US embassy cable - 05NAIROBI5078

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 005078 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2025 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, KDEM, KE 
SUBJECT: THANKS, BUT NO THANKS: CABINET NOMINEES DECLINE 
 
REF: NAIROBI 5073 
 
Classified By: A/Political Counselor Lisa Peterson for reasons 1.4 (b,d 
) 
 
1.  (C) Although President Kibaki met his self-imposed two 
week deadline for announcing a new cabinet (reftel), Kenya's 
government is still incomplete, with twenty-one nominees 
declining their appointments.  Within moments of the 
President's announcement on December 7, ten appointees turned 
Kibaki down, and by afternoon on December 8, eleven more, 
including four full ministers, had passed up their job 
offers.  The list of those who have said "no thanks" to 
Kibaki is diverse, with nominees from five parties opting out 
of the cabinet, but they have in common one of two basic 
reasons for saying no: they are either disappointed with the 
process (e.g. LDP members), or disaffected with Kibaki 
personally.  END SUMMARY. 
 
OUT OF THE LINEUP 
----------------- 
 
2.  (C) Within moments of Kibaki's December 7 speech 
detailing his new cabinet lineup, ten nominated assistant 
ministers declined to accept the President's offer.  They are: 
 
-- Joseph Nkaiserry, Assistant Minister for Petroleum (KANU) 
-- Samuel Moroto, Assistant Minister for Public Health (KANU) 
-- David Sudi, Assistant Minister for Manpower Management 
(KANU) 
-- Peter Odoyo, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs (Liberal 
Democratic Party, LDP) 
-- William Boit, Assistant Minister for Agriculture (KANU) 
-- David Were, Assistant Minister for Communications (Ford-P) 
-- Mwangi Kiunjuri, Assistant Minister for Electricity 
(National Alliance Party, NAK) 
-- Paul Sang, Assistant Minister for Communications (Ford-P) 
-- Zaddock Syongoh, Assistant Minister for Financial 
Management Affairs (LDP) 
-- Soita Shitanda, Assistant Minister of State for Special 
Programs (Ford-K) 
 
By afternoon on December 8, eleven more nominees, including 
four full ministers, had also refused their positions: 
 
-- Moses Akaranga, Minister of State for Public Service (NAK) 
-- Musikari Kombo, Minister for Local Government (Ford-K) 
-- Orwa Ojodeh, Minister for Environment and Natural 
Resources (LDP) 
-- Charity Ngilu, Minister for Health (NAK) 
-- Kivutha Kibwana, Assistant Minister for Justice and 
Constitutional Affairs (NAK) 
-- Stephen Tarus, Assistant Minister for County Councils 
(Ford-K) 
-- Noah Wekesa, Assistant Minister for Livestock Development 
(Ford-K) 
-- Moses Wetangula, Assistant Minister for International 
Affairs (Ford-K) 
-- Joseph Nyagah, Assistant Minister for East African 
Community (NAK) 
-- John Munyes, Assistant Minister for Water Resources 
(Ford-K) 
-- Stephen Ole Ntutu, Assistant Minister for Natural 
Resources (KANU) 
 
Of the twenty-one appointees to turn Kibaki down, only three 
are from the Central Province/Mount Kenya (GEMA) region, 
further concentrating the distinctly ethnic tint of the 
cabinet (reftel).  The nominees who have so far declined 
cabinet positions represent five political parties, and 
Ngilu's refusal leaves just one woman full minister: Kikuyu 
partisan Martha Karua. 
 
3. (C) Many of the first group to turn down the offer were 
acting in accordance with the publicly stated KANU and LDP 
positions: no individual members should take a cabinet post 
because the parties had not been consulted in the selection 
process.  (COMMENT: This may have taken Kibaki and his 
advisors by surprise, as their strategy was almost certainly 
to draw in lower level members of these parties with the 
temptation of ministerial perks.  In so doing, they would be 
able to claim party diversity and therefore a unity cabinet, 
while at the same time dividing the opposition parties.  END 
COMMENT.) 
 
FORD-K TAKES A PARTY STAND 
-------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) The only concerted party-wide defection from the new 
Kibaki cabinet came from Ford-K.  The party stated shortly 
after the new cabinet was unveiled that they would meet on 
December 8 to discuss its participation.  Following the 
meeting, all but three nominated ministers and assistant 
ministers -- Moses Akaranga, Minister of State for Public 
Service; Newton Kulundu, Minister for Labor; and Mukhisa 
Kituyi, Minister for Trade and Industry -- participated in a 
party press event announcing they would not accept their 
nominations.  Subsequent unconfirmed media reports indicated 
that Akaranga and Kulundu joined their party, leaving Kituyi 
as the sole Ford-K member in cabinet.  The root of Ford-K's 
refusal to join cabinet is two-fold, and not necessarily 
based on objections to the manner of selection or lack of 
inclusivity.  The organization is still smarting from being 
passed over for the vice-presidency in 2003. Following that 
slight, and energetic participation in the "Yes" campaign for 
the constitution, the party expected to be more handsomely 
rewarded, including with the VP position, when the new 
cabinet was announced on December 7. 
KIUNJURI: THE "YES" WHO SAID NO 
------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C) A surprising "no, thank you" came from Kibaki 
supporter and fellow Kikuyu Mwangi Kiunjuri, who was 
reappointed to his former position of Assistant Minister for 
Energy.  An ethnic Kikuyu who fought hard on Kibaki's side 
during the referendum debate, Kiunjuri is a young (36 years 
old) MP from Laikipia East, just outside Central Province. 
He likely turned down the president's offer in protest: he 
considers himself a loyalist on par with "Yes" campaigners 
Mutahi Kagwe and Maina Kamanda, who were offered full 
ministerships.  By contrast, his assistant minister position 
was diminished, as a new portfolio specifically dealing with 
petroleum was created and offered to Nkaissery (who, as a 
Maasai, would have brought both ethnic and party diversity to 
the cabinet, had he accepted the offer).  A 2000 participant 
in the I.V. African Leaders Program, Kiunjuri in a 2001 
interview denied that the Central Province group of MPs was a 
tribal association, asserting instead that it was a 
"political association of people with similar interests." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
6.  (C) With more than one quarter of his new cabinet seats 
voluntarily vacated, Kibaki must consider why so many of his 
selections have declined the offer.  There is the distinct 
possibility that the president chose names without securing a 
commitment from the individuals to serve.  That these 
nominees have turned down substantial economic opportunities 
demonstrates the degree of sentiment against Kibaki and his 
coterie at the moment, and the degree to which his actions 
further unify the opposition.  The stance of the first 
principled few has prompted a snowball effect that is truly 
damaging to the Kibaki administration.  While Charity Ngilu 
publicly attributed her rejection of her appointment to flaws 
in the process, saying it was not sufficiently consultative, 
it is equally likely she made a calculated political decision 
to abandon a sinking ship.  Her departure, particularly when 
one considers the number of benefits she demanded and 
received in exchange for support for the "Yes" campaign, is a 
stunning blow to Kibaki.  END COMMENT. 
BELLAMY