Nominees stuck between a rock and a hard place – will they be loyal to Raila or Ruto’s populist Bottom-up politics? They’ll also lose security of tenure as CSs
By THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL REPORTER
The people of Homa Bay, Butere, Mombasa and Ugunja may have flooded the streets to celebrate the nomination of their sons, all prominent ODM politicians, to join the Kenya Kwanza government Cabinet but the reality that will hit the nominees when they assume office could be starkly different and sobering. The nominees from ODM, John Mbadi Ng’ong’o (Treasury); James Opiyo Wandayi )(Energy); Ali Hasaan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy) and Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparaya (Cooperatives and SMEs) will have to familiarize themselves with Kenya Kwanza policies and manifesto, which they have criticised before, or fail in their jobs.
Elected on a promise of delivering services to the country bon a ‘Bottom-up” approach, President William Ruto had laid plans on how he was going to deliver on his promises to those who voted for him. Chief among those plans was to deliver priority services and development programmes to his core voters, who happen to be in areas that ODM does not have much political persuasion. It will be the task of his nominees to deliver on those promises and expectations. Therefore, James Opiyo Wandayi will have to deliver electricity to remote Elgeyo Marakwet villages while overlooking the needs of that village in Karuoth, Ugenya, which equally needs electricity. He will also have to preside over recruitment of youngsters from Aldai or Mosop to the meter-reading teams at KPLC while lads from Asego, Kanyada search for jobs. Ruto may have faltered, but the new members of his team must help his to deliver on Kenyan Kwanza, not ODM promises.
The challenges the ODM nominees face are core to the Kenya Kwanza Promise; Oparanya will have to preside over the derided Hustler Fund and make sure it runs efficiently and collects loans given out without collateral; Joho has to deliver on mining and blue economy jobs and wealth creation for the Coast; Wandayi has to keep fuel and energy costs low and supervise the implementation of the Last Mile Connectivity programme whos funding has been cut and Mbadi has to raise government revenue from taxes and at the same time keep the IMF and Kenyans happy.
“They cannot design their own goals,” says Peter Mokaya, a lawyer in Nairobi, “They have to align with the President’s goals and deliver on them. That could place them in direct conflict with their ODM base or make them failures since they may not comply. Once they fail to comply, they will be sacked.”
That seems to be the problem ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna had in mind when, speaking on a talk show on a local TV station said, “The CS nominees (from ODM) don’t have blessings from the ODM Party. I can assure you that Mbadi doesn’t understand the bottom-up transformative manifesto. Can John Mbadi reduce taxes as the Treasury Cabinet Secretary?” Mbadi has been a critic of the Kenya Kwanza administration’s penchant for increasing taxes as means of managing the spiraling debt and funding government plans.
There are fears already that the ODM nominees may find their beliefs at variance with Kenya Kwanza aspirations and goals. It is not a secret that many KK politicians have taken appointment to state positions as a chance to loot from the public purse, to their satisfaction and fund their politics, which is one of the grievances that the Gen Z revolt sought to address. But ODM nominees may learn their lesson when the rubber meets the road in implementation.
Says Sifuna, “I feel concerned for John Mbadi because I don’t see how he will have an impact on President Ruto’s government.” Sifuna’s words seem to be in contradiction with the prevailing feeling among the owners of ODM, a party to which he was invited to take the Secretary General’s job not out of principle or competence but to gibe it a national lo and neutralise its image as a vehicle for the realisation of Raila Odinga’s political and financial ambitions.
The Loyalty test
Under the Constitution, in Article 153 (2) Cabinet Secretaries loyalty to the President is demanded. not optional. So while Raila may have proposed and recommended his party members for appointment, the Constitution demands that they give their unqualified loyalty to the President who is the Constitutional appointing authority.
Mokaya notes; “Ruto will certainly demand that the ministers be totally loyal to him and not the party leader, which will create a conflict. If they choose to be loyal to Ruto, they will have to offend the party leader who will still expect them to remain loyal and execute some of his ideas while in the government. They will be expected to execute Bottom-up policies and raise taxes, and to implement programmes in Ruto’s political strongholds.”
It is a conflict Ruto is personally familiar with, having been appointed to the ‘Nusu Mkate’ Cabinet of President Mwai Kibaki from Raila’s wing but opted to give his loyalty to Kibaki and not Raila. This led to a clash between him and Raila, who unsuccessfully sought to suspend him from Cabinet on corruption allegations but Kibaki intervened. It was this attempt to tame Ruto, which he (Ruto) interpreted as lack of gratitude, that led to a blossoming relationship with Uhuru Kenyatta that eventually stopped Raila’s ambitions to become President in 2013. Raila also faced the same challenge with Raphael Tuju who chose loyalty to Kibaki over loyalty to Raila who had enabled his election to Parliament as MP for Rarieda in 2002. Tuju chose to align with the appointing authority rather than Raila and while there’s no doubt he delivered to his boss, he failed the politics with Raila and lost his seat at the next elections.
According to some analysts however, Ruto may be setting up the ODM nominees to fail in the critical ministries that he has handed them and thereafter blame the Opposition for infiltrating his government to set it up to fail to deliver on its promises.
Security of Tenure
Unlike MPs who made their removal after election almost impossible by inserting clauses that limit recall the three middle years of their terms, CSs may be removed from office at any time. Under the Constitution, the Cabinet Secretary holds their jobs for as log as the President is in office or wishes; they may be removed or re-deployed at any time. There is also no reason to suppose that once appointed, Mbadi or Wandayi will stay in their initial portfolios; Ruto may feel secure enough to either redeploy or sack them altogether after they have served their purpose, which at the moment is to appease the Gen Z and regain control of the government.
On the contrary, Mbadi, a nominated MP, may be removed from the National Assembly by expulsion from his nominating party, which has been proved to be difficult to implement going by precedents while Wandayi, an elected MP, would require a recall election to be held in his constituency before he may be removed from office as MP for Ugunja. That security will disappear with appointment to the Cabinet. If removed, CSs that have given up their elected offices do not have the liberty of going back to their old jobs. It was the dilemma faced by Kipchumba Murkomen, who had been elected Senator before he quit on appointment to the Cabinet; and Aden Duale and Alice Ng’ang’a who had been elected MPs. Analysts believe Ruto seemed compelled by their loss to return them to the Cabinet. He may not have such feelings towards the ODM platoon.
Although Sifuna insisted that the nominees did not have the party’s blessings, it is instructive that Party ;leader Raila Odinga maintained a loud silence on the issue, even after he was accused of hijacking the Gen Z movement and benefitting from their sweat and blood.