Mediocrity A Threat To New Constitution

Tuesday, 10 May 2011 15:26 BY MIGUNA MIGUNA

Ignorance is bliss. When its affliction is restricted to an “ordinary” individual or a few of them, society is capable of progressing without hindrance. But ignorance becomes a national tragedy when the ignorant occupies an important national constitutional office and is either unable or unwilling to acknowledge it and continues hurtling down like a train wreck. It’s worse when the problem is widespread. That’s what is happening with the constitutional implementation process.
Examine closely the individuals appointed to superintend over the implementation process – from the Constitutional bodies to the Parliamentary ones – and one gets the impression that the exclusion of the most qualified individuals capable of those onerous tasks was deliberate. Kenyans with integrity, unimpeachable competence and reform credentials who fought autocracy and dictatorship have been deliberately relegated to spectators during this crucial stage.
Instead - and except for a few - the most ruthlessly retrogressive anti-reformers that undermined the democratization process and subverted the rule of law over the years are the same ones in charge of the implementation process. They draft incompetent and incoherent legislation with the sole purpose of undermining both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. They have deliberately avoided the conception and preparation of progressive policies, which would act as a guide to the legislative drafting. They do so in order to maintain the status quo.
Can someone please explain to me why all the progressive and most qualified commissioners of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission were excluded from the CIC? Why hasn’t the Revenue Allocation Commission done anything yet? How come David Ndii, Feroze Norwejee, Paul Muite, Maina Kiai, Yash Pal Ghai, Mutakha Kangu, Abubakar Zein and many other impeccably qualified Kenyans been excluded from the newly established constitutional bodies?
It is akin to removing the most experienced pilots from the cockpit and replacing them with the cabin crew on a supersonic jet when it is on the runway ready for takeoff. Without a doubt, the jet will crash. Yet, we are carrying on blissfully as if the untested hands on the controls are aviation experts. They are not. That is why the CIC continues to operate as an NGO or just another department within the Ministry of Justice!
The problem is compounded when those assigned important national duties are mediocre and lack integrity. It is inconceivable that those who opposed, or were agnostic to, the reform and democratization processes would be capable of effectively steering the implementation of the Constitution. How do Kenyans expect those who fought against the constitutional review process and the enactment of the Constitution to be responsible for the implementation process?
Of course, the Moi Orphans, YK’92, PNU, KKK and other “coalition of impunity” members don’t want the Constitution to be implemented fully and quickly. Those amongst them that looted public land and resources fear that the long arm of the law will catch up with them. Those responsible for gross violation of human rights are fretting. Naturally, we should expect them to conspire to undermine the implementation process. They will not support the Agenda Four reforms. Reforming the judiciary implies that they will no longer bribe judges and buy justice. Reforming the police entails that proper investigations of their shady past will occur. Establishing a credible independent prosecutorial authority means that they will no longer be able to conceal evidence, refuse to call witnesses and subvert justice.
Yesterday, they insisted on appointing their friends, relatives and acolytes to prime Constitutional offices. They also wasted hundreds of millions on the “shuttle diplomacy” and “deferral” comedy. Today, they want to remove Hon. Ababu Namwamba from chairing the Justice and Legal Committee. They also want to undermine the ICC process. Tomorrow, they want to continue controlling the treasury, judiciary, parliament, police, electoral and boundaries commission, the Public Service, the military and the intelligence service in order to perpetuate impunity.
That’s why I am disappointed by the Nation Media Group’s (NMG) misguided priorities. How can one attempt to draw an illegitimate parallel between the trips the Prime Minister has made abroad and those of the Vice President? How can any self-respecting media accuse the PM of wasting public funds for the Cote d’Ivoire-related trips when even a toddler knows those were funded by the African Union? How does anyone compare that to the more than twenty trips the VP and a large coterie of hangers on made during the “deferral” fiasco? To compare the PM’s trip to the World Economic Forum on climate change in South Africa with the VP’s “shuttle diplomacy” to two dozen countries shows clearly that a section of the Kenyan media is as rudderless as our politicians.
The NMG has also criticized the Judicial Service Commission for rigorously questioning the applicants for Chief Justice. After my initial disappointment at the number of shortlisted “system” men and women who served the one party dictatorship with dedication, I have since then marveled at the meticulous interviews. To determine the new CJ’s integrity, competence, leadership and reform credentials, the JSC must conduct vigorous, detailed and searing interviews like it is doing. Bravo the JSC!

Miguna is the PM’s adviser for coalition affairs. The views expressed here are his own.