Members of the Tenth Parliament should not be branded selfish and mutilators of the new Constitution because of the changes they made recently requiring those aspiring to be MPs and councillors to have a minimum of a university degree. We passed the new constitution, albeit with 20 per cent flaws, which we agreed to iron out during the implementation. And that is exactly what the MPs have done.
I wish to support the views expressed by former Attorney General, Charles Njonjo, that our country risks losing face before the international community if we continue electing people with minimal education to Parliament. In fact, we appear to be a country where the law of the jungle reigns supreme.
For example councillors are demanding Sh2 million gratuity when their five-year term expires before the next General Election because MPs are demanding twice the amount. Most councillors, as every Kenyan knows, are primary school drop-outs, and aged between 30 – 40 years.
The Sh2 million each councillor is demanding to be paid for a five-year term, is even more than what many top graduate Government officials and university dons get as lump sum pension when they retire after 35-40 years of service.
The recently created Salaries and Remuneration Commission should strictly ensure that people are rewarded commensurate with education and effort they put in whatever they do. And because the current emoluments for councillors are higher than what university graduates in the public sector earn, university degree should be compulsory for all elective posts from a councillor to president.
Scratching their heads
After 50 years of independence, every community in Kenya must be having enough university graduates to provide visionary leadership in political and socio-economic spheres.
Fears of academic fraud as desperate MPs and other hopefuls present fake academic papers to remain in the game are misplaced because the electorate, who live with the aspirants and know their academic backgrounds, will be obliged to inform the IEBC of any cheats. Moreover, the degree requirement for elective posts is good for the country because school children will aspire to study more, unlike currently when some point out that not all in high places are highly educated.
Already, some MPs and even Cabinet ministers are scratching their heads in university lecture halls, struggling to acquire degrees. It will be very unfair to them if we allowed others with no degrees to vie for similar elective posts.
{Aggrey Kulali, Emuhaya}
The self-serving amendments MPs sneaked into the Political Parties Act highlight the folly of trusting Parliament with the reform process. Partisan interests rather than the public good drive the legislative agenda. This therefore calls for all Kenyans to rise up to defend the Constitution.
