How Parliament’s bid to oust Vice President George Saitoti flopped

By WAWERU MUGO

NAIROBI, KENYA: On July 30, 1999, Kenya’s Parliament was treated to a comedy of sorts as MPs fervently tried to kick out of office Vice-President, Prof George Saitoti through a Vote of No Confidence Motion. Five years earlier, Parliament had succeeded when his predecessor Dr Josephat Karanja quit to avoid a similar Motion.  

Now, the House sought a similar vote against the Leader of Government Business, also VP and Minister for Planning and National Development. Making his case, Mbita MP Otieno Kajwang tried hard to convince Parliament that it was under the celebrated Mathematics professor’s watch from 1993 - as Finance minister - that the economy crumbled, inflation soared, money overflowed, condemning Kenya to poverty, hunger and huge eternal debts.

In his defence, Saitoti reminded colleagues that on moving to Treasury, his first role was to fix an economy in tatters. He traced economic growth decline in the 1990s to political and global crises.

He read politics of division and hypocrisy in the Motion, urging MPs to help fix the economy and unite Kenyans. “We are not elected in this Parliament so that we can keep pointing fingers at one another, and to tell others that they must go,” he said.

He termed the reasons cited as illegitimate, wondering why prior to his re-appointment as VP, no such Motion had emerged. Dared to state his tribe, he shot back at Kisumu Town East MP Gor Sungu, “I am a man of great intellect, and I will never bow down to that kind of mediocrity.”

He opposed the motion asserting, “We have problems of poverty to address… We have a challenge to create employment opportunities for our youth. This is not the way we will tackle poverty. This is not the way we will create jobs…”

The House even turned Biblical. Professor Anyang Nyong’o who was a seconder of the Motion accused his former university lecturer/peer of acting like Jonah who when tasked to take a message to Nineveh declined, changed course, boarding another boat, which was rocked in the sea and offloaded him into the rough waters. Saitoti had similarly failed to deliver to the public; the only solution, he opined, was getting chucked out of the boat (Government).

Reference to Saitoti as “my friend” earned him no buddies. He invoked the wrath of Juja MP Stephen Ndicho who compared him to Judas (Iscariot) who delivered Jesus to his crucifixion.

“Is it in order for Hon Nyong’o to continue referring to Prof Saitoti as “his friend”, when we know that Judas referred to Jesus as his friend and betrayed him?” Ndicho wondered.

Nyong’o reminded MPs of President Moi’s roadside snide remark that “the appointment of the VP is not going to add another ugali on our tables”. It proved Saitoti, whose reappointment in April 1999 came after 14-month hiatus, was not valued by Moi; and the manner it was done was a “spite to the nation”.

Limuru MP George Nyanja replied, “It is not important where the VP is appointed because Jesus Christ was born in a manger.”

UGLY DEBATE

The high stakes debate turned ugly, noisy with loud consultations and foul name calling. Members easily bandied around insults like stupid, thief, heckler, failure and childish. Several pleaded with Speaker Francis Ole Kaparo for protection from hostile colleagues.

Regrettably, Kaparo’s warning: “No member is allowed to make any innuendo, insinuation or any disrespectful language to the chair” fell on deaf ears. He stopped just short of expelling many from the chamber.

Interestingly, the motion had nearly hit a brick wall. Kajwang was absent when called upon to move it. Only when he walked in minutes later did the Speaker reinstate it.

In his submission, Kajwang’ alluded to Saitoti, who is “one of our most brilliant professors” overseeing well-planned mega corruption and misappropriation of state resources that saw domestic budget shoot by 362 per cent between 1992 and 1993. The misdeeds, he asserted had “seen this country go down the drain and into the sewer”. The systematic near collapse of institutions such as the Kenya Commercial Bank, National Bank of Kenya, the National Social Security Fund and the receivership of Kenya Post Credit Ltd, he claimed, rested on the VP. So was the unauthorised removal of money from Central Bank that ruined the economy through phenomenal rise of interest rates and interest on Treasury Bills, he asserted.  

He alleged, “…that is why we cannot have money to build roads; there are no drugs in our hospitals, and our people are dying because there is no food. This country has been killed by the act of one man!”

Earlier, while setting ground rules, Kaparo warned MPs to, keep off matters in court (like the Goldernberg scandal), be factual and maintain civility by keeping off  “abusive and insolent language”.

But Kajwang’ in explaining how money was siphoned to pay for services never rendered offered: “A lot of money was paid to Mr (Kamlesh) Pattni (Goldenberg architect) … without export of anything!”

Troops allied to Saitoti fought hard for him. They rudely interrupted Kajwang, reading mischief, citing moral and integrity concerns and alluding to his many court cases. However, he insisted his Motion was neither about the person of Prof Saitoti nor about the VP’s morality.

