Parliament as a force for good in Kenya

 

By KWENDO OPANGAPosted Saturday, February 19 2011 at 16:10

In Summary

• It is the forces of evil which are bent on silencing the Speaker by threatening him with impeachment

Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and Kiraitu Murungi, among others, say they want to fight House Speaker Kenneth Otiato Marende. They want to fight him because of his ruling of Thursday which, they moan, demeaned President Kibaki while elevating Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Uhuru & Co want to fight the Speaker because they allege this ruling confirms him as a dictator out to gag Parliament. I want this fight. And I will join in on the side of the Speaker.

This has nothing to do with the fact that Marende and I are Abanyole. No, I want to join in because this fight will pit good against evil.

I am not as yet sure what form this fight will take, but I am informed impeachment of the Speaker is contemplated. I believe these MPs have the democratic right to move against the Speaker, but I am convinced their reasons and inspiration are wrong.

They do not want to see Marende as having an independent mind, but as acting at the behest of Prime Minister Raila Odinga. They want to paint him as an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Speaker, which will be unfair on the man and downright dishonest of Uhuru & Co.

Landmark rulings

To my mind, Marende has made three landmark rulings over the last three years and has been called upon to act as referee between President and Premier and the quarrelsome coalition parties and done so skilfully.

He has always been mindful of the fact that a slight slip could take Kenya back to the brink of the precipice as was the case in late 2007 and early 2008.

And Marende has not tired of reminding the principals, Parliament and the people that we cannot afford to slip back.

Kenya’s previous four Parliaments were a charade; they were, especially the Sixth, weak. But the Tenth Parliament is assertive, independent and lively and holds all, the Prime Minister included, to account.

Marende must claim part of the credit for the emergence of the House as a force for good in Kenya.

You know Marende is doing a good job when the Prime Minister complains that inquisitive House committees are hindering ministers from doing their job.

You know the Speaker is doing a good job when, three years into his term, his name features among personalities who Kenyans think could lead the country and do a good job of it.

Kenyans think and speak thus of the Speaker because of the work he has done for them and not for his party or Raila.

From that tense and fear-filled January 15 evening when he was sworn in as Speaker, Marende has been a force of and for good in Kenya. On that evening that was full of foreboding, Marende’s colleagues in ODM were up to no good.

They wanted him to refuse to swear in President Kibaki as Member of Parliament for Othaya, refuse to recognise him as the elected President and, therefore, crank up further the tension in the land.

Marende put country and Constitution first and went against the wishes of his party for the common good.

May I stress here that Marende was not the choice of the Party of National Unity (PNU) for Speaker but, after the votes were in and counted, Marende from the word go acted and still acts as Kenya’s and not ODM’s Speaker.

When last year the President nominated the Vice-President Leader of Government Business, the Prime Minister promptly nominated himself for the same position. The letters of the two principals landed on the Speaker’s desk.

The Speaker, once again, came good; he held the position of Leader of Government Business temporarily and gave the President and Prime Minister time to consult and sort out their differences.

As he argued, Parliament had to run as usual and not be deadlocked over the holder of the office of Leader of Government Business.

Did Thursday’s ruling deviate from what media have come to call Marende’s Solomonic wisdom? No. The problem is that the ruling denied Parliament – not PNU Members of Parliament – a chance to debate the nominations and vote on them.

But the reason given is plausible and competent. Having declared the nominations unconstitutional and which unconstitutionality could not be cured by Parliament, Marende could not turn around and allow debate on the matter.

Marende is not gagging Parliament; it is the forces of evil which want to silence the Speaker by threatening him with impeachment. Bring on the motion and let’s see who will vote for good and who for evil.

Kwendo Opanga is a media consultant diplospeak@yahoo.com