Kudos to outgoing CIC, it fought the good fight

NAIROBI: The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) will be dissolved at the end of this month in line with the constitutional stipulation that it stood dissolved at the end of five years from the time it came into being or immediately the 2010 Constitution was fully implemented, whichever came first.

Looking back five years later, it is easy to conclude that it has not been an easy walk for CIC and the country.

The CIC was always grinding against forces less eager to embrace the new dawn, but more keen to maintain the status quo; from the Executive, to the Legislature to the Judiciary.

Yet despite that, CIC has fought a good fight for Wanjiku. Agreeably, the 2010 Constitution is a progressive document with broad provisions on civil liberties including freedoms of speech and of the press. And were it not for CIC to prod and at times cajole a ruling elite used to riding roughshod over the citizenry, these crucial provisions that anchor democracy, would have been diluted, or at worst, done away with altogether.

Largely though, the Charles Nyachae-led team has done a good job in demistifying the obfuscation contained in the Constitution. From the functions of the national and county governments to the roles of governors, senators, MPs and MCAs.

Even as CIC folds up, it would be misleading to imagine that the Constitution is fully implemented in its original form. Notably, the implementation of Chapter Six that touches on Leadership and Integrity has been mutilated, something that rankles with many Kenyans.

Parliament sought to erode these provisions because they saw them as a threat to them and their careers. These provisions gave the initiative to the public on matters of integrity and leadership. The bar for public leadership had been raised high up.

At least CIC tried to make noise about it. Though Kenya is the poorer for it, the leaders will rue the missed chances.