Ruto faces sack as Raila targets ODM rebels

Higher Education minister William Ruto could finally be headed out of the Cabinet as Prime Minister Raila Odinga moves to punish ODM rebels in Cabinet changes expected this week.

Also expected to face the axe are suspended Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey, East African Community minister Prof Hellen Sambili and Livestock assistant minister Aden Duale as Mr Odinga moves to clamp down on political rebellion on his side of the coalition.

Highly placed sources within ODM confirmed that the PM had finally decided to use the opportunity afforded by the constitutional requirement to appoint a new AG to act decisively on rebel party MPs serving in the Cabinet.

“If all goes according to plan, it will come next week. It will be about getting rebels and those with court cases out. The party top brass is working out the details,” said one of the Prime Minister’s advisers who cannot be named because, he said, it would be tantamount to pre-empting his boss.

The changes are expected to come along with the constitutional obligation to replace long-serving Attorney-General Amos Wako by August 27. It is understood that the appointment should come in good time to enable Mr Wako to hand over to his successor.

“Next week looks plausible in order to give time for the new Attorney-General to be nominated, vetted by Parliament and for (Mr) Wako to hand over. There are other areas that need attention and whether that will be done at that time will come after the principals have consulted,” a well-placed source in the Office of the President told the Sunday Nation.

Another source at the PM’s office separately confirmed that Mr Odinga had finally decided to replace Mr Ruto and his allies with more loyal party MPs.

“The PM has consulted widely before arriving at the decision to sack them. You can expect the changes next week,” said the PM’s adviser who also declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

But standing in the way of the expected changes is the realisation that the President and the Prime Minister must consult and concur, a reality that is often fraught with deep-seated intrigues driven by their top aides and party interests.

In February last year, Mr Odinga sent Mr Ruto on suspension over a maize scandal in the Agriculture ministry the latter headed at the time. Also suspended by the PM at the time was Education minister Sam Ongeri whose ministry was similarly steeped in a raging scandal.

But in a stroke of realpolitik, President Kibaki rescinded the suspensions within hours. Mr Ruto was later suspended over a court case but has since been cleared of the charges.

In the meantime, the Eldoret North MP has led a rebellion within ODM and cast his political lot with PNU, creating the platform for Mr Odinga to fire him and other party rebels.

Sources from the OP and the PM’s office mentioned law professor Githu Muigai as the front-runner to replace Mr Wako in the expected changes. ODM is understood to be pushing for their nominee to take up the position of Attorney-General.

The sources who are familiar with consultations between the PM and President Kibaki told the Sunday Nation that ODM was keen to push for a reshuffle as the two principals announce their nominee for the AG’s position.

The looming reshuffle is also informed by a desire to ease the burden of ministers holding brief for their suspended colleagues, a matter that came up in Parliament last week.

Ministers holding brief for their suspended colleagues include Prof George Saitoti for Sirisia MP Moses Wetang’ula (Foreign Affairs), Mr Amason Kingi for Mr Kosgey (Industrialisation) and Prof Sambili for Mr Ruto (Higher Education).

Also likely to be affected in the Cabinet changes is Education minister Prof Sam Ongeri whose ministry is at the heart of a scandal he had repeatedly said he has nothing to do with.

Those being considered to replace the out-of-favour ODM ministers include Nominated MP Musa Sirma and assistant ministers Prof Margaret Kamar and Magerer Lagat, sources familiar with the workings of ODM top brass told the Sunday Nation.

An ODM Cabinet minister who declined to be named because of the secrecy surrounding the planned changes confirmed that the party had given Mr Odinga the green-light to kick Mr Ruto and his allies out of the Cabinet.

“These are people who have pronounced that they are leaving the party, so why can’t we release them? The indications are very clear that they are going but I cannot give you the names at the moment,” he said.

Interviews with Mr Ruto’s allies created an impression that they were resigned to their ouster and did not plan to fight back.

“We no longer value those positions especially at this time when the sun is going down. We saw it coming the moment they demoted Ruto from the Agriculture ministry to Higher Education and Sambili from the Sports ministry to some nondescript ministry called East African Community. The writing was on the wall,” said Cherang’any MP Joshua Kutuny, a close associate of the suspended Higher Education minister.

