Get your act together, principals told

Busia

By Beauttah Omanga

Five civil society groups demanded that President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga commence negotiations that would lead to peaceful implementation of the Constitution.

Officials from the International Centre for Jurists (ICJ), Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (Creco), Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida), Transparency International (TI), and Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), sounded a warning to the principals to be ready for Kenyans’ wrath if the stalemate over smooth implementation of the supreme law continued.

First, the officials demanded that the two respect the rule of law and let the procedures spelt out in determining the route of appointing constitutional office holders followed to the letter.

"We are not issuing threats of mass protests at this moment. We also cannot rule it out in future if the violation of the people’s Constitution continues," said KHRC Executive Director, Muthoni Wanyeki.

The officials supported the ruling by Speaker Kenneth Marende that termed nomination of persons to four key offices unconstitutional, saying it was appropriate, and termed as unfortunate a plot by some MPs to censure the Speaker.

"Were their move to censure the Speaker to bear fruits, then for sure it will polarise the country further," warned Creco CEO, Wambua Kawive.

The officials, who included, Grace Maingi (Fida), Samuel Kimeu (TI-Kenya), and George Kegoro (ICJ), regretted that a referral of the matter to the House did not resolve the nomination debate.

It was their observation that the two parliamentary committees’ proceedings were backed by political intrigues that only lent to fueling the divisive politics that have of late characterised the Coalition Government.

"This process was neither credible nor conducted in the interest of all Kenyans," said the groups in a joint statement.

Legality of actions

The officials cast doubt on the logic of President Kibaki’s decision to let the Judiciary determine the legality of his actions.

"We find the approach by the Executive not based on good faith," they said.

The officials said their reservations were informed by the past unpredictability of the Executive to make arbitrary decisions that are blatantly not in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Constitution, and the interest of the people, as evidenced by the nominations.

They called on President Kibaki to respect the wish of Kenyans by allowing wider participation in the nominations.

Quoting sections of the Constitution, the groups noted that the sovereign power belongs to the people, which must be exercised in accordance with the Constitution and was binding on all State organs.

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