As debate heated up, David Murathe (Gatanga) informed the speaker that Kajwang had referred to critics as “stupid”. And Nyanja reported someone had said “Kajwang, is a thief”.

Lagdera MP Mohamed Shidiye would add, “Hon Kajwang has no moral authority to discuss any Hon member in this House, leave alone the VP…  This motion should be amended so that Hon members can discuss Hon Kajwang, because he is a thief. He has stolen money entrusted to him by his clients.”

OPPOSERS

Ministers William ole Ntimama, Julius Ole Sunkuli and Moses Mudavadi defended their own and opposed the motion. Ntimama said the President had confidence in the VP because of his being “ultra-loyal and non-tribal”. He termed the motion “malignant, defective, faulty and irrelevant” claiming Kajwang had previously intended to “blackmail and intimidate Saitoti”.

Sunkuli said the President in re-appointing Saitoti VP saw in him “excellent qualities of integrity, professionalism, dedication and patriotism”.

Ndicho termed the Motion an assault to the VP. The Speaker noted that it was for members to show the contrary “if, in the course of his (Kajwang) presentation, he paints himself as an angel and the VP as the devil incarnate”.

Sunkuli asked Kajwang to declare his interest in the debate. He claimed Kajwang’ had not gone to Parliament “with clean hands”.

When then powerful Cabinet Minister Nicholas Biwott rose, a voice in jest inquired of the whereabouts of Dr Robert Ouko. (Following the gruesome murder of the minister in February 1990, police questioned Biwott).

Biwott retorted in kind with a “you know where he is.” He claimed Kajwang’ was indeed “not after Prof Saitoti but the Government”. Later, West Mugirango’s Henry Obwocha shouted “corruption,” prompting Biwott to defend self thus: “You are the most corrupt of the corrupt. I am as clean as a white sheet.”

CHILDISH MIND

Biwott was forced to withdraw a claim that Rangwe MP Dr Shem Ochuodho “has a childish mind”.  The latter had incensed him by alluding to “Biwott, who was a very good friend to Dr Ouko”.

When Ochuodho interrupted Saitoti, the VP noted that the MP was his former (university) student and hoped that “he understands the basics of what I taught him (manners perhaps?).” He would say, “The only thing he might have taught himself is a formula on an equation along tribal factors, and I hope he will get rid of it.”

Kajwang’ invited trouble by alluding to poverty, hunger and malnourishment of Kenyans linking it to Saitoti’s mismanagement of the economy.

A cantankerous Mwenje who had severally cut short the mover with points of order shot back, “Other people are going hungry and are malnourished because of Mr Kajwang’. He stole Sh1.9 million from one person...” He claimed Kajwang’ was a conman who had stolen from 26 clients and therefore had no moral authority to question Saitoti’s integrity.

Ochilo Ayacko (Rongo) accused the Speaker of trying to guide debate and leaving Kajwang’ at the mercy of hecklers. Kaparo retorted in kind, “Before you throw stones at the chair, get a bunker. I think you are the one who is partisan and not me.”

Similar fate befell Ochuodho- he too claimed Kaparo was biased - when he asserted that some MPs had tried to disparage Kajwang’ by imputing bad ideas on him. The Speaker replied, “In all fairness, there is the adage that if you want to throw stones, make sure you are not living in a glass house.”

Kaparo warned Nyanja and Raphael Wanjala (Bundalangi) who appeared unruly, “The two of you are treating this House like a kindergarten.”

Assistant Minister David Sankori termed Kajwang’ a failure in life. The latter countered he was more successful, provoking Sankori to say, “I wish he knew how wealthy I am.” When he gave a litany of Saitoti’s successes, Kaparo reprimanded him against giving an “obituary”.

Sankori accused the Opposition and not Saitoti as alleged of scaring away investors with their dirty politics. Kajwang’, he said “is a thief with no parallel”. Ordered to withdraw the remark, he sought to replace it with “cheater” before settling for “liar”.

The “gracious lady”- as the Speaker referred to Beth Mugo (Dagoretti) and the Leader of Official Opposition Mwai Kibaki wished that the motion sought removal of the entire government. Mugo opposed and labelled it “personalised, selective and vindictive to one person.”

Kibaki said the Opposition would abstain from voting on the matter. He blamed the Cabinet for involvement in printing of currency and misuse of money. He said, “The money is still being swindled and embezzled by ministries, permanent secretaries and other Government officials…therefore, we will insist that the whole Government must be condemned, not one individual!

When the question was put to vote, MPs opposed to the motion carried the day. Saitoti was off the hook and lived to fight another day.