Can someone smarter than I am please explain how the 40 cabinet ministers will be serving in this coalition government? I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to Kenyan politics. All along I have thought that all cabinet members and their ministries would be serving Kenya’s government and the public. If what Kenyan newspapers are reporting is accurate, it seems like the PNU and ODM cabinets will only be reporting to their respective leaders and parties.

I am taken aback when I hear that some current ministers in the administration have refused to relinquish their assigned cabinet posts and have threatened to quit the current government if these posts are assigned to ODM party in the 50/50 power sharing formula. Are these politicians working for the interest of the public, for their own personal interests or do these ministries belong to them as private property?

The cynicism in me tells me that this country does not even need these cabinet members and their ministries, but that thought is not realistic. I don’t believe there is enough urgency from Kenyan leaders and their followers to find a solution to have a functional government in this country. In the private sector, if you don’t work or produce you don’t get paid and your company may go out of business. In Kenya’s government it does not matter whether these politicians produce for the public. When they were sworn in their salaries and benefits, which are astronomical by any standards, keep on coming. At Ksh. 1 million+ for ministers and at least Ksh. 850,000 for regular MPS, when was the last time these people went without food or money for their children? When was the last time they stopped at refugee camps and bought their fellow Kenyans a loaf of bread, sukuma wiki or aspirin?

Maybe the country should be thankful that so long as the cabinet games are going on, the cease-fire will hold. The leaders are holding press conferences and parliament is not meeting, so politicians cannot vote themselves a pay raise. Life is good for the public.

The big question Kenyans must ask themselves is, once these cabinet posts are formed will these ministries serve all Kenyans regardless of their party affiliations, tribal loyalty or other regional considerations?

If two cabinets in the 50/50 formula are only going to serve and be loyal to their respective parties, then I suggest a decentralized system of government. Move ODM-controlled ministries and their cabinets to Rift Valley and Nyanza in their strongholds and move PNU ministries and their cabinets to Central province, their stronghold. In the centralized system, Nairobi will be a businesses center for the international and the domestic markets. I think this approach is much better than having another election in an attempt to solve the cabinet selection impasse. If these ministries belonged to people who occupy them, then what does it matter whether they are run from villages in the country? Taking these ministries out of Nairobi may be the best solution to solve the city’s traffic congestion.

I wish that this pending coalition government was entrenched on political party affiliations, but it is, unfortunately, not. Our country is a tribal society no matter how we want to think about our politics. The cabinet will be selected, a coalition government will run for three months, another election will be held, people will die on the streets, another ceasefire will take place and may be Kofi Annan will come back again to negotiate the mother of all grand coalitions.

Dan M.Orao

Michigan