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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 001815 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KBIO KE ZI
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER TELL CODEL PRICE 
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IS TOP PRIORITY 
 
REF: A. NAIROBI 1659 
     ¶B. NAIROBI 1698 
     ¶C. NAIROBI 1500 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Pamela Slutz, reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
¶1. (U) CODEL Price has cleared on this cable. 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶2. (C) In separate meetings held on July 3, CODEL Price heard 
from both President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila 
Odinga that constitutional reform is one of the Grand 
Coalition Government's top priorities.  Prime Minister Odinga 
also discussed at length the challenges Kenya faces in light 
of the wake of post-election crisis: the resettlement of 
internally displaced persons, reconstruction of damaged 
infrastructure, reconciliation among ethnic groups, and the 
need to stimulate economic growth.  Odinga also briefly 
discussed the situation in Zimbabwe, commenting that based on 
recent discussions with other regional leaders, he thought 
that both President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader 
Morgan Tsvangirai were open to negotiating with one another. 
President Kibaki expressed optimism about constitutional 
reform and the resolution of issues that fuelled the 
post-election crisis in Kenya, particularly land reform.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------- 
Attendees 
--------- 
 
¶3. (U) Representative David Price (D-NC), Chairman of the 
House Democracy Assistance Commission (HDAC), met on July 3 
with Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai 
Kibaki.  The meeting with Odinga and his staff was also 
attended by: 
 
Representative Lois Capps (D-CA), HDAC member 
Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), HDAC member 
Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN), HDAC member 
Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) 
Representative Brad Miller (D-NC) 
Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya 
John Lis, Staff Director, House Democracy Assistance 
Commission 
Brad Smith, Professional Staff Member, House Committee on 
Rules 
Barbara Chow, Policy Director, House Budget Committee 
Tommy Ross, Legislative Assistant, Office of Representative 
Price 
Rachael Leman, Policy Director, Office of Representative 
David Dreier 
Nicholas Cook, Congressional Research Service 
Lauren Ploch, Congressional Research Service 
Dwight Al Smith, Embassy Control Officer 
Rachael Doherty, Embassy notetaker 
 
¶4. (U) The meeting with President Kibaki was attended by 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Moses Wetangula; Ambassador 
Chepsongol, Head of Americas Division, Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs; Representatives Price, Capps, Ellison, Cooper, and 
Watt; Ambassador Ranneberger; staffers Ross and Ploch; and 
embassy notetaker. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Prime Minister Odinga: Constitutional Reform Comes First 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5. (C) On July 3, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his staff 
met with the members of CODEL Price to discuss Odinga's views 
on Kenya's governmental structure and the way forward in the 
wake of the post-election crisis.  Odinga explained that 
Kenya has inherited a mixed governmental system -- neither 
presidential nor parliamentary -- and that the disputed 
election (and hung Parliament) led to the need for a 
coalition government to form and implement the 
constitutional, land, and other reforms necessary to help 
Kenya move forward.  Gaps in the constitution have led to 
 
NAIROBI 00001815  002 OF 003 
 
 
regional imbalances and inequalities, Odinga said, and the 
post-election crisis has added serious challenges to 
coalition government.  In addition to the estimated 1,500 
deaths and 350,000 internally displaced people, approximately 
USD 500 million worth of property was destroyed.  While the 
U.S. has provided valuable assistance, Odinga said, there is 
still a gap. 
 
¶6. (C) When asked what issue tops his priority list for 
parliament to deliver, Odinga lamented that the Kenyan people 
have overly high expectations given the promises both parties 
made during the election campaign.  That said, the two main 
political parties forming the coalition government (Odinga's 
own Orange Democratic Movement and President Kibaki's Party 
of National Unity) have harmonized their manifestos and 
identified long term and "mission critical" tasks to help 
boost Kenya's economic development for the next 22 years (ref 
C).  Priority number one, however, would be the delivery of a 
new constitution, which he hoped would be tabled as a bill by 
April 2009 (ref B). 
 
¶7. (C) Raila hastened to add that reconciliation, 
reconstruction, and resettlement in light of the 
post-election violence were top priorities along with 
constitutional reform.  Other priorities included poverty and 
income disparity reduction as well as speeding economic 
growth.  On the judicial reform front, Odinga said that he 
has asked the Chief Justice to improve the quality of service 
from judges by putting them on performace contracts.  Odinga 
also said that he wants to introduce affirmative action into 
the parliament by creating elected seats for women only. 
This will provide more women an opportunity to get used to 
electoral politics so that they can more effectively run for 
seats in regular constituencies, he said. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Odinga: This Coalition Government is An Experiment 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶8. (C) When asked how he balances the job of Prime Minister 
of a coalition government with being the head of the Orange 
Democratic Movement, which ran as an opposition party, Odinga 
replied that the current coalition government is an 
experiment for the continent of Africa and poses a serious 
challenge: "People expect miracles, but how do you unite two 
movements who were just at each others' throats?" 
 
