POLITICAL INTRIGUES TO ENGENDER FURTHER

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 001262 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2026 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL KE SUBJECT: POLITICAL INTRIGUES TO ENGENDER FURTHER PARLIAMENTARY PARALYSIS REF: A. NAIROBI 1154 ¶B. NAIROBI 1187 Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: After a four-month hiatus, Kenya's Parliament faces daunting challenges when it reconvenes March ¶21. Despite the importance of pending legislation, including the creation of a parliamentary budget office, the sharply polarized climate -- equal parts partisan and personal -- coupled with corruption scandals and political intrigue will take their toll on the ability of Parliament to effect meaningful reforms. END SUMMARY. -------------- Priorities Facing Parliament -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Kenya's Parliament faces a number of pressing issues when it (finally!) reconvenes March 21. Parliament recessed in early November to allow MPs to concentrate on the constitutional referendum campaigns, but, following the government,s humiliating defeat, President Kibaki promptly prorogued Parliament to stave off a feared vote of no confidence. After months of inactivity, MPs will be dusting off more than twenty bills shelved in the interim. Legislative priorities will be heavily influenced by the newly appointed Deputy Leader of Government Business, hard-liner Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua. According to Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) member Justice Muturi, the PAC expects to release its report on the Anglo-Leasing scam in coming days to Parliament (Ref A). Anticipated to be among legislation given priority are: a proposal to create a Parliamentary Budget Committee (thus furthering the democratization of the budget process); a politial campaign finance bill (to regulate contributions and fundraising which hitherto have been powerful motivating factors behind corruption scandals as politicians seek ever-expanded avenues for financing political campaigns; the sexual offenses bill (sponsored by nominated MP Njoki Ndungu, who has not been resting while Parliament was out); and the witness protection bill designed to afford whistleblowers greater protections (the need for which was amply demonstrated in the poor handling of whistleblowers in Goldenberg and many other scandals here). -------------- Battle Lines Drawn -------------- ¶3. (C) These bills all merit the worthy consideration of MPs. But any legislative initiatives will compete with corruption scandals and political intrigues set against a backdrop of a weakened government and an opposition baying for blood. The Goldenberg and Anglo-Leasing scandals; the Ndungu land report; the still unresolved way forward on constitutional review; the imminent testing, sampling and destruction of the one-ton plus of cocaine; and the recent "foreign8 mercenaries saga (ref B) all directly implicate various (and competing) political leaders and factions. As such, these issues all offer fierce competition for the attention of MPs in this turbulent session. Opponents of the government, led by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM),will mercilessly harry the government to their advantage. The former chairman of the Kenya chapter of the International Commission of Jurists, Otiende Amollo, spoke for many when he told poloff to &expect fireworks8 upon the opening of Parliament. ¶4. (C) Sensing the battles ahead, the government is taking measures to ensure they have the numbers to win in Parliament. In a memo from the Head of Civil Service, Francis Mutharura, the government issued restrictions on travel for ministers and assistant ministers. The policy is designed to deny the opposition the fodder to criticize the government of excessive or extravagant travel and squandering of public resources. Even more importantly, the goal is to ensure that ministers and assistant ministers, who are also MPs, are present in Parliament to support government policies. (NOTE: In the December cabinet reshuffle, Kibaki appointed a record "super-sized" cabinet: 83 ministers and assistant ministers, numbers sufficient to ensure that the government would be able to defeat a vote of no confidence (requiring two thirds of the 222 members of parliament) and serve as a solid pro-government voting block. END NOTE.) ¶5. (C) During a recent meeting of the Government of National Unity (GNU) -- a thinly veiled attempt to bestow a national patina on what is essentially a pro-government hodgepodge collection of NARC and Ford-P, and poached KANU MPs -- President Kibaki urged MPs to attend parliamentary sessions and to participate in debates and decision-making. The GNU also appointed three new deputy whips to assist Chief Whip Norman Nyagah drum up support for government policy. (Kibaki appeared off-guard, however, when that meeting descended into a rally urging the arrest of ODM/opposition leader Raila Odinga, for his claims that the government (if not Kibaki's second wife, Mary Wambui) sponsored the mercenaries and the raid on the Standard newspaper.) In the words of one ODM Parliamentary leader, the political waters are "super-heated, beyond boiling." Noting with concern that the government's actions indicate that it is "prepared for a tough time, opposition nominated MP (KANU) Ruth Oniang'o told poloff that MPs are "bracing for tomorrow and anxious" about what to expect. -------------- Government Besieged On Many Fronts -------------- ¶6. (C) The government has reason to be worried. Raila Odinga explained to PolCons March 16 that the opposition would indeed seek a vote of no confidence -- but not just yet. He stated that too many MPs have outstanding loans owed to the government exchequer to proceed immediately with a no-confidence motion, which could jeopardize their own seats in Parliament. But by fall, explained Raila, most of the money owed by the MPs will have been repaid, and the opposition will then be in a position to table such a motion -- if only because a number of fence-sitting solons want to be able to show their electorate as they campaign in 2007 that they were "tough on corruption." (NOTE: It is also expected by that time that John Githongo will have released even more damaging information connecting the Kibaki administration -- and the President personally -- to the Anglo-Leasing corruption scandal. Raila anticipates that this will lend additional support for a vote of no confidence in the Kibaki government. END NOTE.) ¶7. (SBU) In addition to threats posed by a vocal and dynamic opposition, the government faces additional challenges from within its own ranks. The revelations of corruption within the Kibaki administration and the March 2 media raids have sown a degree of discontent within its members. Even cabinet ministers have spoken out against the government's responses to both the dismissal (or lack there of) of implicated officials. The diminished prestige of Vice President Moody Awori is also cause of some friction, where some officials continue to support him and others, notably Ford-K members, view his disgrace (in connection to the Anglo-Leasing scandal) as cause for dismissal. The vacant position would then create an opportunity for someone from Ford-K to step into the VP's shoes. The Meru component of GEMA, an erstwhile stalwart of supporter of Kibaki's administration, has put the government on notice that it will no longer blindly support government policies. ¶8. (C) And behind the intra-Kikuyu squabbling at the heart of the Administration lies Kenya's version of "Desperate Housewives." In this case, the TV and newspaper audiences consume daily installments of this tele-drama of "the wives." Those allied with the so-called "Hurlingham" faction (e.g, ex-Minister Murungaru, ex-Presidential Assistant Alfred Getonga, MP Paul Muite and supported by official wife Lucy Kibaki) were disgraced by the Anglo-Leasing and corruption scandals. But they now see an opportunity for payback against the rival "Muthaiga" faction responsible for the Standard raid and mercenaries fiascos (e.g, Security Minister Michuki, Presidential Advisor Stanley Murage, CID Chief Joseph Kamau, seen as tied to unofficial-but-powerful Wife Number Two, Mary Wambui). But will the Hurlingham bunch succeed in recovering lost ground? Will the Muthaiga crowd be taken down a notch or two? (Stay tuned, viewers!) As these two groups battle it out for the attention/approval of the somnolent President -- who has yet to say a word publicly about the Standard raid or mercenaries (except to indirectly imply that Wambui's daughter has no right to use his name) -- -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) COMMENT: The continuing revelations of official corruption and the increasingly bizarre "mercenaries" saga threaten to distract Parliament from the real business at hand. Despite the government,s attempts to bolster its support base, opponents both in and out of government are likely to disrupt the government,s agenda when it serves their purposes. This session will present the first opportunity since the government,s referendum defeat for opponents to put their thus-far verbal criticism to the test with substantive action. By all accounts, the floor of Parliament will soon become the battleground for 2007. BELLAMY