CIC must live up to expectations of mwananchi

By Fwamba NC Fwamba
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The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution chaired by Charles Nyachae is one of the 10 established under Chapter 15 Clause 2 of the Constitution.

Apart from the general objectives and authority of commissions and independent offices, as provided for in article 249 of the Constitution, the Sixth Schedule under Article 262 Part 1 Section Five clearly outlines the mandate, authority and responsibilities of the commission.

Section 5 (6) of the Sixth Schedule outlines the functions of the commission.

But the CIC has given Kenyans a raw deal in the process of implementation if one considers the amount of the tax payers’ money spent on this commission. CIC’s work has been more of being a government critic and has been playing a role more of the opposition to government than implementing the Constitution.

A lot of what comes out other CIC commission are more of cocktail parties, seminars and press conferences addressed by the chairman than productive result oriented progress in the implementation of the Constitution. Kenyans should consider this a raw deal considering the fact that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission allocated very large amounts of salaries to this commission, with its chairman alone earning more than the President.

Mr Nyachae has projected this institution to be more of a reactionary commission than a proactive body with mandate of a pacesetter in the process of fully implementing the law.

The CIC chairman takes positions on matters and ends up presenting personal opinion as if they were constitutional. Case in point is the recent utterances in criticising the appointments of parastatal heads.

Mr Nyachae appreciates the fact that the President is a symbol of national unity and his authority includes promoting and enhancing the unity of the nation as stipulated in Article 131 of the constitution. This mandate was solely given to President Uhuru when Kenyans elected him.

He must appreciate that the President has a duty of reasoning out and deciding whose objectives and intentions are supposed to cement the responsibilities and authority bestowed upon him by the law.

The President should not allow himself to run the country on the basis of the opinion of individuals.

Mr Nyachae incorrectly implied that the President is not supposed to give jobs to his friends. This impression is illogical for it implies that one must choose between being a friend to the President and getting a presidential appointment. There is no constitutional provision for this. The notion that one should be discriminated against for belonging to the President’s party is unconstitutional.

Another issue that has interestingly taken a fascinating twist in public opinion is the appointment of politicians who ran in the last polls.

There is generally a misplaced notion that a politician is not supposed to be a Cabinet Secretary, or a parastatal head. Nowhere in our constitution do we have such a provision. The only person prohibited under the constitution’s article 152 (3) is a person already serving as MP.

There is  no prohibition to serve the public in another capacity after losing an election, with exceptions of institutions where conflict of public interest must arise like Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission. The Nyachae-led commission has failed Kenyans through deliberate populist interpretation of the law. No one loses his intellectual ability to manage or lead after an election loss. An election loser does not lose his personal skills upon announcement of results and can serve the country in any other capacity. CIC should busy themselves with real work of constitutional monitoring, not sensational politics which will not help Kenyans.