Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05NAIROBI5078
2005-12-08 13:23:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nairobi
Cable title:  

THANKS, BUT NO THANKS: CABINET NOMINEES DECLINE

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR KDEM KE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 005078 

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2025
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM KE
SUBJECT: THANKS, BUT NO THANKS: CABINET NOMINEES DECLINE

REF: NAIROBI 5073

Classified By: A/Political Counselor Lisa Peterson for reasons 1.4 (b,d
)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 005078

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2025
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM KE
SUBJECT: THANKS, BUT NO THANKS: CABINET NOMINEES DECLINE

REF: NAIROBI 5073

Classified By: A/Political Counselor Lisa Peterson for reasons 1.4 (b,d
)


1. (C) Although President Kibaki met his self-imposed two
week deadline for announcing a new cabinet (reftel),Kenya's
government is still incomplete, with twenty-one nominees
declining their appointments. Within moments of the
President's announcement on December 7, ten appointees turned
Kibaki down, and by afternoon on December 8, eleven more,
including four full ministers, had passed up their job
offers. The list of those who have said "no thanks" to
Kibaki is diverse, with nominees from five parties opting out
of the cabinet, but they have in common one of two basic
reasons for saying no: they are either disappointed with the
process (e.g. LDP members),or disaffected with Kibaki
personally. END SUMMARY.

OUT OF THE LINEUP
--------------


2. (C) Within moments of Kibaki's December 7 speech
detailing his new cabinet lineup, ten nominated assistant
ministers declined to accept the President's offer. They are:

-- Joseph Nkaiserry, Assistant Minister for Petroleum (KANU)
-- Samuel Moroto, Assistant Minister for Public Health (KANU)
-- David Sudi, Assistant Minister for Manpower Management
(KANU)
-- Peter Odoyo, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs (Liberal
Democratic Party, LDP)
-- William Boit, Assistant Minister for Agriculture (KANU)
-- David Were, Assistant Minister for Communications (Ford-P)
-- Mwangi Kiunjuri, Assistant Minister for Electricity
(National Alliance Party, NAK)
-- Paul Sang, Assistant Minister for Communications (Ford-P)
-- Zaddock Syongoh, Assistant Minister for Financial
Management Affairs (LDP)
-- Soita Shitanda, Assistant Minister of State for Special
Programs (Ford-K)

By afternoon on December 8, eleven more nominees, including
four full ministers, had also refused their positions:

-- Moses Akaranga, Minister of State for Public Service (NAK)
-- Musikari Kombo, Minister for Local Government (Ford-K)
-- Orwa Ojodeh, Minister for Environment and Natural
Resources (LDP)
-- Charity Ngilu, Minister for Health (NAK)

-- Kivutha Kibwana, Assistant Minister for Justice and
Constitutional Affairs (NAK)
-- Stephen Tarus, Assistant Minister for County Councils
(Ford-K)
-- Noah Wekesa, Assistant Minister for Livestock Development
(Ford-K)
-- Moses Wetangula, Assistant Minister for International
Affairs (Ford-K)
-- Joseph Nyagah, Assistant Minister for East African
Community (NAK)
-- John Munyes, Assistant Minister for Water Resources
(Ford-K)
-- Stephen Ole Ntutu, Assistant Minister for Natural
Resources (KANU)

Of the twenty-one appointees to turn Kibaki down, only three
are from the Central Province/Mount Kenya (GEMA) region,
further concentrating the distinctly ethnic tint of the
cabinet (reftel). The nominees who have so far declined
cabinet positions represent five political parties, and
Ngilu's refusal leaves just one woman full minister: Kikuyu
partisan Martha Karua.


3. (C) Many of the first group to turn down the offer were
acting in accordance with the publicly stated KANU and LDP
positions: no individual members should take a cabinet post
because the parties had not been consulted in the selection
process. (COMMENT: This may have taken Kibaki and his
advisors by surprise, as their strategy was almost certainly
to draw in lower level members of these parties with the
temptation of ministerial perks. In so doing, they would be
able to claim party diversity and therefore a unity cabinet,
while at the same time dividing the opposition parties. END
COMMENT.)

FORD-K TAKES A PARTY STAND
--------------


4. (C) The only concerted party-wide defection from the new
Kibaki cabinet came from Ford-K. The party stated shortly
after the new cabinet was unveiled that they would meet on
December 8 to discuss its participation. Following the
meeting, all but three nominated ministers and assistant
ministers -- Moses Akaranga, Minister of State for Public
Service; Newton Kulundu, Minister for Labor; and Mukhisa
Kituyi, Minister for Trade and Industry -- participated in a
party press event announcing they would not accept their
nominations. Subsequent unconfirmed media reports indicated
that Akaranga and Kulundu joined their party, leaving Kituyi
as the sole Ford-K member in cabinet. The root of Ford-K's
refusal to join cabinet is two-fold, and not necessarily
based on objections to the manner of selection or lack of
inclusivity. The organization is still smarting from being
passed over for the vice-presidency in 2003. Following that
slight, and energetic participation in the "Yes" campaign for
the constitution, the party expected to be more handsomely
rewarded, including with the VP position, when the new
cabinet was announced on December 7.
KIUNJURI: THE "YES" WHO SAID NO
--------------


5. (C) A surprising "no, thank you" came from Kibaki
supporter and fellow Kikuyu Mwangi Kiunjuri, who was
reappointed to his former position of Assistant Minister for
Energy. An ethnic Kikuyu who fought hard on Kibaki's side
during the referendum debate, Kiunjuri is a young (36 years
old) MP from Laikipia East, just outside Central Province.
He likely turned down the president's offer in protest: he
considers himself a loyalist on par with "Yes" campaigners
Mutahi Kagwe and Maina Kamanda, who were offered full
ministerships. By contrast, his assistant minister position
was diminished, as a new portfolio specifically dealing with
petroleum was created and offered to Nkaissery (who, as a
Maasai, would have brought both ethnic and party diversity to
the cabinet, had he accepted the offer). A 2000 participant
in the I.V. African Leaders Program, Kiunjuri in a 2001
interview denied that the Central Province group of MPs was a
tribal association, asserting instead that it was a
"political association of people with similar interests."

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) With more than one quarter of his new cabinet seats
voluntarily vacated, Kibaki must consider why so many of his
selections have declined the offer. There is the distinct
possibility that the president chose names without securing a
commitment from the individuals to serve. That these
nominees have turned down substantial economic opportunities
demonstrates the degree of sentiment against Kibaki and his
coterie at the moment, and the degree to which his actions
further unify the opposition. The stance of the first
principled few has prompted a snowball effect that is truly
damaging to the Kibaki administration. While Charity Ngilu
publicly attributed her rejection of her appointment to flaws
in the process, saying it was not sufficiently consultative,
it is equally likely she made a calculated political decision
to abandon a sinking ship. Her departure, particularly when
one considers the number of benefits she demanded and
received in exchange for support for the "Yes" campaign, is a
stunning blow to Kibaki. END COMMENT.
BELLAMY