The Committee of Experts set a stringent timetable for the phased-out implementation of the Harmonised Draft Constitution if and when Kenyans pass it at a referendum.

Some experts are already pointing out that the implementation will be a race against time.

The draft sets out timelines that will affect changes in critical offices countrywide and defines when new offices, devolved government, and other changes set out by the draft will have been put in place. It will take a maximum of three years to implement the new law if the draft law is adopted, according to the CoE timetable.

Some aspects of it will however take one to two years, even though Parliament can fast-track the implementation

The programme of action the experts recommended is attached to harmonised draft constitution as a legal schedule.

The process will also depend on how fast Parliament passes a referendum law because it is non-existent in the current law and yet this is the only doorway to the new constitution.

So far the most contentious issue is the proposed sharing out of executive authority between the President and Prime Minister.

In a bid to make its adoption by Parliament once it sails through the referendum, the draft decrees the House could be dissolved if it fails to enact legislations within specified timeframes as outlined in the document.

The draft says if Members of Parliament fail to enact legislation within the time specified, the Chief Justice would advise the President to dissolve the House.

The next Parliament would then take up the role and act within the specified period.

In a bid to ensure the wheels of reform keep rolling, the draft says Parliament can only delay legislation through a recommendation supported by a two-thirds majority and this will only be once.

A commission to oversee implementation of the new law will be formed immediately the President promulgates it.

It will automatically stand dissolved after full implementation of the new law.

While releasing the draft last week, CoE Chairman Nzamba Kitonga ruled out extension of the month-long public debate.

Questions are piling on feasibility of timelines contained in The Constitution of Kenya Review Act and those provided for in the draft. Kenyans have just over three weeks to propose changes to the draft before it is taken to Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitution review to marshal consensus on it.

CoE Executive Director Dr Ekuru Aukot explained some of the laws simply required harmonising with existing pieces of legislation. He added: "CoE gave the time specification, which will set dates that will operationalise the new constitution."

Kitonga explained: "Some of the laws are urgent and need immediate legislation while others are not and will not have a major impact even if delayed between one to three years." He went on: "There will be no vacuum as the existing laws will apply in the transitional period."

The laws in question include those that will require fresh Acts of Parliament and are related to how to regulate how elections are conducted for Parliament and counties.

Laws touching on regulation of Political Parties are expected within one year of adoption of the new law.

Kitonga said some of the laws might take longer depending on the Parliament’s pace. The laws include legislations touching on laws of electing the president at the next General Election, which should be in place within one year. "We wanted to sequence the events so that they reflect what will be adopted by the new constitution and to harmonise laws so that they do not conflict," Aukot explained.

The draft says the Supreme Court should be enacted within one year and the Court of Appeal within two years of its adoption. In the draft the Chief Justice is expected to pave way after two months of the promulgation of the new draft.

In a bid to ensure gender balance and take care of Kenya’s diversity in which 74 women will be directly elected from counties to be MPs, Parliament is expected to have passed the appropriate laws in one year.

The much-envisaged dual citizenship may be attained in two years, a move that will reopen the gates to Kenyans who have had to renounce their citizenship, among them some top athletes.

"It should not scare Kenyans reading the draft. Some of the laws are already in place and need minor amendments to be in tandem with provisions in the new Constitution," Aukot said.

Similarly lined up for corresponding legislation are the country’s national security, which include changing the Kenya Police into Kenya Police Service within one year. The National Security Intelligence will be created to replace the current National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS). Changes to the operations within the Public Service Commission relating to staffing of devolved governments are expected to be out within two years after the new constitution is enacted.

Under the Public Service the country’s prisons will revert to Correctional Service institutions for rehabilitation of offenders and criminals.

The draft also provides that, "where in this Constitution Parliament is required to enact legislation to govern a particular matter with a specified period of time but fails to do so, any person may petition the Constitutional Court for a declaration on the matter."

"The timelines are very tight and one wonders whether they will be achieved while some may prove tricky," said senior counsel Paul Muite. He asked CoE, Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission and Interim Independent Electoral Commission to explain when they would clear their mandates so that they could become part of the new constitution.

Political Science lecturer Prof Amukoa Anangwe argued: "Ideally Parliament should be dissolved after the referendum but it appears MPs have been given soft landing to enable them facilitate the transition to a new constitution."

Kisumu Town West MP John Olago-Aluoch argued the proposed, "six months were sufficient for Attorney General to hand over cases he was handling before exiting.

"There will be no two ways about it. Parliament will have to act with the constitutional provisions on given time frames," argued Nairobi lawyer Ashford Muriuki. Another city lawyer Mathew Oseko argued: "There have been many cases where Bills are taken to Parliament and are kept there until they lapse," he said.

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