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Attorney general Amos Wako has been termed as an impediment to the constitutional reforms in Kenya. The chairman of the preliminary oversight committee Abdikadir Mohamed said the continued stay of Wako at the AG office does not augur well with the wheels of reforms.
He said even though the constitution gives the AG until August 2011 to vacate office there was need to begin the process of replacing Wako to pave way for smooth implementation of the constitution.
While lauding the Committee on the implementation of the constitution for its work, Mohammed said there were many issues that were still not clear and which must be settled urgently.
Among these he said was the question of who has powers to dissolve the current parliament when its term expires given that the executive no longer has any powers over the legislature and the date of the next general election based on conflicting signals between what the constitution stipulates and what the transitional clause indicates.
He said unless the Supreme Court was in place to give the directions then these matters might come to back to haunt the implementation of the new constitution.
Mohammed also took issue with the executive for not doing enough to present bills to entrench the new law.
He said if the trend continues then members of Parliament would take over and table the bills in collaboration with CIC.
The Mandera Central MP said the biggest challenge awaiting the country was how it to tackle devolution which he termed "the mother of all reforms" as it will entail the shift of governance structures drastically.
He said a taskforce formed to collect views on devolution failed to meet its April 31 deadline to present its preliminary report and has sought an extension to April 15 yet time was running out to the next general election.
Though the country was making progress in reforms, Mohammed said it was only in the judiciary that reforms are almost complete saying Kenya would write history in the world for being the only country that has advertised the post of the chief justice for a competitive selection process.
Moving a motion to have parliament debate a report of the Committee on the Implementation of the Constitution, Mphammed said the public must be made aware of the progress achieved in regards to reforms and implementing the new law.
Seconding the motion nominated MP Millie Odhiambo said reforms should not be cosmetic saying the public sector must abide by the new law.
Meanwhile the country has lost 18 billion shillings to fraudsters involved in money laundering since 2003.
Internal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode told parliament that of the amount, 17 billion shillings was recovered and over 2000 individuals arraigned before the court.
Ojode however said the fraudsters were not charged under the anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime act but under the penal code since the act has not been operationalized.
He said the Finance Minister is yet to give an effective date when the anti-money laundering act will be effective.
Ojode was responding to a question by Gatundu North MP Clement Waibara who had sought to know how much money the country has lost to money laundering since 2003.
At the same time the government had admitted that the country is facing an acute shortage of certified maize seeds.
Agriculture assistant minister Gideon Ndambuki said currently there is a shortage of 2 million kilograms of certified seeds by the Kenya Seeds Company.
He however said this shortfall can be mitigated by private seed companies operating in the country. Ndambuki said the problem being was occasioned by farmers refusing to buy seeds from private companies which are of the same quality as those from the Kenya Seed Company.
He said last year Kenya Seed produced 15 million kilograms of certified seed against a demand of 17.5 million kgs.
He urged Kenyans not to be swindled but buy the seeds at stipulated prices of 2,750 shillings per 25 kilogram bag 1,100 shillings for 10 kilogram bag and 230 shillings for a two kilogram bag for all varieties of certified maize seeds from Kenya Seed.
The minister said if the farmers were willing to buy seeds from private firms then the deficit would come down to only 200-thousand kgs.
But MPs claimed the seeds from the private firms do not germinate and questioned if the shortfall was a deliberate attempt to create a loophole for some unscrupulous Kenyans to reap the benefits.
Parliament was also informed that those carrying firearms illegally may face court martial if internal security assistant Orwa Ojode makes true his word to amend the fire arms act.
Ojode said anybody holding a firearm without a license definitely intends to commit crime and should be shown no mercy.
The assistant minister however ruled out the connection between the transportation of 2.5 tonnes of gold with the killing of Joseph Kiptarus a former assistant commissioner of investigations at KRA.
He said there has been no tangible evidence to connect the murder to the 8 billion shillings gold haul and police were following crucial leads in connection with the killing that might lead to arrest of some suspects.
Following the killing, Ojode said the government deployed security officers to support the work of KRA. Ojode was responding to a question by Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita.
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