Premier’s office in crisis as turf wars end in a brawl

A power struggle which threatens the effectiveness of Prime Minister’s office exploded into a near punch-up among his key aides on Thursday.

The embarrassing fiasco came barely 24 hours after the premier’s Director of Protocol and Liaison, Tony Gachoka, resigned in a protracted turf battle with his Permanent Secretary Mohamed Isahakia.

The bust-up between the two senior officers in Mr Raila Odinga’s office at Treasury Building threw the normally busy premises into disarray.

It happened while the PM was attending a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Kibaki at State House. It provided further evidence of difficult relations within the premier’s team between career civil servants and officers brought into the government last year, underlining challenges of making the Grand Coalition work.

Ambitious project

The two senior most officials in the PM’s office – Permanent Secretary Mohammed Isahakia and Principal Administrative Secretary, Caroli Omondi – when contacted by the Saturday Nation denied that there was any incident in their department on Thursday. Mr Omondi described the reports as “propaganda”.

It is feared that wrangling among top decision makers in Mr Odinga’s office could affect an ambitious project financed by the United Nations Development Programme and other donors to empower the office of Prime Minister to effectively fulfil its mandate as supervisor and coordinator of government operations.

Key personnel recruited under the project include two former PSs James Ongwae and Nehemiah Ng’eno, and from Japan Mr Hiroyuki Hino, a former top IMF official based in Washington as Director of the Africa Division.

Mr Ongwae is working on strategic plans of the PM’s office to be launched on April 9. Mr N’geno is an advisor on governance while Mr Hino, who often led IMF mission to Kenya in the 1990s, is an advisor on economics.

Governance structure

The Prime Ministers’ office has been involved in its own turf war with the Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet at the Office of the President Francis Muthaura over its exact functions in the governance structure that came into place with establishment of the Grand Coalition Government nearly a year ago.

The laws and constitutional amendments passed under the national accord and reconciliation process conferred the Prime Minister equal power and status with the President Kibaki.

The PM was specifically made in charge of coordination and supervision of government, but Mr Odinga’s ODM party has long accused Mr Muthaura of continuing to hold on to powers that should have been assumed by the Prime Minister.

The Office of the Prime Minister has also lacked the staff and other resources necessary for it to properly fulfil its supervisory and coordination mandate. Hence the help from donors in setting up institutions and structures, a process driven by Mr Omondi.

On Friday staff who did not want to be named fearing repercussions described how they witnessed a confrontation that was played out in full view of visitors.

Some of the visitors who were waiting to see the PM on his 14th floor office once he returned from the Cabinet meeting described how they were attracted by a shouting match from adjacent officers occupied by the senior officers.

Said one of the visitors: “We were alarmed by the noise coming from the direction of the PM’s office which is normally quiet and as we rushed out we were met by the sight of two senior officers throwing punches at each other before they were separated.”

The confrontation started in one of the offices and spread onto the corridors before the two top officers were pulled apart by other staffers.

Another witness said: “I remember [one officer going into the office of the other] and moments later shouts erupted from inside and the door was flung open. As we rushed to find out what was happening the officer was shouting ‘Why did you slap me?’”

There was also a description given by another person on how those in the waiting room rushed out on hearing a commotion and saw the two officers already out in the corridor pushing each other and hurling insults.

A member of staff said they saw the two come out onto the corridor pushing and shoving after an apparent disagreement inside the office.

“It was not surprising to us; we saw it coming because of the long-standing tension,” the staffer said.

But, when contacted, the PM’s spokesperson Dennis Onyango was categorical that the incident did not take place.

“That is totally unfounded. Nothing of the sort happened and we are not aware of it,” he said. Dr Isahakia and Mr Omondi also denied that there was any such incident.

However rivalries, infighting and lack of clear chain of command in Mr Odinga’s office has often been apparent to visitors.

Visitors describe how quite often there have been clashing appointments forcing the PM to shuttle from one meeting room to another as he could be hosting up to three delegations at the same time.

Angry exchanges

The incident on Thursday happened just a day after Mr Gachoka resigned.

Mr Gachoka, who handed in his resignation after being interdicted by the PS a few days earlier, is allied with Omondi who has been engaged in a long-running battle for supremacy with Dr Isahakia.

As a Permanent Secretary, Dr Isahakia, a career civil servant who returned to government after a period of absence with Mr Odinga’s appointment as Prime Minister, is the chief executive and accounting officer of the PM’s office.

But Omondi represents the new breed of civil servants with backgrounds in private sector, international organisations or civil society trying to find their ways in the entrenched bureaucracies.

As Principal Administrative Secretary, Mr Omondi might view his rank as equal to that of a Permanent Secretary, and has often teamed up with Mr Gachoka, who came into the Prime Ministers’ office straight from political activism.

Their style of doing things has often caused clashes with Dr Isahakia who is more inclined to discipline, procedure and the pecking order.

Mr Gachoka threw in the towel this week after a series of angry exchanges with Dr Isakahia that led to his suspension.

But the latest incident shows that the exit of one key staffer is not the end of problems in the Prime Minister’s office.

Infighting in the office came to the fore at the end of last month when Mr Gachoka circulated an e-mail to all senior staff questioning Dr Isahakia’s management of the office.

In response Dr Isahakia accused Mr Gachoka of a variety of misdeeds, including incompetence and insubordination, wondering why a civil servant should use his mobile phone to circulate official memos. He asked Mr Gachoka to show cause why he should not be disciplined.

But the Director of Protocol responded with a letter accusing the PS of even more misdeeds and insisting that he is the one who should relinquish his position.

That was when he was interdicted, but after initially signalling defiance, Mr Gachoka e-mailed a resignation earlier this week.