¶9. (C) Odinga explained how he is trying to tranform the 
contentious relationships into cohesive ones that can work 
together to deliver reform to the Kenyan people.  One of his 
first acts was to organize a "bonding session" with the 
cabinet, which also took the form of explaining how the 
cabinet process works.  Second, Odinga designed a cabinet 
committee system to deal with the bloated but politically 
necessary cabinet.  Cabinet members are divided into groups 
that oversee issues such as reconstruction, security, and 
social services and report to plenary sessions.  While Odinga 
has emphasized that there will be no tolerance for corruption 
in the coalition government, he said that he has also 
emphasized the importance of not criticizing one another in 
public.  Odinga noted that the success of the coalition 
government experiment will rest on reducing the tension, 
fear, and suspicion in cabinet. 
 
------------------------- 
Odinga on Zimbabwe: Both 
Sides Wanted to Negotiate 
------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) When asked about the situation in Zimbabwe, Odinga 
replied that President Kibaki had just spoken with Zimbabwe 
President Robert Mugabe on July 2 in Sharm el Sheikh.  In 
Kibaki's view, Mugabe is ready to negotiate, but he wants to 
up the stakes, Odinga said.  "This is the same thing (South 
African President Thabo) Mbeki told me when I was in 
Capetown: that both parties wanted to negotiate, but they 
wanted to do it at different times.  Opposition leader Morgan 
Tsvangarai wanted to negotiate on the basis of the basis of 
the first election result.  Mugabe wanted to negotiate from 
the position of President," Odinga said.  "Now Mugabe is in a 
position where his party has no majority in parliament and he 
 
NAIROBI 00001815  003 OF 003 
 
 
needs the opposition.  Let's wait and see," Odinga concluded. 
 
¶11. (C) Although he initially reminded the delegation that he 
had been deemed persona non grata in Zimbabwe after his 
strong remarks against Mugabe, Odinga did not rule out the 
possibility of playing a mediating role in the Zimbabwe 
crisis. 
 
------------------------------ 
President Kibaki: Bullish on 
Constitutional and Land Reform 
------------------------------ 
 
¶12. (C) When asked about his priorities for delivering 
results to the Kenyan people, President Kibaki said that a 
new constitution is priority number one.  The reform process 
has been going on for four years now and was nearly agreed 
but not completed, he said.  "Now there is agreement on 96 
percent of the constitution, and I think we'll reach an 
agreement over the remainder by this month or next month. 
The issue should be resolved by September," Kibaki predicted. 
 
¶13. (C)  Despite previous arguments about land ownership by 
different ethnic groups -- particularly in Rift Valley areas 
like Eldoret and Nakuru and in some areas of Coast Province 
-- Kibaki assured the group that people generally seem to 
agree on the way forward.  While there are still some sticky 
issues, like deviating from traditions of inherited land 
ownership, communally owned land, and tribal land now 
belonging to wild game parks, Kibaki expressed confidence 
that they would be dealt with. 
 
¶14. (C) On the question of how to heal the nation in the wake 
of the post-election violence, Kibaki said that the most 
important thing was to get people talking to one another. 
"These people have lived together for years," Kibaki said. 
"Some are helping to rebuild their communities together, 
which begs the question, why were they fighting in the first 
place?" He added that the fact that many people from 
different ethnic groups are farmers, and planting crops 
together "will help quite a lot."  Children were not as 
affected by the conflict as adults, Kibaki added, as they 
know no other home.  "They are the ones who will help build a 
new country," he said. 
 
------------------------------ 
Kibaki: No Confidence Vote on 
Kimunya Didn't Focus On Issues 
------------------------------ 
 
¶15. (C) When asked about his thoughts regarding the previous 
day's parliamentary vote to censure Finance Minister Amos 
Kimunya for his role in the Grand Regency Hotel scandal 
(septel), Kibaki expressed frustration with the tenor of 
debate among parliamentarians.  "The debate quickly shifted 
to other matters... I couldn't see what they were arguing 
about, but I was pleased to see that Minister (Kinunya) 
remained cool," Kibaki said. 
 
¶16. (C) Comment: The meeting with President Kibaki was late 
in the day, and as the meeting wore on his fatigue showed. 
He consistently glossed over difficult issues and at times 
did not appear to understand the questions being asked.  On 
some occasions, Foreign Minister Wetangula stepped in to 
answer on Kibaki's behalf.  The land issue was clearly on 
Kibaki's mind, and he formulated many of his answers around 
it even when the question did not touch on land at all. 
Odinga, on the other hand, appeared to be at the top of his 
game, nailing his talking points and answering questions 
diplomatically and clearly.  End Comment. 
SLUTZ