Saturday, June 15, 2013

Marende reveals he would engage Kibaki, Raila before rulings


Marende reveals he would engage Kibaki, Raila before rulings


Former Speaker Kenneth Marende has for the first time spoken about his life and the fiveyear stint in Parliament since he lost his seat to Justin Muturi. Marende says he has moved on and is currently engaged in agribusiness in his farm in Kitale. In addition, he is engaged at his private law firm in Mombasa, Marende Birir and Company Advocates as well as consultancy work. In an interview, which also aired on our sister television station, K24, on Friday, the former Emuhaya MP, however, said he is willing to take up any job in the public service to serve Kenyans. According to him, he is prepared to serve Kenyans by contributing to the well being of the country. He said: “I am prepared to be available for any position in the public service if this is going to contribute to the welfare of this nation.” Marende, who served as Speaker of the National Assembly between 2008 and 2013, said although he enjoyed his tenure, he does not miss the job. He said: “As at where we are today, I do not miss that seat. I have decided that life must go on beyond and away from Parliament.” Marende who looked composed and firm just like when he was Speaker, said losing the position to Muturi was one of the lowest moments in his life. According to him, he had not anticipated that he would lose the seat but had to accept the results since it was within MPs democratic right to do so. He said: “Of course, losing an election was my lowest moment. I had not anticipated that would happen but I have to accept this because these are the consequences of democracy.” The idea of taking up the position of Speaker, he said was one that required a lot of consideration, soul searching and determination, adding he had atone point toyed with the idea of not contesting after the 2007 elections in which he was elected Emuhaya MP. However, he said that made a decision to continue with the race so as not to let down his party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which had sponsored him to Parliament. “I wondered really whether it wasworth it to leave my seat as an MP. However, it was too late and through power of prayer, I decided I would soldier on and face the music as it comes.” During his tenure as the Speaker, Marende said he faced a lot of challenges as well as high moments especially with the rulings that he made. The challenges, he said, started from the day he was sworn in as the speaker when ODM MPs almost derailed the swearing in ceremony as they protested the outcome of the presidential bid, which saw President Kibaki controversially re-elected. Not an easy task But he said he was prepared and able to deal with the situation, owing to the fact that he had a background in law. He also said he had to take time offand party a lot as he reflect on what happened and relieve the anxiety the challenges brought his way. According to Marende, serving under the grand coalition governments headed by Kibaki and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a compromise to end the 2007/08 post-election violence was not an easy task since the two principals sometimes never saw eye to eye. Such moments, he said, called for divine interventions, revealing for the first time he used to personally engage the two leaders and make them agree before making any rulings on the floor of the House. Final ruling He cited the controversy over position of Leader of Government Business in the House after Kibaki and Raila disagreed on who should hold the position. He said he made great effort to resolve the issue amicably. He also cited the issue of MPs paying taxes which had to be resolved in the board room rather through the media. He argued while managing such situation, he tried as much as possible to stay away from controversy by ensuring he made his decisions away from the media, adding he ensured he delivered his rulings 30 minutes before time after carefully looking at all options.According to him, although he was assisted by top officials from Parliament, he ensured he wrote the final ruling himself and keep it in his office in a way that no one would be able to access it. He added: “My style of leadership was done in a manner that was strategic and one that will produce results. I can tell you that even if there was lobbying and attempts to influence the way I would make decisions the final say would be mine.” But despite the challenges, Marende said that he had scored very well in his tenure as the Speaker. According to him, the 10th Parliament had taken its rightful role and ensured that it carried out its duties as expected. He cited the introduction of ICT in parliament, the live broadcasts as well as the opening of the parliamentary training centre where currently officers from Parliament and county assemblies are being trained. On the current National Assembly, Marende opted not to say much only asking Kenyans to give the parliamentarians time to sort out issues that have generated controversy.

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