Gitau Warigi
29 June 2008
opinion
Nairobi — Three months after the Grand Coalition government was officially sworn in, there doesn't seem to be much change in the way power is distributed, or exercised.
The latest presidential circular outlining the dockets and responsibilities of ministers and constitutional offices shows the Office of the President with all the plum dockets. The circular has even raised hackles with some ODM ministers, who think some of their powers have been reduced.
Nor does the circular conclusively clarify the "supervision and co-ordination" function of Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The circular does not specify whether the prime minister has overall fiat to intervene in any ministry at his sole discretion; however it vests broad oversight roles for the office including the chairing of cabinet committees and supervising Public Service reforms as well as performance contracting.
There are five cabinet committees presently in operation: production, administration and finance, infrastructure, social sector, and security. Mr Odinga chairs the first four while President Kibaki heads the sub-committee on security.
Partisan grumbling
The prime minister has severally spoken out on the need to give "capacity" to the office to enable it carry out its oversight functions. Basically what he has been calling for is more outlay in professional staff and funding for the office, and he has frequently asked donors to chip in.
Early on the US government helped out with a Sh30 million contribution, which did not please some PNU hardliners. US ambassador Michael Ranneberger defended the decision amid partisan grumbling that the money would have been better spent, say, on resettling internally displaced people.
Two important oversight agencies have been transferred to the prime minister's office from that of the president. These are the Efficiency Monitoring Unit (EMU) and the Inspectorate of State Corporations.
EMU has been doing on-the-spot audits of targetted government departments and overall acting as an enforcer of financial discipline. The Inspectorate has a more or less similar function though in its case it deals with parastatals.
One of EMU's well-known interventions was at Mumias Company with regard to a controversial management contract with Booker Tate. Another was at the National Aids Control Council that saw the famous firing and prosecution of Dr Margaret Gachara, the then director.
In the case of the Inspectorate, it was its intervention at Kenya-Re Corporation that led to the firing of a past CEO and his Financial Controller.
As it were, the two positions of EMU director and Inspector-General are listed as vacant.
Sessions with Head of State
The Sunday Nation has learned that State House has specifically allocated an hour or two on Wednesdays for one-on-one meetings of the president and prime minister. Nobody else is allowed into the meetings. "These are governance meetings, not about politics," explains a senior officer in the President's office.
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has his own one-on-one meetings with President Kibaki on Tuesdays. Likewise, what is discussed there is kept highly confidential. A few other top people such as Gen Jeremiah Kianga, the Chief of General Staff, have their own regularly scheduled sessions with the Head of State.
In one crucial aspect, the Kibaki government operates very differently from the previous one of Daniel arap Moi. Ministers cannot walk in to see the President anyhow they want without an appointment. State House reportedly wants to have a clear idea of the business an appointment is sought for and expects it to be on a relevant governance issue.
Says a source familiar with Kibaki's style of operation: "The President sees people on the basis of 'briefs' of governance issues, not just for a chat. There has to be some agenda. He is strict on that."
The one exception is Internal Security minister George Saitoti. Because of the sensitivity of his docket, the minister has unfettered access to the President and in fact it is often State House which summons him first.
(One quite peculiar listing under Prof Saitoti's extensive docket is something called 'Mt Kenya School of Adventure and Leadership.' Inquiries among civil servants initially failed to place what it was, but it turns out to be what is described as "a high-altitude training and bonding camp" for government and security types).
Otherwise as far as Kibaki's minders are concerned the executive authority of the President remains undiminished. After Lands Minister James Orengo issued a controversial directive concerning renewal of land leases, he was put down by the President in public on Madaraka Day.
In many ways, the cabinet office which is run by Head of the Public Service Francis Muthaura retains the real function of "co-ordinating and supervising." It sets the agenda of cabinet meetings and generally "sets the tone of governance," according to a ranking official in that office.
Nothing sinister
Two incidents demonstrated Mr Muthaura's continued clout. One came soon after the Prime Minister was installed at the Treasury Building. The Administrative Secretary at the office, Mr Caroli Omondi, dashed off a letter to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission demanding an explanation of the reported sale of the Grand Regency Hotel and what had transpired between the KACC and Central Bank on one hand and Mr Kamlesh Pattni. The letter was copied to Mr Muthaura, who ignored it. He has not responded to it to date.
The second incident came shortly after the Grand Coalition members had been sworn into office. A sudden but quiet reshuffle of permanent secretaries affecting three ministries - National Heritage, Co-operatives and Livestock - was carried out.
Under the grand coalition terms, it had been assumed such top-level government personnel changes would be done in consultation between the principal coalition partners. But the Sunday Nation has learned that in this instance, the action was carried out by Mr Muthaura, of course following instructions of his boss, the President. There was no reference to anybody else.
Fortunately the reshuffle appeared to have nothing sinister behind it. An official familiar with the issue intimated that "lack of personal chemistry" between one particular minister and his PS necessitated the reshuffle, which ended up affecting two other ministries.
Two centres
Cases like this where the two top people in a ministry relate poorly are fairly common in government.
One good thing is that until now there has been no outright conflict between the President's office and that of the prime minister. But that is not to say everything has been smooth sailing. People familiar with the interaction of the two offices say the presence of Mr Mohammed Isahakia as PS in the premier's office has been a boon in smoothening the communication channels between the two centres. Mr Isahakia is an old government hand.
"He (Mr Isahakia) understands government is about procedures and documentation," says another operative at Harambee House.
Lest it be assumed that Mr Isahakia does the bidding for the Office of the President, the fact of the matter is that he was appointed at the express recommendation of Mr Odinga.
It is often passed around in government circles that at personal level the president and the prime minister relate very well. This indeed seems to be the case. The problem that seems to be there is when Mr Odinga makes utterances at public rallies that seem to be challenging the policies of the same government he serves.
A source familiar with official goings-on says that whenever Mr Odinga is put to account, he plays down the utterances at the rallies as "just politics" which he says should not affect the substance of government work.
Mr Odinga's talents
Otherwise there is plenty of praise for the prime minister from the cabinet office. There is no disputing that Mr Odinga has brought a level of dynamism and energy which the dull and uninspiring Kibaki certainly does not display.
Among the sectors where Mr Odinga's talents have been deployed are streamlining Customs procedures and clearance at Kilindini port, enhancing the Kenya Bureau of Standards (he once worked there as deputy director), keeping an eye on road contractors and reviving the railway system, among other duties.
A senior official at Harambee House notes approvingly: "Raila gets work done. He listens to the experts. He wants to get to the bottom of a problem. However, it is only when it comes to politics and public rallies where he becomes something else." Added the official: "He is asking the right questions. For example, why does it take less than a week to sort out a container in Dubai while it takes three weeks or more at Mombasa?"
It is not surprising that the prime minister has been at the forefront pushing for the transformation of Kilindini into a Free port. Ironically his focus on improving the port's efficiency is a boon to his not-so-good friend President Yoweri Museveni, whose sharp complaints about the port's inefficiency and the crumbling railway network are legend.
The biggest drawback so far for the grand coalition is the wide gulf in political outlook dividing the two main partners which is routinely reflected in sharply conflicting public statements. The ongoing quarrel over amnesty for perpetrators of post-election violence is only one example.
In a way, these disagreements inadvertently betray the fact that real power resides with one side and the other partner feels frustrated by that.
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