Deadlock on PM seat, JSC delays BBI report

Former Prime minister Raila Odinga meets Yusuf Haji during a briefing on the Handshake committe progress in Nairobi on 1st August, 2018.

The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force has reached out to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga for an extension of one month to iron out contentious issues that have slowed the movement.

The BBI Steering Committee was expected to present its report to Uhuru and Raila on Tuesday after the expiry of its mandate on June 30, but the issues of third tier level of government, the prime minister position and the composition of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) remain contentious.

Also, the thorny issues of a third gender rule and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) are among the items yet to be agreed on by the task force ahead of the end of its mandate.

“We asked the chair, vice chair and the secretariat to meet with the President and ODM leader and seek an extension of at least three weeks if not one month. We need to make sure that the document is complete and is a product of pure consensus,” said one of the members who sought anonymity.

Term limits

Of particular interest in the contention is the creation of the third-tier level of government that is politically seen as preparing ground for second-term governors who are set to exit their seats in August 2022.

A related push has been to have a subject of debate on whether to open the term limit for the governors so that the 25 county bosses who have served two terms can still be eligible for election in the next general election.

In March 2018, while addressing the fifth devolution conference in Kakamega town, Raila intimated that there should be a review of the structure of devolution with the creation of a possible 14 regional governments.

The ODM leader, who is recuperating after a minor surgery in the United Arabs Emirates, proposed the establishment of a three-tier government as one of the ways of finding lasting solutions to the problem posed by the sizes of the devolved economies.

“The Bomas Draft Constitution divided Kenya into 14 regions, each made up of several districts. The intention was to create units with the size and population that made them economically viable,” Raila told the conference.

He had argued that there was need for the country to adopt a three-tier system that retains the current counties, creates regional governments and retains the national government, to create units with the size and population that are economically viable.

The BBI task force member said the lobbying for the third-tier was intense, but a number of the team members had opposed the proposal claiming that it would further widen the wage bill that has been ballooning over time.

The BBI team had two weeks ago retreated to Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi where they begun to write the report after a more than two-months lull due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Steering Committee chaired by Senator Yusuf Haji include members Adams Oloo, James Matundura, Bishop Lawi Imathiu, Maison Leshomo, Bishop Peter Njenga, Archbishop Zacheaus Okoth, Rose Museu, Agnes Kavindu Muthama, John Seii, Saeed Mwaguni, Amos Wako, Florence Omose and Morompi ole Ronkei.

It is not clear if Uhuru and Raila will allow the committee more time after the lapse of their mandate on June 30.

The contentious issue on IEBC was agreed on late on Friday, according to the source who said they had resolved to have that the current IEBC be disbanded and a new one that will have a chairman with executive powers and no chief executive officer (CEO) appointed.

“We want to avoid creating two centres of power, we have agreed to have just the chairman as the only boss in the commission and do away with the CEO. We also heard from Kenyans that they have no confidence in the current commission and have suggested its disbandment,” he said.

Winding up

There had been indications that the task force would be ready with the report by Tuesday, but the push and pull has denied it the opportunity to wind up.

Though the issue of the prime minister’s position seemed to have been settled, there has been a push by some members to have a pure presidential system with a meek premier still opened up for further review.

“The initial agreement was to have just one centre of power, but there are some members who are pushing to have the decision on the structure of government reviews and have the PM as the leader of government business. This has also renewed the need for consensus,” said the source, a BBI task force member. 

Other areas of contention are on the composition of the Judiciary and the gender rule, with the task force under pressure from elected women MPs and rights groups to have the law state clearly that the one third gender rule must be achieved in all government departments and elective seats.