By LUKE ANAMI
A showdown is looming between the private sector and political parties over nomination of members to East African Legislative Assembly.
While political parties with the majority MPs in Parliament nominate the highest number of MPs to Eala, the private sector wants this system abolished, saying it does not meet the requirements of the East African Community (EAC) Treaty.
"The treaty is clear that the people elected should reflect all shades of life. Unfortunately, it has been hijacked by political parties," Patrick Obath, Chairman Kenya Private Sector Association (Kepsa) said in an interview with The Standard On Sunday after a breakfast meeting last week between top CEOs and the EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera in a Nairobi hotel.
Article 50 of the EAC Treaty provides guidelines on the election of Eala MPs that "the National Assembly of each partner state shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly. These members shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly.
It shall also present shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that partner state, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each partner state may determine. On the basis of this article, the business communities argue that the rules governing the elections should be brought into conformity with the said section of the EAC Treaty.
The East African Business Council, which is the regional umbrella body of business community in the EAC, has written to Speaker Kenneth Marende asking for a change in the rules of the nomination.
"As members of the business community, we want this mode of elections changed to reflect what is in the EAC Treaty," Mr Obath, who is the also the Vice Chairman of East African Business Council said.
But in the past, Kenya’s Parliament has simply received a list from the parties in Parliament and rubberstamped the names, a move the business community are now against.
"Elections of Eala members should be held to reflect gender balance, the disabled, private sector and civil society as provided for in the EAC Treaty," Obath explained.
Ending term
The move by the private sector comes at a time when the term of the current 52-member Eala Parliament ends on June 4. The House is expected to elect new members to replace, or retain current Speaker of the Regional Assembly is Abdirahin Abdi while Catherine Kimura, Christopher Nakuleu, Gervase Akhaabi, Clarkson Karan, Sarah Bonaya, and Rueben Oyondi are members.
Top CEOs who met under the umbrella of the East African Business Council (EABC) at a meeting organised by Trade Mark East Africa, have vowed to petition Speaker Marende to have the rules changed to reflect the Treaty as the guest for new MPs gains momentum.
"The business community has not been well represented in Eala. We are making arrangements to petition the Speaker of the National Assembly to have the rules for elections determined to reflect the Treaty," Obath said.
"This Treaty says in Article 7 that the "objectives of the Community shall include: (a) people-centred and market-driven co-operation". It is the private sector that is driving force behind the implementation of Customs Union and the Common Market, two important pillars of the EAC. That is the very reason why the private sector feels it is high time we were represented in decision-making organs of the EAC," Mr Keli Kiilu, a director at EABC said.
Citing a case where MPs from Uganda have moved to court over the same, Dr Sezibera made it clear that EAC partner states should comply with the requirement of Section 50, failure to which the East African Court of Justice should be called upon to intervene on the matter.
"Nominees to Eala must comply with the provisions of the EAC Treaty," Sezibera said. "It is no longer the prerogative of political parties alone to decide but people from all sheds of opinion as provided for in the EAC Treaty."
There have been calls to have Eala MPs directly elected if a proposal to amend the EAC Treaty is adopted. When asked how the matter will be resolved given that in the past Kenyan Parliament has been nominating its members based on the number of parties in Parliament, EAC Minister Musa Sirma said it is the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations that can handle the matter.
"Parliament is in the process of nominating members to Eala. As it is now, the matter should be brought before the Parliamentary Committee who will give direction," Mr Sirma said. But The Standard On Sunday has since learned that in a departure from the past and in a move to comply with the EAC Treaty, Speaker Marende has published new rules to guide election of Eala members.
Hand-picked
In a move to comply with the EAC Treaty, Eala members will be elected by the National Assembly, a departure from the past when they were hand-picked by political parties.
Candidates seeking nomination to the Arusha-based regional Parliament will now be scrutinised by the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee before being voted for by MPs, with the Clerk of the National Assembly acting as a returning officer.
Under the new rules, candidates will be given an opportunity to solicit for votes from MPs through the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee that oversees East Africa Community activities.
Legislators will elect nine nominees from a list of candidates nominated by political parties through the secret ballot, the legal notice says.
"A party shall be entitled to nominate for election under these rules any number of candidates not exceeding three times the figure arrived at by multiplying the number of elected members of the National Assembly of that party by nine. The result shall be divided by the number of elected members of the National Assembly," the rules partly state.
