NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 7 – President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Wednesday held ‘routine’ closed door talks, amid tension within the coalition government.
The meeting at President Kibaki’s Harambee House office reportedly discussed proposed Ambassadorial, Civil Service and Cabinet appointments.
The PM had to skip an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) parliamentary group meeting to attend the consultations.
Sources described the talks as routine.
ODM and its coalition partner PNU have been on a collision path lately on matters surrounding the contentious media bill.
But ahead of the meeting, the President ordered for the review of the new law.
Their meeting came a day ahead of a date the Premier had said the matter would be discussed in an expected Cabinet meeting.
“The meeting is routine but obviously comes at a time when there is tension over the recently passed law and the conflict existing with the Head of the Civil Service,” a source at the PM’s office said.
The consultations also came on a day when ODM issued a demand that the office of Head of Civil Service be scrapped and that of the Government Spokesman be moved to the Premier’s office.
ODM accused the Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura of disregarding the PM’s directives.
Their latest confrontation surrounds the retaining by Mr Muthaura of 38 Electoral Commission of Kenya officials, despite the panel’s disbandment. Mr Odinga declared the move as illegal.
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