Changing faces and fortunes in the Kibaki Administration

By: Jerry Okungu

[ Posted On: 2006-03-28 ]

There is a new political party in Kenya called Narc-Kenya. This is a very interesting development on the political scene considering that the party's first name is really not a name but an acronym of sorts. In essence, if one were to care to spell out Narc Kenya's full name, it would sound something like this; National Rainbow Coalition of Kenya.

Now, if this party is still a coalition like its forefather NARC, what kind of coalition is it professing? At least the good old NARC claimed for awhile that it was a coalition of NPK, Ford Kenya, DP and LDP as the principal shareholders together with a myriad other one-man brief case parties.

Judging by the reaction of "busy bodies who have branded Narc Kenya this and that", it would appear like the major stakeholders of NARC are not members of the new Narc-Kenya. If they are out of it then the new party must have new members in its coalition that are basically individuals who have never managed any political parties in their lives.

It is also interesting to note that among the promoters of the new party are individuals who have tried their hands at forming their own parties in the last two years without much success.

Kenyans can easily recall way back in 2004 when three disgruntled MPs were so fed up with Kibaki's NARC that they decided to form what became known as the Third Progressive Force. It fizzled out sooner than it begun after a few futile attempts to call public rallies registered extremely low turnouts

In the run-up to the 2005 referendum, another party was formed called People's Progressive Party. It too was launched with fanfare. It promised to liberate the Luos from the yoke of Odingaism. It too fizzled out as soon as the referendum debate was over but not before it caused mayhem in Kisumu City.

I think the proponents of the NARCK in government have every right to be worried. They have to be worried if they are true believers in President Kibaki. Their worry comes from the fact that the coalition is dead and buried. Kenya no longer has a coalition government formed by NARC. It died the day President Kibaki replaced it with his Government of National Unity. The government we have in Kenya today is not a coalition government of NPK, Ford Kenya, DP and LDP. It is a government of DP, Ford Kenya, Ford People, Kanu and NPK. However, since President Kibaki has more than once declared DP dead, it means that there is no party called DP in the Government of National Unity because its chairman who happens to be the President of Kenya declared it dead as far back as December 2003.

The death of NARC was further exemplified twice in as many months. In November 2005, its major partner LDP broke ranks with coalition partners and teamed up with Kanu to form the Orange Democratic Movement that opposed a government friendly constitution which they made the government to lose. Early this year, LDP took the coalition head on in Kasipul Kabondo, fielded its candidate and won the seat on an LDP ticket. Today they have Paddy Ahenda as the first LDP MP in the august House.

The death of NARC or DP and whoever killed them not withstanding, I think whoever is behind the formation of NARCK has every inherent basic political right to do so. This is a free multi- political party society where freedom of thought and association are guaranteed by the country's constitution. My only gripe with the champions of NARCK is that they should have spared us the agony of being such copy-cats and less creative just like their comrades of yester years.

When FORD disintegrated way back in mid 1992, just a year after its formation, we were treated to all manner of splinter fords. We had Ford Kenya, Ford Asili and eventually Ford People simply because the original founders of FORD were so attached to the acronym FORD that they could not imagine letting go and come up with something totally different and more original.

Clinging to some ford one way or the other by Kenneth Matiba, Martin Shikuku, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga or Kimani Wa Nyoike could have been understood in that the splinter groups wanted to prove a point; that they were more ford than the other. And proving that meant winning the 1992 elections on the back of the movement that had taken the country by storm.

It was that huge following seen at Kamukunji in January 1992 and in other parts of the country that the FORD leaders were fighting for. That crowd made each leader of the party think that they were equally popular. However, when they split, they realized one thing; that their popularity was collective rather than individual. They all lost elections in November that year to one Daniel Arap Moi.

The decision by a group of political greenhorns from NARC to form NARCK may not auger well for the individuals. First, there is no need to form NARCK because nobody is fighting over the coalition. The coalition itself is dead. Principal architects of the coalition have since deserted the organization.

The main drivers that formed NARC were Mwai Kibaki, Kijana Wamalwa, Charity Ngilu, Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Joseph Kamotho, William Olen N'timama, George Saitoti, Moody Awori and by invitation, Kipruto Kirwa.

