As President Kibaki, PM Raila draw daggers

Over the weekend, Mr Odinga suspended two ministers accused of embezzlement only for President Mwai Kibaki to reverse his decision.

Mr Odinga told the press that Mr Kibaki did not have the power to overrule him. The actions of the two have left many Kenyans wondering who is in charge of the country.

There are pronounced fears that the wrangling will end any hope of winning the fight against corruption.

Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga contested a bitter presidential election which ended in a stalemate resulting in a unity government to end violence that swept the nation after the 2007 election.

But now, both men have accused each other of overstepping their constitutional ambit.

"The legal provisions on which the prime minister acted, do not confer him the authority to cause a minister to vacate his or her office," the president's office said in a statement which quashed the prime ministers decision.

But Mr Odinga took Asked by reporters whether he had consulted the President, Mr Odinga answered: "Yes, requisite consultations have been made within the government. This is a government decision and I have also quoted the section in the Constitution and the National Accord which give me power to take the action I have made."

Mr Kibaki, in his statement said he had not been consulted and, also quoting the National Accord and the Constitution, said ministers can only be removed by the President after consultations.

cover in legal interpretention of his action saying that he had not sacked the ministers, he had merely suspended them, which he was authorized to do as the "supervisor of the cabinet."

Section 4 (1) of the National Accord, quoted by Mr Odinga, says the Prime Minister shall have authority to co-ordinate and supervise the execution of the functions and affairs of the government of Kenya including those of ministries.

It also says that the PM "may assign any of the coordination responsibilities of his office to the deputy Prime Minister" and that he is to "perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the President or under any written law".

Section 15A of the Constitution on the other hand establishes the coalition government and creates the office of the prime minister, his deputies and ministers. The two sections, however, do not categorically give the PM powers to suspend ministers, leaving the issue to different interpretations.

"I think that what I've done actually has been within my constitutional powers, and that the president does not have the powers to countermand what I have done," Raila told the BCC news Service Focus on Africa.

The two ministers at the centre of the quarrel are Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Education Minister Samuel Ongeri. Raila has been engaged in a long running political fight with William Ruto on whose shoulders he road to prominence. Ruto had of late threatened to challenge Raila's leadership within ODM. The two suspended ministers turned up for work on Monday and say only the president has the power to discipline them.

A recent audit into a maize scandal revealed that $26m (£16.5m) had gone missing.

And more than $1m was stolen in an education scam.

Mr Odinga said there was enough evidence implicating the two ministers for an investigation, so they should be suspended. But Raila Odinga is named in the maize scandal.

The United States and Britain have both banned a number of Kenyans from travelling to their countries because of graft. Last month, the U.S. ambassador warned that Kenya risked another eruption of violence even before its next presidential poll in 2012 if reforms were not put in place soon.

Donors and Kenyans have long called for leaders in the unity government to take a tougher line with influential individuals blamed for a raft of major graft cases that have tainted several important sectors of east Africa's biggest economy.

Late on Saturday, Kibaki's office said he had suspended eight officials, also for three months, after they were "mentioned adversely" in reports on the work of the subsidized maize scheme and Kenya's free primary education program.

"President Kibaki once again reaffirmed the government's commitment to fighting corruption and assured of speedy and conclusive investigations on use of public resources," Kibaki's office said in a statement.

Donors will welcome the action against senior figures, who include officials from the National Cereals and Produce Board and the permanent secretaries in the ministries of agriculture, education, special programs and prime minister's office.

On Sunday, the PM directed Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, the Criminal Investigation Department and the Inspectorate of State Corporations to jointly investigate the scandals. "The team should review the above two reports, as well as the reports on the maize scandal by the KACC, the Inspectorate of State Corporations and the CID with a view to recommending those cases which should be prosecuted," he added.

Asked why the Special Programs Minister, Dr Naomi Shaban, in whose ministry the Strategic Grain Reserve, one of the sources of the maize scandal fell, had not been suspended, Mr Odinga said the minister's name was not mentioned in the reports.

"Her name (Dr Naomi Shaban) is not specifically mentioned in the reports I quoted. It talks about the ministry (Special Programs) but does not mention her, however it mentions others who have already stepped aside," said Mr Odinga adding that the two ministers (Mr Ruto and Prof Ongeri) had been mentioned in the reports.

Mr Ruto was mentioned in the PWC report, also referred to as project green, for having used his personal assistant to write a letter to the National Cereals and Produce Board for an individual to be allocated 1,000 bags.

Eyes on 2012 elections

For now there is confusion and the future of the coalition government is being tested.

One of the ministers he is trying to suspend, William Ruto, is a former ally and now staunch foe of the prime minister.

The issue is also controversial because it comes at a time when Kenyan politicians are busy positioning themselves ahead of elections in 2012.

Most Kenyans will view this whole issue as another round of bickering between politicians getting in the way of the fight against corruption.

Political observers saw the move by Raila to position himself as the anti corruption crusader as the 2012 elections draw near. Some have also alleged that the target of the action by Raila was not corruption but, William Ruto, whom he sees as a stumbling block in the vote rich Lift Valley region. "We need everu hand on the deck in this coalition government, this is no time to play politics Raila should have spoken with the president first," said a Nairobi lawyer, who claimed that Kenya might be in trouble if leaders continue to think about 2012 instead of executing their responsibilities.