Draft constitution ready

The Committee of Experts on the constitutional review has finally unveiled the harmonised draft constitution.

Both the President and the Prime Minister will have executive powers. The President shall be the Head of State, Commander In Chief of the armed forces and the chairperson of the National Security Council.

The Prime Minister shall be the head of government, direct and coordinate the work of the ministries and preparation of legislation and preside at meetings of the cabinet.

Kenyans will now have one month to debate the draft and give suggestions on the changes they would like to have.

Speaking after releasing the harmonized draft at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), committee chairman Nzamba Kitonga said they did a balancing act in a move to resolve the controversy over the executive powers.
Kitonga said the new draft takes into account agenda 4 of the national accord. The new draft is to be scrutinized by the public from tomorrow (Wednesday) for the next 30 days.

The parliamentary select committee on constitution will then present the draft to parliament for debate before being subjected to a referendum early next year.

The committee of experts has however urged Kenyans to support the due review process and finally accord the country a new constitution.

The committee said they analyzed the existing draft constitutions which they harmonized to come up with the new document.

Speaking during the launch, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka agreed that Kenyans wanted a new constitution.

Raila Odinga challenged leaders to put aside ego to accelerate constitutional making now that the harmonized draft was out for scrutiny.

He noted that the journey to give Kenyans a new constitution was long and tedious and called on leaders to respect divergent views and arrive at a compromise in an attempt to re-write the new law.

"The country cannot not afford to lose this historical opportunity to deliver the long awaited document that Kenyans have yearned for long" he said .

The Premier urged the public, civil society and all stakeholders to interrogate the draft and come up with suggestions to be incorporated in the final draft.

There was also a general consensus on the need to carry out reforms in the judiciary.

Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo thanked the CoE and assured Kenyans that the government did not influence the content of the draft constitution.

Mutula said the committee of experts were allowed to work independently to produce a document that would lead the country to posterity.

He asked politicians to desist from issuing inflammatory statements on the draft but instead focus their efforts to consensus building.

Impeachment

He appealed to Kenyans to be tolerant and not to focus only on the contentious issues. Mutula said Kenyans are free to make further suggestions on how to resolve the contentious issues.

According to the draft the President and the Vice President can also be impeached by parliament. The Prime minister can be sacked by the President with the backing of the parliament.

The draft also proposes the appointment of non-politicians into the cabinet. It also proposes a limit on the number of cabinet ministers to check appointments through political affiliations.

Other proposals include a two chamber house that shall consist of the Senate and the National Assembly. The senate shall consist of members elected one each by the counties, women elected two by the regions, persons with disabilities and the speaker as an ex-official.

The National Assembly shall consist of members elected one each by the constituencies, women elected one each by the counties, seven members with disabilities, seven from marginalized communities and the speaker.

The devolution chapter proposes a two tire system that comprises of the Regional governments and county governments.