Having PM and State minister waste of resources: Mudavadi

Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi has termed a proposal to create prime minister and minister of State posts as duplication of duties and waste of public resources.

Addressing the media yesterday in Nairobi, Mudavadi said the creation of the two positions - one of the recommendations of the recently-released Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report - will be counter-productive at a time the country's economy is on its knees.

“What will be the relationship between a minister of State and prime minister? Isn’t this duplication of duties and sheer waste of scarce resources?” posed Mudavadi.

According to the BBI report, the role of a prime minister will be crucial in strengthening inclusivity and accountability.

The PM will be the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament. He will coordinate Cabinet functions.

“How honest is the proposal that the PM will rank above MPs and ministers of State but will draw an equal salary? What is the secret motivation here? Untold allowances? If the government has had the temerity to interfere with the budget of the Judiciary which in law is a charge on the consolidated fund and, therefore, untouchable, how much more would a government headed by an imperial president do here in allocating allowances so as to match the position of the PM?” asked Mudavadi.

Mudavadi also said the report had not offered modalities on how it would be implemented.

“Failure to do this has exposed the document to open fights on how to implement it. This explains the sudden wrangles now engulfing the process of implementing this document with some leaders now rooting for a referendum and others favouring a parliamentary route,” he said.

He said the BBI has many recommendations which are not new since they are captured in existing legal and policy documents and frameworks such as the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), Kriegler Commission, Ole Kaparo’s report on skewed public appointments and the Ndugu Report on land.

He said some issues in the report deserve a parliamentary initiative while others a referendum