The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Thursday told lawmakers to make a decision on whether they will extend its term or they will let the term of the commission expire at a time when there are over 20 Bills to implement the Constitution pending in Parliament.
At a meeting in Nairobi's Parliament buildings, the vice chairman of the CIC, Dr Elizabeth Muli and member Kamotho Waiganjo told a parliamentary committee that as a commission they had already decided that they will not plead with MPs for an extension because doing so will look "like we are trying to look for an extra year".
"As a commission we made the decision that we will not seek the extension of our term and that position remains the same today. We took oath of office and signed a five-year contract to serve this nation in the capacity we have, and that is the position for all nine of us. It is for Parliament to make a decision based on the best interest of Kenyans," said Dr Muli.
They told MPs not to personalise the extension by seeking to decide who will sit in the commission if the term is extended.
"The issue of who is sitting there should not be part of the process in making the decision. The issue of who continues to serve is a personal decision and will be handled at that particular time," said Dr Muli in the morning meeting with MPs.
The commissioners said the MPs' agenda should be to focus on how constitutionalism – they called it a 'software of constitutional implementation' – will be inculcated in the national psyche.
The Chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Njoroge Baiya (Githunguri), his deputy Moitalel ole Kenta (Narok North) and members John Nakara (Turkana Central), Ababu Namwamba (Budalang'i) and Mary Wambui (Othaya) had called the commission to get a sense of how to monitor the legislation on the pending laws.
"We have actually extended the implementation of the laws that we were to enact within five years by a year. We nevertheless appreciate that the implementation is a continuous process," said Baiya.
The view of the MPs is that because the passage of the Bills has been extended until next August, then it means that CIC too has to get an extension to cover that period.
"Parliament by resolution extended the implementation by one year.. that by itself is a determination by Parliament that the Constitution has not been fully implemented and requires another full year. The mechanism for monitoring full implementation must accompany the extension," said Namwamba.
The CIC commissioners say it is up to MPs to decide who will succeed the commission in its job as the custodians of the implementation process.
"When we leave on December 31 this year, who do we give our keys to? Who takes over the assets? Who will close the books? The law has to be amended otherwise the assets will disappear," said Waiganjo.
He said the commissioners were "ready to leave", and they were doing a report to Parliament to show what was remaining.
"We do not believe that the only body that can do what we are doing is the commission. No! In any case the Constitution itself made this a temporary commission with a mandate of five years," said Waiganjo.
The MPs are looking at the Kenya Law Reform Commission as a successor, but the commissioners told the lawmakers that the law too has to be reviewed to make sure such a body has the independence in hiring, firing, and even in budgeting to effectively whip State organs to respect the five-year-old Constitution.
"That independence in budgets and appointments gives a level of confidence to exercise oversight over some very difficult issues," said Waiganjo.
