Kenya’s political history seemed destined for a dramatic shift yesterday as all political affiliations set aside their differences to pledge support for the unity deal signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga last Friday.
Despite grumblings about non-involvement and calls for broader, structured dialogue, all the key political leaders sung from the same script. They lauded the deal as a timely step towards healing the divisions that have dogged the country since the last elections, and before.
Read:
But the pact, whose finer details have yet to be worked out, has left many unanswered questions about the place of the Opposition, which should check the Executive.
Some cynics have expressed fears of the country drifting back to monolithic single-party rule after Raila on Tuesday told his ODM party — the main opposition party — to work with the ruling Jubilee, effectively handing Uhuru a possible smooth five-year ride.
The ODM leader said supporting the government was the only viable way of dealing with historical and underlying issues affecting Kenyans.
Twin motions to seek the opinion of Parliament for the unity deal were moved in the Senate and National Assembly by NASA legislators and received resounding endorsement.
That came as NASA partner parties scrambled for a place at the table, with Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka announcing that he and his two co-principals had, too, asked to meet Uhuru for an 'all-inclusive dialogue'.
Kalonzo said after a meeting with Ukambani Church leaders at the African Brotherhood Church headquarters in Machakos on Wednesday that no peace-loving leader would oppose constructive dialogue aimed at providing solutions to the country.
He said he had mooted the idea of a dialogue before or after the controversial January 30 swearing-in by Raila he skipped.
“We believe in constructive dialogue. The three of us, Wetang'ula, Mudavadi and I, may have to meet President Uhuru so that we hear from him,” said Kalonzo.
“If he agrees, we will meet him. It has to be an all-inclusive dialogue,” he insisted, adding hat the motion in Parliament should have waited until next week, when other parties in the NASA coalition will have met the President.
The Wiper Party leader however urged his party MPs to support the motion with a rider that there had to be an all-inclusive dialogue.
With Opposition MPs cooperating with the government, it remains to be seen how they will hold the Executive to account through parliamentary watchdog committees, which could be turned into rubberstamps.
Yesterday Kitui Central MP Makau Mulu warned that Parliament’s oversight role was under siege from an Executive on the rampage. He asked Speaker Justin Muturi to rise up to the occasion and guide the House to hold the government to account.
“Uhuru and Raila now represent the Executive, it is your [Muturi’s] time to take your position and lead us to play our role as an oversight institution,” he said in Parliament.
An economist, Mulu was apprehensive that the Uhuru-Raila union might deal a deathblow to the Opposition’s push for inclusivity, zero corruption and employment for the young people.
“This dialogue should not be for tumbocracy [self aggrandizement], it should not be about getting positions and exchanging deals; this dialogue should be for purposes of the public good,” warned Mulu.
Uhuru and Raila agreed to push for shared interests contained in a nine-point agenda that has triggered reservations it could suffocate the Opposition and prevent it from performing its oversight role.
Also read:
These include: Offering political alternatives, improving parliamentary decision-making procedures, putting alternatives to the decisions proposed by the government and also scrutinising the legislative and budgetary proposals of the government.
Only last December Uhuru bashed the Raila-led Opposition for allegedly being weak in its oversight role to scrutinise and seriously inquire about government programmes in his first term.
"For the past five years as key government decisions were made — on infrastructure programmes, education, health and on military action against al Shabaab — none faced the serious scrutiny that should be expected from an Opposition in Parliament,” Uhuru said in an article published in The Washington Times.
Uhuru had argued that the Opposition had failed in its role to build a more democratic, and freer country.
“We have an Opposition that is competitive in elections, capable of rallying thousands to their cause, and with considerable strength in Parliament,” he said in his 769-word piece titled “Kenya deserves a strong and credible Opposition”.
AUDITOR GENERAL
The pact comes even as the Auditor General indicted both the national and county governments of misappropriation and failure to account for billions in taxpayer money.
Last month’s explosive audit reports that revealed how the national government cannot account for over Sh40 billion spent in the last financial year are still fresh in the public’s mind.
The government has also conceded it is experiencing serious cash flow problems, forcing it to borrow heavily from local and international financial institutions, including another Sh200 billion Eurobond loan last month.
Raila was instrumental in blowing up the controversial Sh215 billion Eurobond taken by Jubilee during the first term whose expenditure was shrouded in mystery.
ANC secretary general and political analyst Barrack Muluka told the Star the agreement should never kill Parliament’s oversight role, as that would be dangerous for a democracy.
“The oversight role must never be lost. Individual parties must consider their oversight role. They must consider whether they want that oversight role or they should be swallowed,” said Muluka.
Read:
GRAND COALITION
But in what rekindles memories of the 2008 Grand Coalition government between Raila and Mwai Kibaki, the deal could end up without a viable Opposition to hold the government to account as all players scramble to come on board.
Then, Raila and his ODM party were brought on board, with him as a co-principal in government and a non-executive Prime Minister but with sweeping powers and an oversight role over the Cabinet.
Now analysts and politicians say the NASA leader’s surprise working agreement with Uhuru does not bode well for Executive oversight.
Yesterday, former presidential candidate Prof James ole Kiyiapi backed the unity deal as important for the country, but said it was not clear what it means for the Opposition parties.
“It is not clear from the principals, there is no indication that everybody who is now in Opposition will now join the government,” he said.
But nominated MP David Sankok said the country has been lacking a vibrant Opposition for a long time.
“There has not been Opposition in this country since 2013. We have been having the Majority and Minority parties in the House,” he said on the floor of the House.
As the reality of a possible feeble Opposition sunk in, it emerged that there was friction among NASA affiliate parties over the Uhuru-Raila deal.
Yesterday Kalonzo held a meeting with religious leaders from the Ukambani region as part of his elaborate talks aimed at mapping out his next steps even as his party’s MPs backed the deal in Parliament — with a rider that the dialogue be structured.
MPs allied to Kalonzo’s Wiper and Musalia’s ANC, in particular, accused Raila’s party of sidelining their party leaders in the deal with Jubilee, saying the dialogue must be inclusive and structured.
NASA legislators traded barbs on the floor of the House, accusing ODM of a ‘big brother syndrome.’
National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi, who moved a motion to enable the House to register its opinion on the Uhuru-Raila pact, set the tone by dismissing NASA members opposed to the deal.
“Big brother should not look like intimidating your younger brothers, we coalesced to work for a purpose and I don’t think that purpose has ended today. Dialogue cannot be between two individuals,” Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba observed.
He noted that the dialogue should ensure that all NASA affiliate parties are well involved.
“This is not an issue of one party, it is proper that NASA representation in these talks must be well focused to include all players in NASA,” he added.
Also read:
Earlier, Wiper and ANC legislators were reportedly scheming to kick out Raila’s men from powerful minority leadership positions in Parliament over the Uhuru-Raila unity pact. They argued that since ODM had opted to work with the ruling party, it should relinquish all the positions reserved for the Minority side.
However, it was not clear if the moves had been snuffed out as none of the parties broke ranks on the floor of the House.
In a shortlived drama on Tuesday, Mavoko MP Patrick Makau (Wiper) and Vihiga Woman Representative Beatrice Adagala (ANC) had occupied the Minority leader and Whip seats, forcing Muturi to order them out.
Suba North MP John Mbadi (ODM) and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed (ODM) hold the offices of Leader of Minority and Minority Whip respectively