Steering team in the eye of the storm

• The two principals are expected to join MPs in retreat on consensus building

The 23-man Steering Committee of Parliament will be in the eye of the storm on Tuesday when the two principals in the Grand Coalition join MPs in the retreat on consensus building.

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are expected to join the MPs in the retreat at the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA) aimed at smoothening the way before the proposed constitution is debated in Parliament this week.

But the focus is likely to be on the 23-man committee that is made up of seven representatives each from the Parliamentary caucus, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Party of National Unity (PNU).

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) chairman Mohammed Abdikadir and his vice Ababu Namwamba are ex-officio members.

Some of the issues agreed on at the retreat were causing ripples in ODM with Mr Odinga’s deputy, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, telling a rally in Machakos on Friday that some of the decisions reached had never been expressed by Kenyans.

Mr Mudavadi named some of the decisions as attempts to scrap civic seats. He made the remarks in the presence of the Prime Minister.
The committee was formed at the request of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Kenneth Marende.

In his ruling before he adjourned the session for 30 minutes to allow the special interest groups (PNU, ODM and the Parliamentary Caucus on Constitution) to pick their representatives to the steering committee, Mr Marende said Parliament must stop pretending that there are ODM and PNU allied MPs and “a third force that can be loosely called Parliamentary Caucus”.

But the Speaker’s statement stung ODM’s Gwasi MP John Mbadi who shot up protesting that the so-called Parliamentary Caucus MPs were actually rebels from their respective parties.

The 30-minute break eventually resulted in ODM picking Dalmas Otieno, Isaac Ruto, Sophia Abdi, James Orengo, Najib Balala, Dr Paul Otuoma and Noidila ole Lankas.

PNU, on the other hand, picked Moses Wetang’ula, Jeremiah Kioni, Mwangi Kiunjuri, Philip Kaloki, Joseph Lekuton, Amina Abdallah and Mutula Kilonzo.

Members of the Parliamentary Caucus settled on David Ngugi, Danson Mungatana, Boni Khalwale, Dr Julius Kones, Charles Kilonzo, Martin Ogindo and Aden Duale.

Mr Marende is also on record as telling MPs that they need to roll up their sleeves and work on the constitution.

He told the MPs that he would not allow the PSC to do work that should be done by Parliamentarians.

“The Select Committee (PSC) has done its work, now Parliament must do its part,” Mr Marende is reported to have told MPs at the retreat.

With the Steering Committee formed, it quickly identified the key sticking issues in the draft constitution as the clauses on representation, devolution and transitional.