Saturday, September 4, 2010

New laws team ‘needs clean leaders’


President Kibaki and Head of the Public Service Francis Muthaura (left), accompanied by security personnel, arrive for the economic roundtable at the KICC in Nairobi on Friday. Photo/FREDRICK ONYANGO

By JOHN NGIRACHU jngirachu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, September 3 2010 at 22:30

Members of the National Economic and Social Council want the team that will implement the new Constitution to be composed of youthful and “clean” leaders.

At the council’s first meeting on Friday since the promulgation of the new set of laws last week, some members also asked the government to embark on civic education on the new Constitution.

The members are said to have cited the example of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission, which is credited with running a smooth and efficient referendum, as an example of how the implementation team should work.

Parliament’s Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee, which has not been formed yet, will appoint the Implementation Commission made up of technocrats to drive the process of getting the new laws to start working.

Civic education for the Public Service was recommended as government officers such as the police officers appear to be unaware of the meaning of the Bill of Rights.

Sources close to the deliberations on Day One of the two-day meeting cited the killing of two people in Nakuru on Thursday during rent arrears protests as an example.

“There was a feeling that the police have been left behind as the country moves forward and that the government must embark on a massive civic education, especially for the police and the entire Public Service, to educate them on what has changed,” said the source.

Address conference

The council members are expected to address a press conference later today and issue a statement on the meeting’s resolutions.

The NESC is composed of the Prime Minister and his two deputies, 18 ministers, the Attorney-General, four local experts, representatives of registered professional bodies, Central Bank of Kenya governor and a team of international experts.

Unlike other meetings where the government’s policy think-tank concentrates on policy issues and development projects, Friday’s meeting was mainly about the new laws.

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