VP rules out calls for new deal on National Accord ahead of retreat

Antagonism and grandstanding clouds a retreat that is expected to streamline the affairs of the Grand Coalition Government with PNU ruling out any renegotiation of the National Accord.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka on Thursday called a press conference to disclose the agenda of the meeting which starts on Friday. He said the renegotiation of the Accord as demanded by ODM was not on the agenda.

The press conference, the Nation learnt, was meant to halt plans by ODM to use the two-day retreat to be attended by both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to renegotiate the Accord.

PNU leaders

The VP came from a meeting of PNU leaders in the Permanent Committee on the Management of the Grand Coalition to declare that if ODM wanted renegotiation, it should use the parliamentary route.

“The issue of renegotiation is not in anybody’s agenda… similarly the issue was painstakingly discussed and legislated. We have an Act of Parliament appended to the Constitution,” he said at his Jogoo House offices in Nairobi.

“Reopening the areas will mean going back the legislative way and I don’t think the country is ready to go that route.”

His views were shared by Nairobi Metropolitan minister Mutula Kilonzo, who said PNU would not accept to be ambushed by ODM. Mr Kilonzo said the partners were neither going to Kilaguni for a political battle nor to discuss “the salary of the Vice-President and that of the Prime Minister or to argue over who appoints senior civil servants”.

Mr Musyoka said the powers of the President as the Head of State and Government were clearly spelt out in the Constitution and this could not be negotiated in forums like the retreat.

“Our Constitution is very clear (on this); let us not bring issues that are not debatable,” he responded to a question on whether this would be part of the negotiations.

He said the aim of the meeting was to enhance partnership in the coalition to expedite service delivery. The retreat will focus on how to quickly implement Agenda Four in the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, which mainly deals with the constitutional review and land reforms.

It will also discuss how to promote unity in the coalition and the principle of the collective responsibility, which he said was lacking among ministers who leak government secrets.

Single team

Mr Musyoka said they would also explore how to work together as “members of a single national team”. Also present was Forestry minister Noah Wekesa.

In the recent past, members of the government have been talking with discordant voices on how to implement policies, with a clear division coming from ODM and PNU.

The eight-member Serena negotiating team will join the 12 members of the Permanent Committee to also discuss the formation of a local tribunal to try suspects of the post-election violence.

ODM recently called for the renegotiation of the Accord, arguing that it had been short-changed and that real power-sharing and portfolio balance in allocating positions across the board in the civil service must be the basis of the coalition government.