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Key role for Obure as Moi reshuffles cabinet

In a surprise move on Wednesday, President Daniel arap Moi reshuffled his cabinet, demoting the finance minister to serve as energy minister in tandem with Raila Odinga, leader of the National Development Party, which has aligned itself in an effective coalition with the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU). This has been seen by political observers here as a dilution of the powers of both - a demotion for former Finance Minister Chris Okemo and a diminution of the stature of Odinga as the president's ally. The new finance minister is former Foreign Minister Chris Obure, whose transfer was described by the BBC on Wednesday "as an attempt by President Moi to get a more diplomatic minister to front negotiations with the World Bank and IMF in a bid to convince them to release funds that they have been withholding". Okemo last month accused the World Bank and IMF of "causing Kenya's economic problems", words that the BBC said were interpreted "as yet another blow to the country's hopes that the IMF would resume aid". Late last year the IMF discontinued aid to Kenya because of its failure to fulfill promises on tackling corruption and privatising the economy, leaving a policy framework that was not conducive to continued lending. "We believe the reform process is important for Kenya, and a fundamental pillar of that is governance," Samuel Itam, the IMF’s senior Resident Representative in Nairobi told IRIN in July. The main issues involved, he said, were: the need for a constitutional amendment to re-establish the Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority (KACA) within a legal framework; the need for legislation dealing with corruption and economic crimes; and the need for a code of conduct for all three branches of government - the executive, legislature and judiciary. On Tuesday, just a day before Okemo's removal from the finance ministry, the East African Standard newspaper quoted "a confidential fax" from Callisto Madavo, the World Bank's Washington-based regional vice-president, informing him of the Bank's decision to suspend its remaining credit line of Ksh 2.4 billion (about US $30 million) for the emergency rehabilitation of roads, "because it has uncovered cases of corruption following intensive investigation". Obure's place as foreign minister was taken by Marsden Madoka, formerly the minister in the president's office in charge of internal security, who in turn was replaced by former Lands and Settlement Minister Joseph Nyagah. Nyagah's post was taken over by former Environment and Natural Resources Minister Katana Ngala, who has held the lands and settlement portfolio before. Two new faces were added to the cabinet in the reshuffle, both of whom the Daily Nation on Wednesday described as "Young Turks": Uhuru Kenyatta and Cyrus Jirongo. Under the Kenyan constitution, Moi cannot stand for election again next year and he has repeatedly said that, when the time comes, he would like to hand over power to a young man. The succession issue is "taking shape", according to an [unnamed] analyst quoted by AFP on Thursday. "The politically correct younger generation within KANU is being groomed to perpetuate power." Kenyatta, 40, the son of Kenya's founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, who ruled the country from independence in 1963 until his death in office in 1978, was appointed local government minister, just a few weeks after being nominated as a member of parliament. He replaces Joseph Kamotho, a fellow nominated MP and KANU secretary-general, who was moved to the ministry of environment and natural resources. Commenting on Kenyatta's appointment on Wednesday, AFP said he was "widely seen as one of several young and influential politicians in Moi's KANU party who might emerge as main contenders for nomination as presidential candidates" in elections due to be held next year. Jirongo, who has been appointed minister for rural development, first appeared on the political scene before the 1992 elections as a vigorous KANU youth campaigner. After the elections he fell from favour for some years, but managed to win the Lugari constituency for KANU in the 1997 elections. Thereafter, he briefly became part of a dissident grouping within KANU led by Kipruto arap Kirwa, but subsequently changed tack in favour of the party's mainstream. An editorial in the Daily Nation on Wednesday described the two ministries now held by Kenyatta and Jirongo as significant - "local government, because it has so many national tendrils, is traditionally a stepping stone to great heights. Those tendrils merge at the grass roots with those of rural development, which is part of agriculture. They can together exert enormous influence on the electorate." During Kenyatta's and Jirongo's signing-in on Wednesday, Moi said he expected the two to be "prime movers of development" and their appointment is seen as clear evidence of his stated desire to elevate "Young Turks" to positions of leadership, the independent Kenya Television Network (KTN) reported. Possibly the most significant individual to have retained his post is Vice-President and Minister of Home Affairs George Saitoti. "By retaining him, the president could be sending the message that he wants the vice-president to play the vanguard in the succession," according to the Daily Nation.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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