IMANYARA'S COUP

After rejecting the Government’s Bill seeking to create a local tribunal to try suspects of the post-election violence back in February, Parliament now wants to take the initiative of creating one via a private member’s bill which, if approved by the Speaker, will be in the House for debating and possible passing anytime soon.Coming two weeks after the Cabinet gave up on the local tribunal option due to sharp disagreements among ministers, the bill drafted by Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara, would, if passed, amount to a major coup against the executive by Parliament.

Mr Imanyara, who says the Bill is a result of wide consultations among MPs, will be relying on the so-called official opposition coalition comprising MPs from various parties who have been clamouring for the creation of a grand official opposition to check the Grand Coalition Government.On Thursday, the MPs reportedly met visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the US embassy for talks on long overdue reforms in government and ending entrenched impunity in the country.The MPs, who included Ikolomani’s Bonny Khalwale, Garsen’s Danson Mungatana and Yatta’s Charles Kilonzo also used the 30-minute meeting with Mrs Clinton to ask for the US support in their quest to create a formal Opposition in the House.

Apart from the Opposition coalition, Imanyara will also be hoping to rope in parties like Martha Karua’s Narc Kenya which are not fully included in the Grand Coalition Government and which sharply criticized the government’s recent decision to ignore the creation of a local tribunal as per the recommendations of the Waki Commission.While the Cabinet is yet to react to the MPs’ new initiative, it is unlikely that it will back the plan which virtually takes away its traditional role of originating bills. The MPs have used the window provided by the new Standing Orders which allows MPs to draft private members bills. The Bill would not need the presidential assent after it is passed and the Speaker’s signature would be enough to render it law.

Though it borrows widely from both from the Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo’s Bill which was shelved by the Cabinet and his predecessor’s Martha Karua’s which Parliament rejected, Imanyara’s Bill still anticipates that the suspects in the Waki list who bear the greatest responsibility will be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.The Cabinet appeared to have effectively shut the doors on both the local tribunal and ICC options when it declared that the just established, Bethuel Kiplagat-led Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) and the local courts would be strengthened to deal with the post-election violence cases.

The Government’s decision, which was settled on after weeks of haggling in the Cabinet over a local tribunal Bill, was opposed by many including MPs, civil society, religious groups and foreign missions. Private citizens have also loudly registered serious reservations via opinion polls conducted by media houses, with most polls showing that many were opposed to the Cabinet’s resolution.The influential National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) asked the Government to resign and call new elections. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and the Law Society of Kenya came out strongly to oppose the Cabinet.

On Friday, the European Union threatened to hold back funding from TJRC if the Government used it to try post-election violence suspects. TJRC has however clarified that its role is to probe historical injustices and try violence suspects.The wave of discontent against the Cabinet’s trashing of the local tribunal is likely to work in favour of Mr Imanyara’s Bill, with the groups who have opposed the Cabinet coming out to support the Bill. Cabinet ministers who were in favour of a local tribunal are also likely to break ranks with their colleagues in the Cabinet and vote for the Bill when it is brought to Parliament. Some of the concerns that reportedly divided the Cabinet in Mutula’s Bill – such as the issue of taking away the President’s immunity from prosecution incase he is in the list of suspects – has been retained in Imanyara’s Bill.

The Bill however seeks to assure Kenyans that in the event of the President, Prime minister and Vice President being indicted by the courts, provisions would be put in place to ensure that a power vacuum does not result. The Bill proposes that in case of such an eventuality, the Speaker of the National Assembly or a minister agreed upon by the Cabinet, would serve in an acting capacity until a replacement is found through fresh polls or otherwise.It will be interesting to see how the cabinet will react to this latest development considering that its meeting on Friday chaired by President Kibaki skirted around the issue that has dominated headlines over the last fortnight.

In its apparent commitment to defend its members who could be in the envelop sent to the ICC, the cabinet has remained tightlipped amidst mounting pressure to have the government show its commitment to have the perpetrators of the pst election violence exposed and punished.In her visit to the country this week, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was candid that her country was watching the government’s lucklustre pace in implementing reforms that would guarantee full democracy and restoration of peace after the post election violence. She said America supported a tribunal and shared Kenyans popular believe that the TJRC was not the way to go.

Imanyara’s move was largely driven by the MPs full realisation that the country was keen to see the violence perpetrators tried and convicted. The MPs further want to disapprove claims by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga that the cabinet decision to form a TJRC arose after parliament rejected the formation of a tribunal