Public Service Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria, has issued demands over the Bomas talks report adopted by Parliament following a political truce between President William Ruto and opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya alliance leader Raila Odinga.
The minister has expressed his reservations with the of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report made by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, calling for the recall of the document.
Mr Kuria, who on Friday rescheduled his planned press conference, has given three “irreducible minimum” requirements to Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga, to rally public support, especially in Mt Kenya.
He wants the two leaders, who have affirmed their backing for the report, to recommend specific way to address the issue of the elusive two thirds gender rule, guarantee minimum returns and the one man one-shilling formula in the distribution of resources.
“I had called for the press conference to give my views on the report. Although I am a CS, this does not bar me from sharing views,” Mr Kuria said, adding that he rescheduled the presser after it attracted mixed reactions from Kenyans.
“I ask the leaders to take back this report and tackle the three issues,” added Mr Kuria. On Thursday before the press invitation, Mr Kuria had posted on his X account: “No amount of internal sabotage will deter me.”
The post created a buzz on social media, with speculation on whether he was going to drop a “bombshell” in the Kenya Kwanza cycles.
Mr Kuria has in the past sent mixed political signals, publicly attacking friend and foe.
Githunguri MP, Gathoni Wamuchomba, has thrown her weight behind Mr Kuria’s conditions, saying her voice was ignored. The MP said that is why she never supported the document on the floor of the House.
“That has been my voice since the beginning. I did not vote to pass the report, particularly because of the matter of the one-man, one-shilling, onevote. If the report is used to champion national cohesion or dialogue for peace, this issue needs to be addressed,” she said.
“This is a national issue, especially for people in the Mountain. I wrote to the committee through the parliamentary secretariat but was ignored.
I attempted to talk to Mr Ichung’wah and Mr Musyoka and was still ignored.” According to the Githunguri lawmaker, the report is oppressive, especially to the people of Mt Kenya.
Guaranteed minimum returns and the one-man, one-shilling, one-vote remains emotive in the region. It caused president Uhuru Kenyatta his Mt Kenya support base in his second term.
Contacted, Mr Ichung’wah downplayed Mr Kuria’s concerns. “The Cabinet Secretary is no longer in Parliament. The report has been adopted and the proposed bills drafted. There is no way of revising the same. The boat has sailed,” Ichung’wah said yesterday.
“The committee had more than 90 days to listen to submissions from Kenyans and the minister was at liberty to present his views. He should take time and read the report.”
According to the Kikuyu MP, the Public Service Cabinet Secretary’s concerns have been taken care of in the document and the proposed legislations.
On the gender bill, he said the government would cooperate on the multi-sectorial working group report championed by Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa, which has already been shared to the President and the Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate.
“We cannot be supervised by Mr Kuria. We do not act on the instructions of the Executive,” Mr Ichung’wah said. The NADCO report proposes to include 55 more seats for women in Parliament to bridge the gender gap.
In the 12th parliament, senators had a run in with the government on the emotive issue of the one-man, one-shilling during the passage of the Third Basis for revenue sharing among counties.
While admitting that the issues raised by Mr Kuria are progressive National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo, said they have come “a little too late”. “The train has left the station. The issues left out can be secure though another bipartisan process,” the Ugunja MP said.
Gatundu South MP, Gabriel Kagombe, said Parliament has debated and adopted the report, “and Mr Kuria is therefore barred”.
While admitting that the issues raised by the CS are important, “and since I opposed the Building Bridges Initiative sponsored by Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta, which also proposed the same, parliament has the mandate to address them”.
“I opposed BBI purely because it did not originate from Parliament but it captured the salient issues. We now have the NADCO report, which was instituted as a pacifier to end the chaos by the opposition against government.
Parliament will do justice to the report,” Mr Kagombe said. “If Kuria still wants to share views, he can petition Parliament though an Executive appeal. We have sponsored Bills to give a lifeline to the report and addresses the concerns affecting Kenyans.”
Mr Kagombe said the proposals are good, stressing that gender parity attempts have failed 10 times because of lack of political goodwill from the Executive and other leaders.
“President Ruto agreed and committed to support the realisation of the gender principle. The CS proposals do not hold at this point,” the Gatundu South MP added.
