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Kibaki fires
his entire Cabinet
DAILY NEWS,
Nairobi
Story by EMMAN OMARI, Political Editor
Publication Date: 11/24/2005
President Kibaki last night sacked
his entire Cabinet and all his assistant ministers, only a day
after losing the Constitution referendum.
It is the first time in Kenya's 42
years of independence that all ministers have been dismissed at
one fell swoop.
He announced the dramatic move in a
live broadcast on KBC, the State television service, at 7pm.
The President said in a terse
statement: "Following the results of the referendum, it is
important for me as your President to reshuffle ministers and
assistant ministers for harmony.
"And according to powers given
to me by the Constitution I have sacked all ministers and
assistant ministers, and will announce a new Government in two
weeks."
He added this move was to ensure
harmony and unity in service delivery and the functioning of
government.
Exceptions to the dismissals were
Vice-President Moody Awori, who will stay in office as VP,
although stripped of his additional responsibilities as minister
for Home Affairs, and the attorney-general, Mr Amos Wako.
The Attorney-General who also sits
in the Cabinet is the Government's principal legal adviser and his
role is believed to be so crucial to the running of any
administration that it is difficult for a President to leave it
vacant for even a day.
The rebellion over the proposed
Constitution was championed by seven of Mr Kibaki's own Cabinet
ministers.
They were Mr Raila Odinga (Roads),
Mr Kalonzo Musyoka (Environment), Prof Anyang' Nyong'o (Planning),
Mr Ochillo Ayacko (Sports), Mr William ole Ntimama (Public
Service), Mr Najib Balala (National Heritage) and Mrs Linah Jebii
Kilimo (Immigration).
Joining them were the leader of the
Official Opposition, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and leading lights from the
main opposition party, Kanu, including Mr William Ruto and Mr
Mutula Kilonzo.
The President's decision was
interpreted as aimed at giving him a chance to form a new
government which he will work with for the remaining two years of
his term of office.
It also appeared that by dissolving
the entire Cabinet instead of simply sacking his seven rebel
ministers, the President was giving himself the opportunity to
dismiss people from both sides of the referendum divide and
possibly use all positions – including those of assistant
ministers – to win back support from areas that had failed to
support his line in the referendum.
During the campaign leading up to
the Monday poll – in which 3.5 million voted against with 2.5 in
support – the country saw the seven take on and beat the rest of
the 30-member Cabinet.
Ministers allied to the Banana
Yes-vote group repeatedly urged the President to sack the rebel
ministers.
Before dissolving the Cabinet last
night, the President had held a meeting with Mr Awori in State
House.
The VP, who had campaigned for the
Yes camp, flew into Nairobi from his Funyula constituency, in
Busia, and drove straight to State House. Details of the talks
were not made available, but it was believed they discussed the
poll results.
The President dissolved his top
team without even having called a meeting of the Cabinet for the
past five months.
A State House official would say
only that many former ministers were still in their constituencies,
where they had gone to monitor the results.
But a few former ministers had
arrived in Nairobi by yesterday planning to resume work after the
long referendum weekend.
Those who went back to their
offices before being dismissed included Mr Musikari Kombo (Local
Government), Dr Chris Murungaru (Transport), Mr Odinga and Mr
Balala.
Government spokesman Alfred Mutua
announced on October 15 that the State had allowed ministers time
off to canvass for either the Yes or No votes.
At that time, speaking for the head
of Public Service, Mr Francis Muthaura, Dr Mutua said: "The
priority now is to carry out the present Government agenda, which
is the referendum, and ministers are being allowed time to carry
out this agenda."
Yesterday, Mr Balala said it would
not be wise for the President to convene a Cabinet meeting
immediately after the poll.
He suggested Mr Kibaki should first
meet the Orange ministers to discuss the future and how the
President would handle some of his own Yes team.
The Cabinet last met in June before
a split emerged over the Constitution, touching off highly
polarised campaigns that culminated in Monday's referendum.
However, ministers in both camps
mellowed towards the last week of the campaigns – which saw
eight people killed in violence surrounding campaign rallies –
and called for peaceful voting and reconciliation.
The current Constitution empowers
the President to appoint and fire ministers at will.
Last night's dissolution of the
Government was but one alternative for the President.
His other option would have been to
dissolve Parliament, as he is empowered to do so under the
Constitution, so MPs are given a fresh mandate by the electorate.
