State House wars over Kibaki diary

By Ben Agina and Mwaniki Munuhe

NAIROBI, KENYA: A power struggle over President Kibaki’s diary has been identified as the reason the Head of State has been cancelling or skipping key events at the last minute.

Personal and political differences between a senior officer at the Office of the President and another at State House are being blamed for creating confusion around Kibaki’s activities.

The Standard On Saturday has established that the President’s schedule is often altered at the eleventh hour, sometimes leaving key staff members in the dark. The chaos, some sources say, is part of a larger battle over the running of Government.

The conflict pits the President’s Private Secretary Nick Wanjohi against Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia, who doubles up as the President’s Permanent Secretary.

Some sources say it is fuelled by accusations Wanjohi is exceeding his authority and differences between the two over their political affiliations. They say a ‘cold war’ started after Kimemia declined to support a political initiative kicked off by Wanjohi.

The result is a failure to follow protocol when State House is reaching out to the civil service and poor co-ordination of the President’s diary with officers at the OP. Both Kimemia and Wanjohi work out of the OP offices at Harambee House.

“The Head of Public Service believes Prof Wanjohi is overstepping his mandate,” says a highly placed officer familiar with the matter. “You cannot call permanent secretaries and other senior Government officers to meetings or order them around without informing Kimemia (to whom they report).” Recent items struck off the President’s diary have included a meeting with the mediator in the 2007/2008 post-election violence Kofi Annan, and the launch of the State of the Judiciary Report by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

In June, Kibaki skipped the World Accreditation Day celebrations, sending Deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi in his place. After first appearing to blame the Foreign Ministry for not firming up the Kofi Annan appointment, State House said the cancellation was due to pressing engagements with Cabinet. No public explanation has been offered for snubbing the Judiciary.

Key officials in the Judiciary feel the Head of State should have attended the launch of the report because this was the first such event following the promulgation of the new Constitution.

The OP had confirmed President Kibaki would attend. Consequently, the Judiciary sent out invites to various stakeholders disclosing this. State House also sent a team to help with the event, especially to plan security and catering.

“Officers from State House worked closely with us during preparation for the event,” says a source in the Judiciary, who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.  “The security team, especially, was here throughout.”

Despite planning the event with Kimemia and Prof Wanjohi, matters fell through on October 17, a day to the event. Wanjohi wrote to the Head of Public Service informing him that the President would not attend. The letter did not give a clear explanation for the sudden development. Curiously, the letter was written to Kimemia and copied to the Judiciary, while the host – the Judiciary – had been communicating with Wanjohi directly. Immediately after receiving the letter, senior judicial officers repeatedly tried to call Wanjohi, but his cell phone went unanswered.

“Prof Wanjohi would not pick our calls,” said a senior judicial officer.

 “The confusion was rife because Office of the President kept telling us the President would attend and there was a letter (from Wanjohi) giving a different position, yet we had officers from State House working with us in arranging for the event.”

On October 18, the day of the event, officers from both State House and the OP were at the venue early in the morning, as were the presidential security team.

It later turned out that Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka would represent the Head of State in the function, which was also attended by National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende. A highly placed Government officer says the Head of Public Service is uncomfortable with Wanjohi’s way of doing business.

“(Kimemia) is unhappy because he believes Wanjohi is overstepping his mandate. You cannot call PSs and other senior officers to meetings or order them around without informing the Head of Public Service,” said the officer.

Multiple sources say the cold war has its origins in a political initiative now disowned by its author. Despite his denials, Wanjohi is believed to have played a role in the formation of the United Democratic Forum (UDF) as a potential vehicle for Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta.

When Kenyatta snubbed it in favour of creating his own party, it became home to Deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi’s ambition. Wanjohi is believed to resent Kimemia’s refusal to help push UDF. “The two support different candidates for the presidency,” said another source. “There is surely some discomfort.”

Sources say some PSs are uncomfortable with what they see as attempts by the Head of Public Service to micro-manage their ministries. His intervention in the National Hospital Insurance Fund saga led to an ugly public spat with the Medical Services Ministry. The President’s Private Secretary, on the other hand, was recently at odds with the Chief Executive of the Numerical Machining Complex whose board he chairs.