Govt: 2012 politics threat to Kenya's new law

The succession politics of 2012 and the high expectations among Kenyans may hinder the effective implementation of the new Constitution, the government has said.

“Many politicians will consider the new Constitution good or bad depending on its impact on their 2012 political ambitions,” the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Secretary Gichira Kibaara told a symposium Thursday.

“They are likely to be tempted to include in proposed legislations provisions that favour their ambitions and resist those that would give advantage to their opponents.”

The country goes to polls under the new Constitution in 2012 with politicians already positioning themselves for the Kibaki succession.

This has led to talk of camps such as the KKK alliance that revolves around Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Higher Education minister William Ruto.

Mr Kibaara cautioned institutions and individuals who will be tasked with the implementation process to expect even more challenges along the way.

Creating the regional governments has been identified as the one that would face severest test as politicians go out in such of votes.

He said the government was working round the clock to bring all the stakeholders together so that these challenges can be addressed at the drafting stage of the new bills.

The symposium that ends Friday is organised by the Society for International Development to explore ideas on implementing the new Constitution.

According to Mr Kibaara, the challenges that could impede the process of getting the new order in place would also stem from resistance to change especially within the bureaucracy and those who voted against the new Constitution at the August 4 referendum.

“It will be naïve to assume that those who opposed the new Constitution on the basis of personal and group interests will give up their positions overnight. We all have to work extra hard to overcome these interests,” he said.

Other impediments the Ministry of Justice expects stem from religious intolerance, inadequate capacity locally, political patronage and culture of bad governance entrenched in the Executive and Legislature.