- Title: KENYA: Anti corruption protest as coalition comes under pressure over graft row
- Date: 19th February 2010
- Summary: NEWSPAPERS ON SALE HEADLINES READING 'ODM TO BOYCOTT CABINET' AND 'CABINET STORM' HEADLINE READING 'MORES SHOCK AWAITS RAILA'
- Embargoed: 6th March 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAA35HPA65A3MRNPRO576VLEO85
- Story Text: Kenyan civil rights activists marched through the streets of Nairobi on Wednesday (February 17) waving banners and chanting anti-government slogans to protest against corruption and called on some leaders to resign following a political crisis that has threatened the fragile coalition.
The Kenyan shilling hit an eight-month low on Tuesday (February 16) after President Mwai Kibaki overturned Prime Minister Raila Odinga's order to suspend the country's Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Education Minister Sam Ongeri for three months to allow for more investigations into corruption allegations.
Dozens of protesters marched to Kibaki's office to handover a petition demanding that the ministers' suspension remain in place.
"We wonder, is there a government in place or not? Insecurity is soaring, corruption in the cabinet is soaring and it looks like ODM and PNU are simply camps for protecting the corruption amongst themselves. So we want a Kenya that is post PNU, that's post ODM and we are requesting the president within the next seven days, takes the actions we have requested here. - that is ensure that Mr. Ruto and Mr. Ongeri do not access public offices," said Okia Omtatah, a civil activist.
Eric Njoroge, a Nairobi resident suggested there should be another election.
"It's like a battle, everyone has their own interests. This one wants to show they have power... this other one wants to show that they have power. Maybe what we need to do is just hold another election," he said.
Kibaki and his Party of National Unity (PNU) and Prime Minister Odinga Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) were forced into a unity government in 2008 following post-election violence that killed some 1,300 people after Odinga said he had been cheated of the presidency by incumbent Kibaki.
But since then, the coalition has struggled to make substantial progress on reforms, nor tackle endemic corruption, due to persistent bickering and power-games between the camps.
Political analyst Amboka Andere said Odinga might have overstepped the mark when the sacked the ministers without consulting Kibaki.
"Prime Minister Raila was right to be angry about the fact that these two ministers refused to resign after they were asked again and again. But perhaps he went one step too far. According to the agreement they signed with Kibaki, he needed to consult the president before the government would then fire these two ministers; that he did not do," Andere said.
Andere said Odinga's popularity had suffered from various scandals.
"For a long time, everybody had been talking about the scandal involving the free primary education, in which over a 100 million shillings was supposed to have vanished. There was a maize scandal and no action had been taken by the president," he said.
The problem for Odinga is that his rift with former ally Ruto means the prime minister now lacks the crucial backing of the Kalenjin, Kenya's fourth largest tribe from which the agriculture minister hails.
Analysts say Kibaki's problem is that he has no clear successor to unite his Kikuyu tribe, the country's largest, or draw substantial support from other regions to carry an election in Kenya's tribally tinged politics.
The spat between Odinga and Ruto has already raised tensions in the Rift Valley and analysts said there was a threat the tribal violence seen in early 2008 might resume.
Andere said the the coalition government had not worked together to bring about peace in the country or on other issues demanding government attention. "They came together, they signed an accord, and the accord is very specific - they must work together to accomplish certain things. First, there the question of ensuring that there is peace and tranquility... bringing the country back together.. that they have not done. And this kind of thing obviously makes it more difficult to reconcile the country with what we saw, for example in Eldoret, with people protesting the removal of their minister. So that is one thing where they have failed. There is the question of tackling things like poverty and there are issues such as the constitution. They cannot thrive, this is a bad limelight for them. They cannot thrive in this kind of situation," he said.
Andere said the populace was angry with the government. "What you see around the country is anger. Not so much about Raila overstepping his bounds but about the fact that these two principles have failed to come together to sort out what is perhaps the biggest crisis this country has experienced since independence," he said.
If the coalition survives the latest wrangling, it could face another challenge from the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor -- if he gets the green light to investigate the main perpetrators of the violence in 2008.
While the chief suspects have not been named, they are believed to include several prominent cabinet ministers from both sides of the fragile union.
Cabinet ministers from Odinga's ODM have called for a boycott of meetings until the rift is resolved.
Odinga left for Japan on Monday (February 15) on a visit to Saturday (February 20). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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