Party loyalty link in Cabinet changes

By Stephen Makabila

Three ministers and three assistant ministers have been sacked over the last four years for what could be linked to ‘dissenting voices’ within their political parties.

While former ministers William Ruto, Hellen Sambili and assistant ministers Aden Duale, Mohamud Mohamed and Jackson Kiptanui were dismissed last year for defying ODM leadership, Monday dismissal of Mvita MP Najib Balala as Tourism minister raises the question of how best parties should handle dissent.

For Balala, who was a minister allied to ODM, declared his party is dictatorial, adding a rider that he was out scouting for his next political nest.

"You can say you are seeking an alternative party without necessarily hitting at your party leader. If you hit, then you may be shown the door and that is what happened to Balala," says political analyst and Kenya School of Law lecturer Martin Oloo.

Mature politics

He says there is need for politicians to exercise politics based on issues and commitment.

While announcing he was to quit ODM, Balala had urged party deputy leader Musalia Mudavadi, who is challenging party leader Raila Odinga for the presidential nomination, not to waste more time there.

"I urge my friend Mudavadi to stop wasting time in ODM. If he does not have a plan B, I am ready to show him one," Balala said.

Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale claims Raila sacked Balala to instill fear in Mudavadi, who is challenging him for the ODM presidential ticket.

"The Balala sacking was to simply warn Mudavadi that he can also be dismissed if he does not remain loyal," added Khalwale.

Oloo says if the country’s politics graduates to being ideological and issue oriented, the question of loyalty would not arise.

Those not playing ball include Water Minister Charity Ngilu, who is in Cabinet by virtue of her Narc party co-operating with ODM, but who has since declared she will work with Internal Security Minister George Saitoti’s PNU.

Ngilu, who is yet to reveal the position she will contest in the next poll, says she is not ready to abandon Narc, but will enter a political alliance with another party.

"Ngilu cannot be pinned down on being disloyal because first, she has her own party independent of ODM. She has also been sending mixed signals, at times indicating she would work with ODM and at times PNU," says Oloo.

Information Minister Samuel Poghisio, who is an ODM-Kenya MP, has of late been associated with Ruto’s United Republican Front, and rarely shows up at ODM-Kenya (now Wiper) activities.

When URP was launched on January 15 at the Bomas of Kenya, among those who attended was Poghisio, Environment Minister, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, and MPs Cyrus Jirongo, Kambi Kazungu, and Aden Duale.

Mwakwere is another minister not playing ball by mostly attending URP events yet he belongs to PNU. His transfer from the Ministry of Trade to that of Environment is seen as a demotion.

The same argument could be said of the man who replaced him at Trade, Moses Wetangula, whose transfer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs surprised, a day after he returned from Mali where he had been stranded. There are those who say Wetangula had lately been warming up to ODM.

The question of ministers dissenting gained popularity when coalitions took over the political scene from 2002.

"Under the Kanu regime, ministers were supposed to be loyal. Dissenting voices were sacked on the spot. The situation is different under coalitions because of the delicate power balancing act," says political scientist Frank Matanga.

In 2005 after the divisive constitutional referendum between the Orange and Banana, ministers who supported the Orange were left out of the reconstituted Government of National Unity after Kibaki had dissolved the Cabinet following a crushing defeat in the hands of the ‘No’ brigade led by Raila.

Lost out

Those who lost ministerial slots included Raila, Anyang’ Nyong’o, Ochilo Ayacko, Kalonzo Musyoka, Balala, William Ntimama, and Linah Kilimo.

Apart from Balala who was dropped on Monday, Kilimo who is an assistant minister and Ayacko who is out of Parliament, the rest found their way to the coalition Cabinet after the 2007 General Election.

And when Ruto and his allies were dismissed last year, he said he had no regrets. A defiant Duale on his part said he had expected the sack.

"My loyalty is to the people of Dujis and Northern Kenya whom I am ready to serve even from the backbench," Duale had said.

The two felt they had earned their Cabinet positions because they delivered the vote to Raila and ODM in 2007. It’s the same feeling Balala could have, given after he stepped down for Raila at the 2007 ODM presidential nominations at Kasarani.

Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo says there is nothing much with Cabinet reshuffles. Politicians perceived to be loyal are always rewarded.

"Merit and performance counts very little when it comes to appointments. It all depends on who is more compliant," added Kiema.

Commenting on Poghisio’s association with URP, Kiema says the Kacheliba MP has done nothing wrong because those he associates with also associate with his party leader Kalonzo Musyoka in G7.