When Marende’s tack filled a power vacuum

By Alex Ndegwa

When House Speaker Kenneth Marende announced last Tuesday his ruling on the row over leadership of Government Business in Parliament had gone missing, MPs thought it was a bad joke.

But the bespectacled resolute Speaker was serious. That the crucial ruling had disappeared without trace at the eleventh hour captured the intrigues that had paralysed Parliament since the dispute over leadership of the House Business Committee (HBC) between PNU and ODM.

Marende adjourned the House for 15 minutes when it became apparent the document would take longer to trace. And when it was finally delivered to him, he gave another ominous warning.

Cloud of silence

There was only one genuine ruling bearing his signature and if any other was in circulation it was bogus. This heightened the tension, which was palpable in the House as the nail-biting wait for the all-important decision to resolve the standoff between the coalition partners climaxed dramatically. And as the Speaker embarked on the 62-minute ruling, the deafening silence was interrupted intermittently by applause every time either group picked up a statement that tilted the scales on their side. In the end, Marende’s ruling caught the feuding parties off guard: he directed the House proceeds to establish the HBC and he would assume chairmanship of the committee that defines parliamentary agenda.

President’s appointee

Meantime, he ruled the position of Leader of Government Business in the House remains vacant until President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agree on the holder. ODM and PNU had each hoped he would back their positions, the former seeking Raila’s installation while the latter believed Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s appointment would be upheld.

The Speaker had executed a delicate balancing act, which unlocked one-week deadlock that had paralysed Parliament’s business and threatened the Government’s stability. In resolving the impasse, Marende was apparently guided by four objectives. To uplift the hopes of a nation, restart stalled House business, safeguard the Chair’s impartiality and respect the doctrine of separation of powers. Evidently, the wrangles between the coalition partners — ODM and PNU — had raised tension across the country. The Speaker had to restore hope. The standoff in Parliament had to be resolved. But Marende was alive to the consequences of backing either of the camps. If he had upheld Kalonzo’s appointment, ODM would have branded him a sell out. On the other hand, if he had sided with Raila, PNU would have termed him partisan. Marende had to placate both parties to protect the respect and admiration he commanded in the House.

Executive mandate

Lastly, the Speaker acknowledged it was the Executive’s mandate to appoint a Leader of Government Business in the House. He did not want to upset the apple cart by seeming to overstep his constitutional mandate hence he threw the controversy over who should lead the powerful committee back to the President and PM.

Instructively, Kibaki had last Saturday asked that constitutional offices be respected as he reiterated his decision to appoint Kalonzo. Pointedly, Marende in his communication from the chair said he respected the offices of President and Prime Minister.

Even though the Speaker chose to straddle the middle ground, it was not lost on observers that he asserted the National Accord, which ended the post-election violence early last year, and attacked the powers of the President to make public appointments unilaterally. Predictably, PNU came out guns blazing in its initial reaction to the ruling contrary to ODM that supported it. The VP sensationally termed the ruling "an assault on the powers of the presidency" and declared the party would challenge the decision in the constitutional court.

Metropolitan Minister Mutula Kilonzo, who led PNU’s charge in defense of Kalonzo in Parliament, said the Speaker had set a bad precedent by creating "two centres of power in broad daylight".

Raila, who was not in Parliament at the time of the ruling, said the matter should not even have come to Parliament had there been consultations. The PM said the Permanent Committee on the Management of the Grand Coalition would handle the matter.

With emotions having cooled down, PNU has since withdrawn its court action in the interest of harmony. More voices critical of the ruling have since emerged, lately women groups and their sensational sex boycott. Critics say Marende offered a temporary solution rather than take a hard choice. They argue he chose appeasement over scorched-earth-policy.

Political expedience

Lawyer PLO Lumumba told a local TV show that political expediency has began to drive the nation. "The Speaker merely administered Chroloquin to cure cancer," he said. But his colleague Kamotho Waiganjo differed saying the ship was sinking and it didn’t matter to Kenyans what was done to save it. Those who toasted the ruling as pragmatic are driven by the political principle that power hates a vacuum.