Bloated cabinet has put Odinga in the spotlight

Apr 17, 2008

Finally it is out. What Kenyans have debated and discussed for seven weeks has finally come to pass. President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga eventually agreed on their long anticipated cabinet. However, the size of that government left many Kenyans numbed.

JERRY OKUNGU

An East african perspective

Finally it is out. What Kenyans have debated and discussed for seven weeks has finally come to pass.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga eventually agreed on their long anticipated cabinet. However, the size of that government left many Kenyans numbed.

After weeks of haggling over the size and portfolios; the country was presented with a bloated 42-member cabinet, the largest in Kenya’s history. More intriguingly, it was difficult to trace what the argument was all about since the PNU still retained all the ministries they had claimed stake to.

Apologists for the big government were quick to endorse this extravagance as a necessary burden for the sake of peace. They added that since some ministries had been split, there would be no significant additions to the budget since the split ministries had already been catered for in the current financial year.

What they were not telling us was that ministers are never known to share cars, bodyguards, residential houses and offices. Another thing, ministries don’t share salaries and duty allowances. Therefore for Alfred Mutua to mollify us that there will be no significant increase in government expenditure is to test our level of intelligence to the limit.

The truth is; since the number of ministries has gone up by seven which averages at 20%, the cost of maintaining ministries will rise by at least 20%. That is the reality we must face whether we support the new cabinet or not.

On another level, let us look at the implications of this new cabinet and its impact on coalition partners.

Perhaps the happiest politicians in the new administration will be fringe parties like Kanu and ODM Kenya that will not bear the burden of explaining themselves to the depressed electorate. They have taken refuge in the fact that the ODM-PNU Accord only recognises two principals who can make or break the coalition. As it is, the future of Uhuru and Kalonzo very much depends on Kibaki. If Kibaki sinks, they sink too.

President Kibaki is also a big beneficiary of the bloated cabinet. The man never promised Kenyans a lean, clean and efficient cabinet; therefore he doesn’t have to worry with the civil society. Moreover, the man is on the last leg of his presidency.

If anything, as soon as the Cabinet is in place and Odinga takes over as the Prime Minister, chances are that Kibaki will proceed on a long leave pending his retirement. Perhaps the biggest loser in this arrangement will be Raila Amolo Odinga.

He is the one who promised Kenyans meaningful change. He is the man who promised Kenyans a lean, clean and efficient government. He is the one who will supervise the 90 MPs that have been appointed to the cabinet. He is the one who will be answerable to Parliament on government performance.

As far as government performance is concerned, the buck will stop with him. However, the immediate backlash that should concern Odinga is if there will be protests against the cabinet by various pressure groups. Right now it would appear like the opposition to the bloated cabinet that originally came from the GEMA community and Mt. Kenya churches have died down.

Whether churches from Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western Province will join forces with their Mt Kenya counterparts is another matter.

However, if the Muslims who supported ODM during the elections join the voices of dissent, then Odinga will have a lot of explaining to do. Reading online literature on the mood on the ground, it would appear like major civil society organisations that originally closed ranks with major donor agencies to oppose the bloated cabinet have suddenly given up! If they continue to grumble, eyes will be turned on the progressive Odinga to see if he will listen to the voices of Kenyans.

The scenario above not withstanding; the fact remains that it was the most ill-advised thing for Kibaki and Odingato succumb to pressure from their followers in forming a bloated cabinet.

Enlarging the cabinet before they overhauled the constitution, resettled the internally displaced people and provided the promised free secondary education was a most unwise thing to do.

However, now that we have a government in place, the only logical thing is to give it the benefit of the doubt in the hope that it will settle down to business and deliver services to the people of Kenya in the shortest time possible.

jerryokungu@gmail.com

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