Francis Muthaura reveals Raila-Kalonzo conflict during grand coalition gov't

Former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura has disclosed that there were supremacy battles between former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga during the grand coalition government.

Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV, Muthaura said he had to personally intervene to resolve the power struggles between the two leaders by clearly defining and putting in writing the roles each of the two leaders should play.

The former Head of Public Service said the Prime Minister was tasked to be in charge of government while the vice president was to oversee State matters.

Muthaura made it clear that in the event of the president’s death, it is the vice president who would ascend to the country’s top seat.

“There came a problem of competition between the prime minister and vice president. I was told by Mutula Kilonzo to try and define the functions. I defined them and I said the PM is in charge of government business and vice president is in charge of State matters but in the event of death of the president, the VP becomes the president."

“I put this in writing to parliament and it was passed unanimously. This resolved the protocol issues between the two and it all ended. After Cabinet was formed they had regular meetings. The PM chaired all cabinet committee meetings,” said Muthaura.

After the disputed 2007 General Election, Odinga served as Prime Minister while Kalonzo was the Vice President and the two would often rub shoulders over who was the second most powerful.