CIC chairman Charles Nyachae has asked Parliament to speed up discussions on the Independent Electoral Commission Bill and the c and Remuneration Commission Bill. Photo/FILE
By GEKARA MAYAKA gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, May 15 2011 at 21:54
Posted Sunday, May 15 2011 at 21:54
Parliament is yet to pass two critical Bills on elections and the team that will determine salaries.
They ought to have been enacted by Sunday.
According the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, the two laws ought to have been passed by May 15.
Mr Charles Nyachae, the chairman of the Commission on Implementation of the new Constitution has asked Parliament to speed up discussions on the Independent Electoral Commission Bill and the c and Remuneration Commission Bill.
The salaries commission is mandated to determine terms of service for state officials.
“The National Assembly must not be allowed to stall the implementation. The process is a chain and every participant must do their part, from line ministries to Parliament,” said Mr Nyachae.
“We want both quality and content within the timelines set in the Fifth Schedule of the new Constitution and Kenyans should be vigilant to ensure that all the implementation organs meet the deadlines.”
Following a crisis in the Ababu Namwamba-led committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, Speaker Kenneth Marende asked the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee to review the two Bills. (READ: Justice team won’t handle Bill)
The committee has said it will start collecting views on the Bills from the public starting Tuesday.
However, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo objected to the decision to pass the Bills to the committee, saying it would be wrong to have a team whose members are ministers scrutinise a Bill they had already reviewed in Cabinet.
The department committee is critical in the scrutiny of many reform Bills and vetting of candidates for appointment to key posts such as Chief Justice.
The Orange Democratic Movement withdrew its members from the committee following a vote of no confidence in Mr Namwamba.
PNU members of the committee had accused Mr Namwamba (ODM) of high-handedness and disrespectful conduct.
Mr Kilonzo said if the dispute was not resolved, the oversight team chaired by Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohammed of PNU will vet Dr Willy Mutunga and Ms Nancy Barasa as Chief Justice and deputy CJ, respectively.
But at the weekend, Prime Minister Raila Odinga came to Mr Namwamba’s defence, saying he was being crucified for his opposition to President Kibaki’s botched nominations for the posts of Chief Justice and Attorney-General.
“Mr Namwamba’s only crime is recording a minority opinion that President Kibaki’s so-called nominations were unconstitutional,” he told the Sunday Nation.
The Nyachae team has asked Parliament to sort out the wrangles in the committee.
“What is going on in Parliament is a matter of concern. The wrangles may harm the implementation in terms of quality and timelines. Politics should not derail implementation of the new Constitution,” Mr Nyachae said.
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