NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 4 – The Party of National of Unity (PNU) on Wednesday stated it would not renegotiate the National Accord, a day after their coalition partners the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) accused them of not honouring the power sharing agreement.
Party Official George Nyamweya said that the coalition government had bigger issues to deal with and ODM should stop bickering about sharing government positions.
“ODM have embarked on pursuit of raw power, where their only quest is getting positions for themselves. They want to politicise the security forces and the civil service, fully knowing that is the route to destruction of the organised Kenyan State,” Mr Nyamweya said after a PNU National Executive Council meeting.
The agreement signed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in February 2008 called for a 50-50 real power sharing of slots in the government.
Since the signing of the agreement, both partners have traded accusations with ODM claiming President Kibaki was trying to sideline and undermine the authority of the PM.
High-ranking ODM officials have publicly complained about several decisions announced by the President and his allies in government, saying they were made unilaterally and have had the perceived effect of diminishing the role of Mr Odinga.
Mr Nyamweya advised ODM to take any issues they have to a committee that had been set up earlier in the year to resolve such disputes.
He also took issue with a summons by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan for President Mwai Kibaki to go to Geneva, Switzerland to discuss matters pertaining to the joint government.
“Summoning the President is an affront to our sovereignty and the President should not honour the summons,” Mr Nyamweya said.
Despite the disagreements, ODM maintains that they are not about to pull out of the coalition or call for its dissolution. The coalition can only be dissolved if the current Parliament is dissolved, if the parties agree in writing, or if one coalition partner withdraws from the coalition.
Elsewhere, Nark Kenya dismissed the sentiments by ODM as sideshows meant to divert the attention of the country from some of the failures of the coalition government.
Secretary General Danson Mungatana said it was pointless to call Mr Annan to help clean up the mess made by Kenyans.
“When people are hungry instead of tackling the issue, others are asking for more power. Let’s be fair to Kenyans. Let’s build more roads, build industries and get the country moving,” Mr Mungatana said.
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