|
|
Kenya: Kibaki And Raila Seek Annan to End Deadlock
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Bernard Namunane
The Kibaki Government and Raila Odinga's ODM have asked former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, who brokered the peace accord between them, to help break the stalemate over the sharing of Cabinet positions.
Sources from both sides confirmed that Mr Annan, who helped end the post-election crisis that claimed 1,000 lives, had spoken to both President Kibaki and ODM leader Odinga by telephone.
The sources said Mr Annan was now actively engaged in the talks on the formation of the grand coalition government.
The negotiations are being held up by the desire by PNU and ODM to hold the three key ministries of Finance, Local Government and Public Service.
It is understood that Mr Annan, the chief mediator in the peace talks, is keen to see the National Accord implemented without any hitches.
The decision to seek Mr Annan's intervention means that a new Cabinet is unlikely to be named this week.
It also emerged that ODM had turned down attempts by PNU leaders to fix another meeting between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, the Prime-Minister-designate. The meeting was meant to harmonise the two parties' Cabinet proposals.
Sources said that a second meeting would only be held once the sticky issues of size, sharing of slots and portfolio balance are resolved.
As they haggled over the sharing of positions, it is understood that the two sides were anxious to come to an agreement on the matter.
The two sides blamed each other for the standoff over the sharing of ministries.
Yesterday, leaders from both parties engaged in consultations away from the glare of TV cameras and the public as part of efforts to strike a deal that could give Kenyans a new Cabinet soon.
President Kibaki and Mr Odinga had met on Tuesday to discuss the Cabinet line-up for about two-and-a-half hours but failed to agree on the size of the Cabinet and distribution of the key positions.
Each of the two sides came up with a list of ministries that they either wanted to keep or give to the other. They also had different proposals on how the key portfolio would be balanced.
PNU initially wanted 44 ministries but climbed down to 38, while ODM was for retaining the current 34. Mr Odinga reportedly asked PNU to resist pressure from affiliate parties to increase the positions.
While ODM pushed for 50:50 sharing of ministries that would have given each side 17 slots, it is understood that PNU was seeking a 38-member Cabinet in which the party was to take 21 slots.
PNU had also proposed to retain the key dockets of Finance, Internal Security and Provincial Administration, and Foreign Affairs.
ODM asked for Finance and the splitting of Internal Security, with the party getting the Public Service and Provincial Administration arm.
The ODM version of the Cabinet had 34 ministries, including Local Government, Information and Communication, Housing and Public Works, Education, which it sought.
However, when President Kibaki and Mr Odinga failed to agree on who should control Internal Security, Finance and Local Government, among other key ministries, the two leaders mutually resolved to consult their parties before resuming talks.
Yesterday, both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga held separate consultations with their party members to seek an end to the standoff.
President Kibaki spent most of the day in his Harambee House office in downtown Nairobi, while Mr Odinga was in his Pentagon House party headquarters where he met with other party leaders.
At Harambee House, President Kibaki held consultations with Cabinet ministers George Saitoti (Internal Security), Martha Karua (Justice and Constitutional Affairs) and Uhuru Kenyatta (Local Government).
The three have been touted for one of the newly created slots of deputy Prime Minister.
The meeting was said to have discussed ways of reaching a compromise with ODM on condition that PNU's interests were taken care of in the new line-up.
Mr Odinga, met some Pentagon members and they
|
resolved that sharing of Cabinet slots must be guided by quality and stature.
|
Since Saitoti and Uhuru are the most important people in kenya they should ofcourse have the most lucrative and bribe prone ministries to get a great harvest, why else should they put up such a spirited resistance?
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