Mr Duale added: “If they want to remove us, so be it. I was given my mandate by the Dujis people to represent them in Parliament, and that is where my loyalty is. We serve in the Cabinet at the prerogative of the President and the Prime Minister.”

Pressure has been mounting on the two principals to fill the vacant positions in the Cabinet with MPs complaining that government business in Parliament was being affected by the lack of substantive ministers in various ministries.

Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale captured Parliament’s impatience with the front bench’s inability to respond to MPs’ questions due to the absence of substantive ministers during debate last week.

“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir. My point of order is directed to the Leader of Government Business. Under the old Constitution, very many things were done by the Executive at the pleasure of the President. This time, the pleasure of the President does not count at all. Many questions here go unanswered, because either ministers are not here, they are late, are sick or have travelled,” Dr Khalwale stated.

“However, of greater concern to me are questions directed to the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. These are two ministries which have remained vacant for so long, and the President and the Prime Minister think that they should fill those positions at their own pleasure,” he went on.

“Could the Leader of Government Business tell us when the President and the Prime Minister are going to give Kenyans substantive ministers in the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education, Science and Technology,” Dr Khalwale demanded.

Responding, Transport minister Amos Kimunya, who was holding brief for Leader of Government Business Kalonzo Musyoka, argued that the President was preoccupied with implementing the new Constitution and that the acting ministers were doing a good job.

“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir. In terms of the appointment to those offices, I believe there are acting ministers who are doing a commendable job. One of the things that you may know if you refer to, I believe, Section 17 of the former Constitution, which is still in force in matters to do with the Executive, is that it bars ministers from advising the President on the appointment of ministers. So, I will not even contemplate advising the President because that will be unconstitutional,” he said, provoking Dr Khalwale’s ire.

“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, at no time did I request the Deputy Leader of Government Business to go and advise the President. We look at the Leader of Government Business as the nexus between this National Assembly and the Executive, particularly the Cabinet. So, we want that information conveyed as the position of this National Assembly and not his view; for all we know he might want to advise the President on the things he likes best, and Kenyans know them,” the Ikolomani MP hit back.

Mr Odinga’s move to sack Mr Ruto, Mr Kosgey, Prof Sambili and Mr Duale betrays the party’s lack of faith in the existing legal mechanisms of dealing with errant party members.

The party early this year wrote to the registrar of political parties, Ms Lucy Ndung’u, asking her to invoke the Political Parties Act to write to the Speaker directing him to declare Mr Duale’s and Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto’s seats vacant, alleging that the two breached the Political Parties Act.

When the registrar failed to act on the party’s demand, two party members went to court seeking to have ODM errant MPs kicked out. The petitioners, Mr Mpuri Aburi and Mr Kepher Odongo, through lawyer Cecil Miller, argued that the respondents who included Mr Ruto, Mr Duale, Belgut MP Charles Keter, Mr Kutuny and Chepalungu’s Isaac Ruto, are in Parliament in contravention of Article 103 of the Constitution and Section 17(4) of the Political Parties Act.

They argued that Mr Ruto and the others have, through public declarations and activities, indicated that they quit ODM and have joined United Democratic Movement.

The Constitution says a Parliamentary seat falls vacant if a member resigns from their party or is deemed to have resigned from the party.

The Political Parties Act indicates that a person who, while a member of a political party, forms another, joins in the formation or as a member of another, publicly advocates the formation of another political party, loses membership in their original party.

To counter the move, Mr Ruto’s allies met and considered two options to settle scores with Mr Odinga.

One of the options was for the rebel MPs to quit the party en mass to strip it of its majority in Parliament and leave Mr Odinga exposed to challenge over his position as PM.

The National Accord that established the grand coalition government reserves the PM post for the leader of the majority party in Parliament.

The other option was to fight the case in court. On Saturday, Mr Kutuny maintained that MPs allied to Mr Ruto would quit the party en mass if the court ruled against them.

“We are waiting for the court case to be finalised. If our colleagues are kicked out, we will all move out of the party. That is the surprise we have for them,” he said.

But Mr Duale distanced himself from the plan, saying he would instead fight in court to remain in the party.