Top team to mediate coalition wrangles

However, Mr Mudavadi argued that the draft agreement was not well equipped to address the working of a coalition and said that ODM was demanding a comprehensive document.

“The agreement which we saw was not water tight and our side wants a more comprehensive document that can serve the coalition until its sunset in 2012,” he said.

Such an agreement would have provided for a management committee drawn from both sides, a clear manifesto, relationships between the PNU and ODM top organs (NEC), parliamentary group meetings and confidence building mechanisms.

Said Wildlife and Forestry minister Noah Wekesa: “The biggest problem in the Grand Coalition is that of lack of communication between partners, their party organs and MPs. We must be alive to the fact that without communication, a coalition is bound to face problems.”

What has surprised many observers is that while President Kibaki and Mr Odinga seem to have struck a cordial working relationship, their troops have been going for each other’s throats persistently.

The President and the PM normally meet every Wednesday at Harambee House for consultations as stipulated in the National Accord.

It is also significant that although the National Accord has a sunset clause, it lacks a defined escape route should one of the partners resolve to withdraw from the coalition.

The differences between the partners have been taken a notch higher by revelations of a series of corruption scandals ranging from the Sh2.9 billion Grand Regency Hotel sale saga, the Sh825 million maize scandal, the Sh7.6 billion oil scandal and the Kenya Tourism Board debacle that is estimated at Sh43 million.

Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya was relieved of his duties as Finance minister as the Government sought to unravel the mystery behind the Grand Regency saga.

It now appears that the permanent committee will seek to create harmony in the coalition and pave way for it to fight corruption and tackle wide ranging reforms that include the setting up of a special tribunal to try suspects of post-election violence.