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- Jan 30, 2008
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Raila Odinga: My problem with Uhuru Kenyatta's government
There are mixed signals on the war on corruption, rising public wage, protests, weakening shilling, health sector crisis and insecurity among other "missteps" bedeviling the Government, Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.
Raila said the Government had managed the teachers' strike, which is in the third week, poorly and the labour protests could worsen in coming days should trade unions representing other public servants make good their threat and join in the strike.
The Orange Democratic Movement party leader cautioned that chest thumping will not resolve anything and instead asked the Jubilee government to embrace dialogue to resolve the crisis that has shutdown public education system.
President Kenyatta, he added, must respect the rule of law by recognising the court's verdict that awarded teachers the 50-60 per cent salary increment that has triggered the industrial action.
"If the President says he can't pay and won't pay teachers, he has no business staying in office, and he should go home. Anarchy will reign in this country if we don't follow the law," Raila said at a breakfast meeting with the Editors Guild in Nairobi yesterday.
"Let's come up with modalities to address this problem. It is long overdue. Let's embrace the culture of consultation. We requested for dialogue last year and were turned down, some of these issues could have been arrested then," Raila said, referring to the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy's (CORD) plea to have talks with the Government but which Jubilee rejected.
Raila accused the Government of avoiding hard decisions to arrest the spiraling wage bill. "The Government has failed to make adjustments to reduce the recurrent expenditure. 60,000 workers were made redundant by devolution, so far no action has been taken yet teachers are striking for better pay," he said.
He also accused the President of sending mixed signals on the war against corruption, saying the Head of State lacked consistency.
"When the President asked State officers mentioned in the graft list to step aside, Kenyans believed he was true to this cause but the situation is no longer the same with the NYS (National Youth Service) saga," he said. "I have nothing personal against Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru. What we want is accountability. What is her interest in the whole matter? She misled Kenyans that there was no money lost, why the about turn? It seems she was involved in the cover-up to subvert the cause of justice," Raila claimed.
Ms Waiguru's lawyers have sent a demand letter asking Raila to apologise for linking her to the corruption claims but he has said there is nothing to apologise about. The former prime minister claimed despite the Government painting a rosy picture of the country's economy, it is in bad shape.
"The public debt has more than doubled, foreign debt is more than local debt. The shilling is presently at Sh105 and I am sure in the coming weeks, it might move to Sh110 against the dollar," he said.
He added: "Truth be told. We are doing badly as a country and the Government must now exercise prudence in the use of public funds. We are over borrowing and the wage bill is growing too."
The CORD leader pressed for the involvement of county governments in security. "The country's security is wanting. We should involve county governments in the management of security. Governors and their officers should know the happenings in the counties through the county security committees," he said.
He defended the Opposition's performance in checking the Government arguing it was doing its work to point out the goofs and the least those in power could do is to address the problems.
"We are not only critical of the Government but we also offer solutions. Our work is not to offer consultancy to the Government, it is really not our work. We have identified graft at NYS and we stand our ground," Raila said.
He further noted what he described as the lack of independence by constitutional commissions in carrying out their duties.
The ODM leader faulted the pure presidential system that Kenyans adopted in the Constitution arguing the parliamentary system provides for more accountability to the people. He suggested a mixed system of government.
He also revisited concerns about devolution, questioning how county governments are expected to pay salaries and run their operations, when the Treasury releases funds in bits instead of doing so quarterly.
"Devolution is not fully accepted. It has many and powerful enemies, some silent but very lethal," he said. "Let counties get adequate funding to secure devolution. There appears to be a concerted campaign by some forces to take health functions back to the national government."
Standard Digital News - Kenya : Raila Odinga: My problem with Uhuru Kenyatta's government
There are mixed signals on the war on corruption, rising public wage, protests, weakening shilling, health sector crisis and insecurity among other "missteps" bedeviling the Government, Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.
Raila said the Government had managed the teachers' strike, which is in the third week, poorly and the labour protests could worsen in coming days should trade unions representing other public servants make good their threat and join in the strike.
The Orange Democratic Movement party leader cautioned that chest thumping will not resolve anything and instead asked the Jubilee government to embrace dialogue to resolve the crisis that has shutdown public education system.
President Kenyatta, he added, must respect the rule of law by recognising the court's verdict that awarded teachers the 50-60 per cent salary increment that has triggered the industrial action.
"If the President says he can't pay and won't pay teachers, he has no business staying in office, and he should go home. Anarchy will reign in this country if we don't follow the law," Raila said at a breakfast meeting with the Editors Guild in Nairobi yesterday.
"Let's come up with modalities to address this problem. It is long overdue. Let's embrace the culture of consultation. We requested for dialogue last year and were turned down, some of these issues could have been arrested then," Raila said, referring to the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy's (CORD) plea to have talks with the Government but which Jubilee rejected.
Raila accused the Government of avoiding hard decisions to arrest the spiraling wage bill. "The Government has failed to make adjustments to reduce the recurrent expenditure. 60,000 workers were made redundant by devolution, so far no action has been taken yet teachers are striking for better pay," he said.
He also accused the President of sending mixed signals on the war against corruption, saying the Head of State lacked consistency.
"When the President asked State officers mentioned in the graft list to step aside, Kenyans believed he was true to this cause but the situation is no longer the same with the NYS (National Youth Service) saga," he said. "I have nothing personal against Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru. What we want is accountability. What is her interest in the whole matter? She misled Kenyans that there was no money lost, why the about turn? It seems she was involved in the cover-up to subvert the cause of justice," Raila claimed.
Ms Waiguru's lawyers have sent a demand letter asking Raila to apologise for linking her to the corruption claims but he has said there is nothing to apologise about. The former prime minister claimed despite the Government painting a rosy picture of the country's economy, it is in bad shape.
"The public debt has more than doubled, foreign debt is more than local debt. The shilling is presently at Sh105 and I am sure in the coming weeks, it might move to Sh110 against the dollar," he said.
He added: "Truth be told. We are doing badly as a country and the Government must now exercise prudence in the use of public funds. We are over borrowing and the wage bill is growing too."
The CORD leader pressed for the involvement of county governments in security. "The country's security is wanting. We should involve county governments in the management of security. Governors and their officers should know the happenings in the counties through the county security committees," he said.
He defended the Opposition's performance in checking the Government arguing it was doing its work to point out the goofs and the least those in power could do is to address the problems.
"We are not only critical of the Government but we also offer solutions. Our work is not to offer consultancy to the Government, it is really not our work. We have identified graft at NYS and we stand our ground," Raila said.
He further noted what he described as the lack of independence by constitutional commissions in carrying out their duties.
The ODM leader faulted the pure presidential system that Kenyans adopted in the Constitution arguing the parliamentary system provides for more accountability to the people. He suggested a mixed system of government.
He also revisited concerns about devolution, questioning how county governments are expected to pay salaries and run their operations, when the Treasury releases funds in bits instead of doing so quarterly.
"Devolution is not fully accepted. It has many and powerful enemies, some silent but very lethal," he said. "Let counties get adequate funding to secure devolution. There appears to be a concerted campaign by some forces to take health functions back to the national government."
Standard Digital News - Kenya : Raila Odinga: My problem with Uhuru Kenyatta's government