Raila aide slams AG over law interpretation

Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s advisor on coalition affairs Miguna Miguna on Tuesday rejected Attorney General Amos Wako’s interpretation of the National Accord that the PM did not have power to suspend ministers.

Mr Miguna, who is also a joint secretary of the grand coalition management committee, also vowed that the Orange Democratic Movement will not withdraw from the coalition because it was a “senior partner”.

“The PM and ODM are the senior partner in this coalition, and the PM will not leave this coalition,” he said.

He was reacting to Mr Wako’s earlier assertion that the National Accord and Reconciliation Act did not give the Prime Minister powers to suspend Cabinet ministers, although President Kibaki could decide to delegate such authority to Mr Odinga.

Addressing the media in Nairobi, he said: “Mr Wako’s latest statement is the most embarrassing and scandalous utterance ever made by an Attorney General in the Commonwealth.”

He accused Mr Wako of failing to correctly interpret the law, and asked him to quit.

“I urge my senior friend and colleague, Amos Wako, to publicly acknowledge that he has failed in his onerous duty and provide an opportunity for another worthy Kenyan professional to render his or her services to the motherland.”

He cited sections 4(1) and 4(5) of the Act, which defines the role of the Prime Minister and how either the President or the Prime Minister can dismiss ministers, respectively.

He said the former gave the PM “exclusive mandate and authority to discipline government officers, including Cabinet ministers that he coordinates.”
“A lawyer of Mr Wako’s repute should know that without the power to discipline, supervision would be meaningless.”

Mr Miguna accused the President and his PNU side of “trashing” the Accord - the law which created the grand coalition government - causing a “political crisis”.

As a result, he added, ODM has registered a legitimate dispute to the panel of eminent African persons, which brokered the power-sharing deal, to resolve the crisis.

He said the current discord in the government was a usual characteristic of coalition governments, adding that there were mechanisms of resolving it, including involving the eminent persons.

“Disagreement is not the end of a marriage or a coalition,” he said, but added that PNU must respect and honour the National Accord.