Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki says he was not consulted about the suspension of two ministers over suspected corruption and called the move unconstitutional, a statement from his office said yesterday.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga suspended Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Education Minister Samuel Ongeri on Sunday for three months and “with immediate effect” so that they could be investigated for corruption, a statement from Odinga’s office said.
Odinga said two recent investigations — one into a subsidized maize scam and the other into the disappearance of funds at the education ministry — had “laid credible foundations for the two ministers to be investigated.”
However, Kibaki has challenged that decision, saying that “the legal provisions on which the prime minister acted, do not confer him the authority to cause a minister to vacate his or her office,” the statement from Kibaki’s office said.
The Constitution says “the office of a minister can only become vacant if the [resident so directs,” the Kibaki statement continued, concluding: “Therefore constitutionally, the two ministers remain in office.”
Odinga’s suspension of the two ministers followed the announcement on Saturday night by Kibaki that he was suspending eight top government officials who were “mentioned adversely” in reports on the two scandals. Those suspensions were also for three months.
“This position should not be interpreted in any way as undermining the ongoing war against corruption. The war against corruption will be successfully fought when we do so in accordance with the Constitution and the due process of law,” the Kibaki statement said.
Many Kenyans said the moves had highlighted rifts between the president and Odinga, the opposition leader who became prime minister after talks to end post-election violence at the start of 2008 that killed at least 1,300 people.
Meanwhile, Ruto said he was going nowhere.
“I have read very carefully my letter of appointment ... and the appointing authority is very clear,” Ruto told KTN Television.
“I have not received any communication from the appointing authority as minister of agriculture and therefore I will continue to discharge my responsibilities,” he said.
Tensions have risen since Kibaki allies were implicated in the education scandal, then senior Odinga allies were implicated in the bigger maize procurement case.
The issue of how to deal with high-level corruption has soured coalition relations.
Among the officials suspended by Kibaki were Mohammed Isahakia, permanent secretary in Odinga’s office, and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Karol Omondi.
The US and Britain have both banned a number of Kenyans from traveling to their countries because of graft.
In an editorial, Kenya’s Sunday Nation newspaper said the developments posed a grave danger to the fate of much-needed reforms, and were particularly regrettable because Kibaki and Odinga had been working well together at the start of the year.
“Kenyan politicians seem never to miss an opportunity to shoot themselves in the foot,” the newspaper said.
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