Team that ensured we got ‘white smoke’

By Jibril Adan

As Kenyans welcomed the consensus reached by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Review, details have emerged about how some members played pivotal roles in ensuring there was a deal.

When the PSC retreat commenced in Naivasha two weeks ago, there were fears the retreat could end in a stalemate over the positions favoured by ODM and those held by PNU on contentious issues like the Executive.

As it turned out, there were low moments at the retreat and at one point, PNU threatened to walk out of the talks after its MPs failed to agree with those from ODM on representation.

Details gathered by Tuesday Politics from various sources that attended the retreat reveal that some members of the committee of 26 prevailed over the rest and ensured consensus was arrived at.

The committee in general showed Kenyans that they were out to reach a compromise on all contentious issues.

Before the retreat got underway at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha, PSC vice-chairman Ababu Namwamba promised Kenyans they would see ‘white smoke’ to signal consensus.

On some days the members continued with negotiations as late as 1am and at no time did they resort to voting to break a deadlock.

Hurdles overcome

But sources that briefed Tuesday Politics say some members played a big role in ensuring the talks moved on smoothly and ensured that hurdles were overcome with ease.

The sources said ODM deputy leader William Ruto and the PSC chairman Abdikadir Mohamed played crucial roles in making the talks move forward.

Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta also played a major role by adopting non-combative approaches during debates, insiders said.

Other members whose performance contributed to the consensus reached were Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula and Mwingi South MP David Musila.

Among the achievements Ruto is credited for is brokering the deal on the Executive when he proposed a pure presidential system of government, which was supported by the majority. This ensured that one of the biggest anticipated hurdles at the retreat was surmounted with ease.

He also moved the Motion for devolution, which was a main issue for ODM and fought off PNU’s opposition to it. The minister is said to have told PNU to adopt a give-and-take approach since "they had got most of their wishes adopted".

When a section of PNU MPs threatened to walk out last Wednesday over the section on representation, Ruto prevailed upon them not to leave the talks.

Revise deals

If PNU had been let to walk out, the retreat would have come to an end without an agreement, like previous attempts.

The PNU MPs were attempting to revise deals that had been sealed earlier. By that time they had pushed for the revision on the clause in the Executive chapter that prohibits the president from picking MPs as Cabinet ministers. They amended the section to allow the Head of State to pick half of the Cabinet from Parliament if he or she wishes.

PNU then attempted to increase the regional government that had been agreed on the previous week from 18 to 33. This led to a standoff and the PSC had to completely abandon the regional governments and instead propose 47 counties under the national government. The Agriculture minister had to step in and stop the PNU march to revise more sections that had been agreed on earlier. He also led other members to block the party from pushing through its controversial proposal of "one man one vote" during the debate on representation.

An ODM MP who is a member of the PSC, but who did not want to be identified said Ruto "showed good leadership and was able to bridge the gaps between ODM and PNU".

"He was articulate and able to make hard decisions. It was not easy to tell MPs that they would not qualify to be Cabinet ministers. The Hansard Report will show the role the minister played," the MP said.

He added that the ODM side and the PSC as a whole benefited from Ruto’s contribution.

The PSC chairman has been credited for using good negotiation skills to bring the two sides closer to each other when they differed. Without his negotiation skills, the talks would not have borne fruit.

He would call "a time out" and ask the members to go into group discussions to thrash out issues, a source revealed.

Mohamed also managed to get consensus by calling for suggestions from the leaders who appeared to represent the voices of reason when a stalemate loomed.

"He asked for suggestions from Ruto, Uhuru, Wetang’ula and Musila and sometimes (Musalia) Mudavadi more than anybody else," said a source who attended the talks.

North Horr MP Chachu Ganya said about the chairman: "He was a very good negotiator and has raised the bar for future chairmen of the PSC."

He said Mohamed played a major role in making the MPs "reason and debate with clarity".

Exit strategy

The MP said all the members of the PSC contributed to the consensus by keeping in mind that they didn’t have the option of failure.

"There was no exit strategy and we knew Kenyans did not expect us to fail to agree. There were differences in positions, but we had to come out with a position acceptable to all Kenyans," he said.

Wetang’ula did not share the hard line positions of some PNU members and was helpful when there were contentious issues that appeared to widen the gaps between the two groups.

Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto said the members approached the talks as objectively as they could.

"We were not there to represent parties or other interests and we tried as much as we could to bridge the existing gaps," he said.

He, however, added that the constitutional review process was not over and that the PSC "was willing to listen to other Kenyans and help in reaching agreements until a new constitution is arrived at".

At the same time, it has emerged that PNU was not very comfortable with the pure presidential system because MPs would not be allowed to serve in Cabinet and retain their seats at the same time.

Amend section

Last Wednesday they managed to amend the section and pushed through a proposal giving the president leeway to pick half of the Cabinet from among MPs.

PSC members were upbeat on Friday as they handed back the draft to the Committee of Experts.

Namwamba told journalists that the PSC refused to be divided along tribal and party lines.

Water Minister Charity Ngilu was also upbeat saying "all these years the leadership has been too selfish but we are not going to let that blind our debate".

 

Read all about: PSC PNU ODM Constitutional Review

 

 

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