarchy, to prepare a Grand Coalition Policy Document.

The document will be signed 30 days after the adoption of the new draft coalition agreement.

Thereafter, it will become policy and the official working document to be implemented by the executive. Alterations to the document can only be made on the approval of the Grand Coalition Coordination Board.

The Grand Coalition Panel will be composed of the President and Vice-President, on the one hand, and the PM and the two deputies, on the other, in a horizontal arrangement.

The President will be the chairman of the Grand Coalition Panel. In his absence, the PM will be the chair.

This provision appears to deal with the contentious pecking order that was the source of embarrassing public superiority battles between Raila and Kalonzo.

The role of the Panel will be to promote reconciliation in the coalition and serve as the final arbiter on disputes.

The Panel will also make final decisions issues through the organs of the coalition. In essence, the Panel will be the governing organ of the coalition.

The draft says the Panel is an internal organ and members will at no time engage in public disagreements. Its meetings will be in camera and the agenda, discussions, meeting place and time confidential.

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