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Chairman of the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution Charles Nyachae has said politicians are the stumbling block in the on-going rollout of Kenya’s nine-month-old Constitution May 27, 2011. HEZRON NJOROGE
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU, ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, May 27 2011 at 15:10
Posted Friday, May 27 2011 at 15:10
Politicians are the stumbling block in the on-going rollout of Kenya’s nine-month-old Constitution, the custodians of the implementation process said Friday.
Speaking at a news conference at Nairobi’s Delta House, Charles Nyachae, the chairman of the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution, blamed MPs for the delay.
While noting that it was not CIC’s business to share out the blame in the snail-paced rollout of a fresh governance regime, he said that MPs have no excuse for delaying the process, especially after President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga expedited their roles in the implementation process.
“This process is like a train, it has to keep moving and if it stops anywhere, it affects the movement in its entirety,” said Mr Nyachae.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission Bills, are, for now, stuck in the august House.
“Up to the point that they (those two Bills) got to the National Assembly, we were on schedule…those two bills are delaying in Parliament,” the CIC chairman said.
Similarly, a political contest between the coalition partners --ODM and PNU-- in Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, has put on ice the approval of nominees to the post of Chief Justice and deputy CJ-- Dr Willy Mutunga and Ms Nancy Barasa respectively-- and the nominee for Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko.
“To allow those political differences to impede the implementation process, a situation we are now seeing in the face, would be a fundamental betrayal to the Kenyan people in their trust to all of us,” said the CIC chairman flanked by commissioner Kamotho Waiganjo.
“…the political will necessary for us to implement this Constitution is coming into doubt."
He added: “We’re not seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”
The CIC chairman noted that the apprehension that Kenyans had on Promulgation Day, about the reluctance of the political elite to deliver the fresh promise of the Constitution, was, perhaps, genuine.
“I don’t need to tell the National Assembly what its role is; the MPs know what their role is. I don’t need to read the Constitution to the National Assembly because they are able to read and understand what the timelines are and they know what these timelines are,” Mr Nyachae said.
The CIC’s criticism of the august House comes at a time when Parliament is deadlocked over a crucial team to spearhead the approval of the key judicial nominees.
Given the ping-pong in Parliament, the commission now wants President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to step in and sort out the political mess stirred by their troops in the House.
“We urge that they do all that is within the individual and joint goodwill as the political heads of the parliamentary parties, to shield the implementation process from the vagaries of partisan political considerations within the National Assembly,” Mr Nyachae said.
President Kibaki has already pleaded with MPs to stop political sideshows. House Speaker Kenneth Marende too has assured the country that Parliament will deliver on its duties.
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