Revealed: What new constitution says

• Team of experts does a balancing job of dispersing power and entrenching rights

The proposed constitution provides for an executive prime minister, a two-chamber parliament and devolution, according to a working draft seen by the Daily Nation.

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In a sign of hope for reforms, the Committee of Experts has substantially finished writing the new constitution and is fine-tuning it in readiness for publication this week.

On Monday, Attorney-General Amos Wako was in meetings with the committee and therefore changes may be made to the draft reported here.

The draft proposes a radical overhaul of the way the country is governed. It proposes a majimbo system with governments at the national, provincial and country levels.

The national government will be made up of two houses of parliament and an executive consisting of the State President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

The draft will propose a powerful executive prime minister who will play the roles now assigned to the President in the current Constitution.

However, the prime minister will not be the head of state, chairman of the national security committee and the commander-in-chief, roles which will continue to be played by the president.

The prime minister is not elected directly by the people, rather, he is picked by MPs from amongst themselves.

The proposed draft constitution scheduled for publishing this week is promising to radically alter governance in Kenya.

The Cabinet will be made up of a maximum of 20 ministers, all nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the president.

The prime minister, who will be in charge of the running of the government, will have leeway to appoint up to half of his Cabinet from outside parliament.

The proposal effectively transfers executive authority from the presidency to a prime minister, who will be the leader of the party with the most MPs.

The president, who retains some powers, will still have to be popularly elected, and must get more than 50 per cent of the national vote in addition to 25 per cent of the vote in at least five provinces.

The president will still have the power to appoint public officials, but in consultation with the prime minister and at times with the authorisation of parliament.

The president will not be an MP and will not sit in the Cabinet. But he or she will remain the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and have the power to sign Bills into law.