Kenya’s new dawn as Cabinet flies to Coast

By Standard Team

Kenya could get a new face if the proposed draft constitution by the Committee of Experts clears political hurdles on its way to adoption in a referendum.

The proposed draft constitution not only makes drastic recommendations on institutions and structure of governance, but also seeks to redraw the national map.

In addition, it casts the image of a country at the brink of a new dawn after two decades of luckless pursuit for progressive laws.

The proposed draft constitution seeks the mandate of Kenyans in redefining electoral boundaries, abolishing the provincial administrative units, and replacing them with 14 administrative regions, as set out in the chart on the turn-page of this story.

For the first time in Kenya’s history if adopted, the political debacle witnessed last year during the heat of disputed presidential election, and hurried swearing-in of the President, would be history.

It seeks to put Kenya on the same pedestal as the US, where electoral and swearing-in dates are entrenched in the constitution.

This is an apparent effort to avoid the recurrence of events similar to those that followed the polls, where Kibaki was sworn into office at dusk.

Kenya’s fourth president will, accordingly, be sworn-in on a Tuesday, 14 days after being declared the election victor, but only if the draft law expected to be published by CoE next week is endorsed in a referendum.

The committee has made a raft of recommendations that would change the system of governance. The National Assembly would also play a significant role in the appointment of senior public servants.

For example, the police commissioner who would be Inspector-General and the Chief Justice must get the stamp of approval from Parliament before they assume office.

A retreat for Cabinet ministers convened by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga will be held in the coastal town of Mombasa beginning today.

The objective is to tame clashes of opinions and interests that could derail the process.

A top committee of the Grand Coalition Government flew out to Mombasa on Tuesday, ahead of the Cabinet retreat — to soften the ground for the proposed constitution.

The Grand Coalition Co-ordinating Committee is expected to study the draft constitution, and try and narrow the differences between the two blocks of the coalition on contentious proposals.

President Kibaki will tonight host the Cabinet and Assistant Ministers in Mombasa for the retreat for a symbolic ‘bonding’ dinner.

The two principals will lead the exercise where the Coalition Government will be briefed on the contents of the Kilaguni Draft. The Committee of Experts fine-tuned the draft in Kilaguni, in the Tsavo National Park.

Parliament

Among the issues to be considered during the retreat are a provision allowing the Head of Government, who in the proposed law is the Prime Minister to appoint non-MPs to the Cabinet.

The proposal has been debated for long in previous drafts, but if adopted it would lead to new changes in the law. Constitutional lawyers say Standing Orders of Parliament would have to be overhauled to accommodate non-elected members who are prohibited entry because they are ‘strangers’.
The Mombasa retreat, the Presidential Press Service reported, "aims at enhancing unity and cohesion in the Coalition Government."

The dispatch read in part: "The weekend meeting is also expected to come up with the way forward on how best the Coalition Government can deliver on its broad mandate and improve on its economic, social and political performance."

This could probably be understood against the mounting international pressure on Kenya to fast track reforms before the next election circle, and to punish post-election violence suspects.

It is understood the meeting will strive to hammer out a consensus on the contentious issues in the draft that may incite political rejection by a section of the divided coalition.
A number of foreign speakers have been invited to present papers at the retreat.
Kibaki and Raila are expected to make their opening addresses on Friday morning, at the Serena Beach Hotel and Spa in Mombasa.

The draft constitution further proposes the creation of a new body –Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission — to replace the Interim Independent Boundary Review Commission and the Interim Independent Electoral Commission.

The new body will be charged with, among others, the duty of promoting and conducting free and fair elections and creation of parliamentary and civic boundaries.

The new electoral units proposed shall be reviewed at intervals of not less than eight and not more than 12 years.

Political parties

Separately, parliamentary aspirants may no longer dance to the whims of political party leaders – thanks to the proposed laws that will recognise independent candidates.

The move gives a lifeline to individuals, whose political ambitions have solely depended on the goodwill of party leaders.

According to the current Constitution, one can only seek election for a presidential, parliamentary or civic seat, on a registered political party ticket.

But there is a catch to the new clause – one must not have been a member of a registered party for at least six months prior to the date of the election. This curtails the freedom of politicians who, defect at the last minute after falling out with their parties.

The new law further proposes to replace the position of Registrar of Political Parties, with Commissioner of Political Parties.

The commissioner shall be responsible for the registration of parties and their office holders, and management of political parties fund, among other roles.

Ms Lucy Ndung’u, the Registrar of Political Parties, performs these duties.

The lowest level of the devolved government in the Kilaguni Draft will be at county level, which is an equivalent of district unlike the Bomas Draft, which recommended locational representation.

The hot issues the committee was expected to thrash out before the retreat include the distribution of Executive authority between the President and the Prime Minister.

It will also interrogate a proposal by CoE for scrapping of the Vice-President’s office to pave way for a deputy President who can act if the holder of the office dies during the second half of his or her term in office.

The deputy president, if the question is finally put to Kenyans in a referendum and they vote ‘yes’ to the whole document, will act as president when the Head of State is either indisposed or abroad.

The deputy president will, however, have to have been the running mate of the winning candidate, and so there will be no power sharing deal witnessed last year between President Kibaki and Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka as chaos raged.