Section 17 of the document allows
him to appoint the Vice-President and ministers while Section 19
allows him to appoint assistant ministers.
In Kenya's 42 years of independence,
presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi never dismissed all
ministers at once.
The closest it came to that was in
1983 when Mr Moi cut short the life of the Fourth Parliament by
calling an early election following allegations that there was a
plot to topple his government.
Nonetheless, Mr Moi left the
Cabinet working until after the October General Election that year
when he formed another one.
And after the 1997 General
Election, Mr Moi named the Cabinet, but left the VP's post vacant
for nine months before he reappointed Prof George Saitoti.
According to the Constitution, the
Cabinet's role is to aid and advise the President on government
matters.
And in the absence of ministers in
the next two weeks, that role will be played by the top civil
servant in each ministry – the Permanent Secretaries headed by
Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura.
EDITORIALS
Why the
Cabinet had to go
Publication Date: 11/24/2005
The step that President Kibaki took
last night to dissolve his Government by sacking all his ministers
and assistant ministers was unprecedented in Kenya's history.
It is clear that the President has
decided to clear the deck so that he can come up with a new slate
of Cabinet ministers and their assistants, men and women who can
work with him to fulfil the pledges Narc made in 2002.
The reasons he took the rather
drastic step should be clear to all, coming as it did soon after
an incredibly acrimonious and highly-charged referendum campaign
that left the Government badly bruised.
In one sense, this was a very
courageous action for any sitting president to take. But it is
quite clear he had few options but to seek to re-constitute a
Cabinet that functioned.
Right from the beginning of his
tenure three years ago, a number of ministers decided to rebel
openly against his authority, with the justification that he could
not remove them from office because they were equal partners in
the ruling coalition.
This disobedience came to a head
during the campaigns for the referendum. There are, of course,
reasons that the President could not act precipitately against his
detractors, for that would have branded him a non-democrat and a
tyrant.
At the same time, another group of
ministers, some of them considered to be his close associates and
advisers, were consistently mentioned in mega-scandals involving
billions of shillings in stolen public funds.
This further undermined his
authority by giving the lie to his pledge and commitment to
rooting out the corruption of yesteryear. As a result, the
oft-repeated mantra of zero-tolerance to corruption turned into
some sort of sick joke.
On top of that, there are those
among his ministers who have consistently shown great
insensitivity to Kenyans in their public utterances. They, too,
have contrived to make the Government appear heartless and
uncaring.
There are, therefore, many reasons
that could have made the President resort to this
uncharacteristically drastic action. Purging his Cabinet of
ministers who disagreed with his political views was never really
an option. But taking the action he did makes sense.
Popularly elected chief
executive
First, there was an obvious need to
restore a sense of unity in Government. As the popularly elected
chief executive, major lapses in governance – in which a badly
fractured Cabinet could not even meet in the same room to discuss
issues of national importance – reflected badly on him as a
person, on the presidency, and on the Government.
Secondly, he needs a team that can
work together under the aegis of collective responsibility. That
patently democratic tenet has not been much in evidence in the
last three years. A Cabinet that has not met for six months might
as well not exist.
It seems to us that the most
important consideration by the President should be to choose men
and women who will deliver services to the people, and not those
to whom he is supposed to owe political loyalty.
It would not be wise for him to
return into office any minister who has been tainted by any
allegation of unsavoury nature whatsoever. This must include those
people described as his cronies, regardless of how many years they
have spent in politics together. Cronyism must have no room in
what will come to be regarded as his second government.
Also, it would appear mean and
vindictive to remove from the Cabinet people who were in the
opposing camp in the referendum campaigns for that reason alone.
Among them are very hard-working, conscientious, reform-minded
individuals who would be a credit to any Government.
Even beyond that, the President
cannot afford to be seen to be settling scores over the outcome of
the referendum. Almost 3.6 Kenyans rejected the proposed new
Constitution, and their views cannot be wished away. A way must be
sought to accommodate them. The views of the people are the reason
for the existence of any government.
It would be necessary, therefore,
for the President, while appointing his new Cabinet, to pick men
and women who will help, rather than hinder, him in his avowed
duty to give Kenyans a widely acceptable Constitution.
This is a very tall order for
anyone, and we wish the President all the luck in the endeavour.
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