Of these ten, five have left NARC for the ODM, one of them is dead, Charity's interest in the coalition is doubtful, another is facing charges of economic crimes over Goldenberg scandals, which have stripped him of personal integrity while the other is also being haunted by the Anglo Leasing sword which may fall any time.

This leaves only two of the original ten founder members with some measure of respect still in the coalition. Of the two, President Kibaki is rumoured to route for NARCK while Kipruto Kirwa may revert to his former UDM or any party that may appeal to the people of Rift Valley. More importantly, Ruto was never a factor in the formation of the coalition in 2002. He was roped in by NAK to balance the numbers from LDP. And at the time he was joining the coalition his political career was on the line. He faced imminent political demise just like he is doing now, had he not joined in the coalition's bandwagon.

The formation and actual registration of another party by the ruling party is definitely unprecedented in this country's political history, more so even if that new party is merely endorsed by the incumbent head of state, let alone his vice president. Even in the days of Moi when the culture of faithfulness to the parties that sponsored various characters to parliament was at its lowest, it was difficult to imagine Moi planning to defect from Kanu. More importantly it was sacrilege for his diehard supporters, least of all his vice president George Saitoti to impute that Moi had given his blessings to this and that party. Even when Moi championed the merger with NDP in early 2002 it was left in nobody's mind who was in charge. Moi finally persuaded NDP to dissolve at Kasarani Stadium and join Kanu on March 18, 2002. On that day, the NDP flag was lowered and folded. NDP had died.

What was intriguing in the Awori statement in relation to Mwai Kibaki and NARCK was the fact that the President had found it difficult to meet promoters of the new party in the open and declare his interest. If indeed the President supports a different party that did not propel him to State House, are we busy bodies to ask for clarification? Is it too much to ask why our government that we voted to parliament on a NARC ticket has decided to jump ship in midstream? Suppose some mischievous political mercenaries take the government to court for being in office in contravention of the law, what will become of us? The mere fact that in Moi's time, the likes of Nyachae, Ochuodho, Kirwa, Jirongo and others flouted parliamentary rules by defying their parties and openly supporting and promoting other parties without resigning their seats doesn't mean that we must continue making the same mistakes.

The signs of the times tell us that things are not going well for the new party. If anything it has hastened another split in President Kibaki's new cabinet. So far a number of Kibaki's cabinet ministers have distanced themselves from it. They include Hon. Munyao, Dr. Wekesa, Musikari Kombo, Charity Ngilu, Simeon Nyachae, Akaranga and Osundwa. Another sizeable number have opted for political austerity to keep their mouths shut on the matter.

If it is true that Mungatana, Ali Makwere and Awori are the only politicians outside Mt. Kenya to have stuck their necks out for NARCK, could it be possible that indeed this new kid on the block is just another name for the Democratic Party of Kenya? Could this be the reason President Kibaki has detailed Moody Awori to speak on his behalf?

New parties aside, one gets amazed at the amount of bad luck and high turn over that President Kibaki's administration has undergone in the lat 39 months. In this period, the shortest for any Kenyan Head of State, President Kibaki lost 4 Cabinet Ministers through death. The number included his first Vice President. Two years later, he sacked 11 of his ministers 4 of them due to graft allegations while 7 were sent packing due to political differences

In the same period, his Press Secretary, Personal Assistant, 13 Permanent Secretaries, 2 Police Commissioners, 1 army Chief of Staff, 1 head of National Intelligence Service, a Governor of the Central Bank, 1 Chief Justice, several High Court and Court of Appeal judges and 5 Parastatal Heads were shown the door. With this high turnover in his administration, by the time President Kibaki finishes his fifth year, the face of his government will be radically different from the one he started with. The pace of changing faces has been so fast that it is no longer easy to for ordinary Kenyans to know who heads which ministry or organization.

May be this is what dynamic politics is all about; make people as temporary as possible, including permanent secretaries, in their new appointments. Come to think of it; why don't we get another title for Permanent Secretaries, now that we know that their positions are not as permanent in this dynamic world of new politics?

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author:

Jerry Okungu is a freelance political analyst based in Nairobi, Kenya. Jerry has written extensively on issues affecting Kenya and the rest of Africa over the years. He can be reached at Jerryokungu@hotmail.com. Other articles written by Jerry Okungu are available at this location

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