A million views on Kenya's draft constitution

The panel managing the drafting of Kenya's new Constitution has declared the 30-day public debate on the law as successful after receiving "more than one million" suggestions.

However, the Committee of Experts ruled out any increase on period for public debate as requested by some groups. They said on Thursday that such an extension can only be granted through changes to the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Act, 2008. This effectively rules out the possibility of any extension on the public debate on the draft constitution after the stipulated 30 days lapse today as parliament is in recess.

Addressing a Press conference in Nairobi, CoE chairman Nzamba Kitonga said: “The 30 days period is statutory and it can only be extended if parliament amends the law. Kenyans should appreciate the strict timelines that we have had to follow according to the Act.”

A million views

The experts added that they will now embark on a 21 day period which will see them analyse the representations submitted by the public and other interest groups. Mr Kitonga said that they had received more than a million submissions.

Mr Kitonga also indicated that all views carried equal importance and no group will receive preferential treatment. He noted that all views – including those by ordinary Kenyans – have equal weight and would all be analysed to help fine tune the draft.

After the expiry of the 21 days on January 7, the experts will hand over the draft to the Parliamentary Select committee on the review process chaired by Mandera Central MP Mohammed Abdikadir. The 27 inter-party team will have 21 days to reach consensus especially on the contentious issues.

The draft will then go back to the experts who will have 21 days to consider the recommendations of the PSC and make the necessary revisions.

According to the Constitution of Kenya Review Act 2008 - the law guiding the process - the PSC will present the revised draft and the experts’ report to parliament for 30 days of debate. Parliament will have to muster at least 148 MPs to change any clause in the draft constitution.

The review Act indicates that two-thirds of the House must approve proposed amendments that would then be sent to Attorney-General. But only the Committee of Experts can make changes to the draft to incorporate the views of ordinary Kenyans and interest groups.
According to the Act, passed on December 16, 2008, by 169 votes with no opposition and no abstention, MPs will have very little to say about what the final draft will look like. The law takes away the legislative powers of parliament, which allows MPs to amend bills on the floor of the House.

The Committee of Experts will within seven days of receipt of the draft constitution consider the proposed amendments and resubmit the document to Parliament.

Second take

The MPs will then take another look at the draft and can only propose amendments by a two-thirds majority vote of all members.

If they fail to approve the draft a second time, Mr Kitonga will be required to call joint meetings of his team, the PSC and the Reference Group.

There are nine experts driving the process, 27 MPs sit on the PSC, and the Reference Group is made up of 30 representatives from different interest groups.

The meetings will consider the contentious issues and make recommendations to Parliament within a period of not more than seven days. The Reference Group will help the experts and the PSC to resolve any contentious issues that remain unresolved after the draft goes through Parliament.

“Upon decision of the meeting, the Committee of Experts shall, within seven days, revise the draft Constitution and submit a report and the new draft Constitution to the National Assembly,” Section 33(9) of the draft reads.

At this point, Parliament is bound by the decision of the 66-member team and is required by the Act to approve the draft within 21 days and submit it to the AG for publication. And it is at this point that the role of Parliament in the review process ends.