BY ODUOR ONG'WEN
September 26, 2015
This President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government is a fraud. Kenyans should feel really angry with themselves for having a bunch of conmen and women masquerading of vicious anti-democratic hangmen with the country’s leadership.
A lot has been said of new and recurrent corruption in high places. If you thought this digital government had gone overboard by engineering the resignation of Mumo Matemu as the chair and Irene Keino and Jane Onsongo as commissioners of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, you ain't seen nothing yet!
The state has gone berserk and nothing of deliberate and concerted citizen action will rein it in. Cheating Kenyans about their ability to create a million jobs every single year has also been pointed out. I will spare you another commentary on these.
In January 2014, the Judicial Service Commission having interviewed applicants for the vacant positions of judges of the High Court, recommended to the President 25 persons to serve as judges.
Six months later the President decided to appoint only 11 out of the nominees as judges. By failing to approve all the nominees, the President violated the constitution as he is under mandatory duty to appoint, swear and gazette the judges as nominated by the JSC, without tinkering with the list.
On two occasions between July 2013 and July 2015 the Devolution ministry attempted to amend the Public Benefits Organisation Act, 2012 without operationalising the same.
The purport of this act is to defund nongovernmental organisations, control their programmes and create the so-called government-owned NGOs.
The import of these acts is to silence NGOs, CBOs and other civil society outfits that are not ready to play sycophant to the new Caesars.
On December 19, 2014, President Kenyatta assented to the Security Laws (Amendment) Act 2014 passed during a chaotic special sitting of the National Assembly
Cord, whose MPs had opposed the Bill on the floor of the House, together with other non-state actors, appealed to the courts on the basis of its unconstitutionality. On February 23, the High Court ruled that several sections of it were unconstitutional.
The President has also recently assented to the amended National Youth Service Act that has clear unconstitutional provisions. For instance, Section 17 of the Act purports to bestow the President with the power to deploy the NYS personnel to defend the nation in times of war either internally or across the borders.
This is in blatant contravention of Article 239 of the Constitution that does not include NYS among security organs. Article 239(4) of the Constitution clearly and unambiguously outlaws an attempt by any person to establish a military, paramilitary or a related organization purporting to promote or guarantee national security.
Therefore by signing into law an Act that gives him power to act in violation of the Constitution, the President abrogated his number one duty of protecting the Constitution as per his solemn Oath of Office.
The act of signing into law unconstitutional bills into law is not a onetime affair but has been trendy for the President. The High Court recently declared the Presidential Retirement Act that had granted former presidents Moi and Mwai Kibaki huge allowances and retirement benefits unconstitutional.
It would thus be right to conclude that the president and his advisers are either incompetent or the president is blatantly ignoring expert legal advice from his advisers.
That from the foregoing cited few instances of constitutional violations by the President, it is evident that the President has flagrantly and without compunction abrogated his duty of protecting the constitution and ensuring the rule of law.
The Country as a result is slowly turning into a lawless nation bedevilled with impunity and anarchy. It is thus behoves this National Assembly to rise to the occasion and save this country from being declared a failed State.
Recently, the Labour Relations and Employment Court teachers a salary increment of between 50-60 percent to teachers. The TSC appealed the decision in the Court of Appeal, which declined to stay the implementation of that Order.
In a further application to the Supreme Court, the Court declined an invitation by the Teachers Service Commission to adjudicate over the matter holding that it had no jurisdiction at the time to delve into the matter.
In total disregard of these constitutional adjudication mechanisms, Kenyatta in breach of his oath of Office and the Constitution on September 11 at a media briefing at State House Nairobi openly declared that he won’t pay the teachers.
Unless Kenyans rise as one to say a collective “NO” to this creeping return of dictatorship, we don’t know how far these turncoat reformers will go. They are bringing the Chief’s Act back in the name of restructuring provincial administration? Watch this space.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/no-one-safe-new-tyranny#sthash.JwLgzioF.dpuf
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