By JOE KIARIE

Deputy Prime Ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi are in a fix as they continue to hold onto influential political offices without official job descriptions.

Following their resignation as ministers, the two presidential aspirants have to manoeuvre through the awkward scenario of not just operating from private offices but also serving under a boss with whom they do not see eye to eye.

Their sour political relationship with Prime Minister Raila Odinga has presented a fresh hurdle for the PM, who might now be forced to be in Parliament in person every Wednesday during Prime Minister’s Time if he considers it compromising to delegate the role to either of his deputies turned antagonists.

Uhuru resigned as Finance minister in January after the International Criminal Court confirmed criminal charges against him while Mudavadi relinquished the Local Government docket less than a month ago after falling out with Raila in ODM.

Since his indictment at The Hague, Uhuru has not veiled his bitterness with the PM, who he accuses of engineering his trial.

On his part, Mudavadi has in the past week engaged Raila, a hitherto trusted political ally, in a bare-knuckled dress down.

The two DPMs have nonetheless refused to resign on grounds the office is constitutional, opting to instead serve as ministers without portfolios. Operating without the comfort of a Government office befitting their titles is one of the challenges they have to endure.

After exiting Jogoo House, Mudavadi is now operating from his private office in Nairobi’s Riverside area. Uhuru, who was previously a tenant at the Treasury building, is also believed to be operating from a private office.
Although it is not clear where he operates from, the Gatundu South MP has various offices including one at the Chancery building along Valley Road and another at Red Cross House near Parliament Buildings.

Official offices
Speaking during Uhuru’s handover ceremony, Assistant Finance Minister Oburu Odinga said it is the Government’s business to assign Uhuru an office. The Bondo MP implied the DPM could be housed at the Office of the Prime Minister or at the Treasury.

However, this is yet to happen despite the Treasury still being guardedly referred to as Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance. “The DPMs do not have any office space allocated to them in the PM’s office and even if they did, it would be upon them to decide  to operate from there,” said an aide privy to affairs in Mudavadi’s camp.

But the awkward situation is that of not having official job descriptions. While Uhuru and Mudavadi used to hop from one official public meeting to another all day while serving as ministers, this is no longer the case. Indeed, they have hardly presided over any official public functions since relinquishing their ministerial portfolios.

This has brought the duo’s roles as the PM’s deputies under the spotlight. The two are supposed to have full diaries as they help the PM supervise and coordinate a staggering 40 ministries.

But that is not the case; with the National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008 being the only reference describing the specific duties of a DPM. According to the Act, the Prime Minister may assign any of the coordination responsibilities of his office to his deputies.

Before Mudavadi’s resignation, Raila is perceived to have deemed him as an able deputy, with the then trusted ODM deputy party leader serving competently whenever called upon.

Most notably, he took to the floor of the House to represent Raila during the PM’s Time on numerous occasions. But the PM seems not to have struck a cordial working relationship with Uhuru, who has barely represented him in Parliament since appointment in 2008.

Mudavadi’s fall-out with the PM seems to have presented the latter with a fresh hurdle of personally availing himself in Parliament.
Martin Oloo, a constitutional lawyer, says while the deputy Prime Ministers can still receive briefings from the PM, their current relationship makes this almost impossible.

“Mudavadi has for instance been a very competent deputy and assisted the PM so often. But Raila must now do it all by himself. During the PM’s time in Parliament, he can legally delegate the role to any other minister when unavailable through writing to the Speaker. But politically, that is unworkable since antagonistic MPs might question the overlooking of the two DPMs,” he says.

National Accord
Despite the current scenario, the two DPMs have vowed not to quit their offices. And their stand may be legally justifiable, at least if the National Accord is anything to go by.

According to the Act, the Office of Deputy Prime Minister can only become vacant if the holder of the office dies, resigns or ceases to be an MP otherwise than by reason of the dissolution of Parliament; if a Motion of no confidence is passed against the holder or if the coalition is dissolved.

But Oloo says their stay in office is somewhat illegal. “Uhuru quit his ministerial seat on the basis of the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity.

The DPM’s office also qualifies him as a State officer and he is violating the spirit of the Constitution by holding onto it,” he says.
The lawyer says Mudavadi is also not off the hook as he is now openly associating with a party that did not sponsor him to Parliament. “On this basis, he should ideally quit his Sabatia ODM seat and this would dethrone him as the DPM. He is just being half-honest,” affirms Oloo.