CIOC opposes Bill on elections date

Parliament’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee has opposed the Cabinet-sponsored Bill to amend Kenya’s Constitution.

The Bill was tabled in the House on Wednesday afternoon.

Addressing a news conference at Parliament buildings in Nairobi Thursday, the CIOC chairman Abdikadir Mohammed said his team will not be held hostage by the procedural blunder that led to the admission of the controversial Bill in the House.

Mr Mohammed said the exercise of First Reading of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, was “not a mechanical exercise but should be informed by substance”. He said the minister had to respond to the issues raised about the validity of the Bill, for the MPs to sanction the First Reading.

According to House rules, the First Reading of the Bill involves the reading of the title of the Bill, which in effect places it formally before Parliament for the legislative process to begin.

In the House, confusion reigned as Deputy Leader of Government Business Amos Kimunya and Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno differed on the status of the Bill. While Mr Kimunya had told the House that the Bill had been introduced and the 90-day countdown of public debate had began, Mr Otieno said the Bill was not formally before the House.

Mr Kimunya then said the Bill had been introduced, only that that introduction of the Bill “had not been concluded.”

The CIOC on its part said that the House will only agree to deal with the Bill after Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo consulted the lawmakers over the “form of the Bill”. The committee noted that it was wrong to put together the amendment to manage the two-thirds gender threshold in elective posts, with the proposal to change the election date.

“Our view is that this Bill ought not to be introduced. Amendment of the Constitution should be handled with a lot of restraint,” the CIOC chairman said. He recalled that the repealed Constitution “had very many amendments on very flimsy grounds” to an extent that its soul was mutilated.

He was categorical that the Cabinet proposal to change the election date from the second Tuesday of August to the third Monday of December of every fifth year should be dropped.

“The issue of the election date does not require an amendment,” Mr Mohammed said. “Amending the Constitution is not a simple thing.  It should not be used to clarify things that are already being handled by the appropriate arm of government. Since the courts are seized of this matter, we should wait!”

He added that the CIOC had the view that the country should not be subjected to haphazard amendment of the Constitution, because, that will erode the country’s budding democracy.

“(Parliament’s power) to amend the Constitution should be used when it is absolutely necessary. Our view is that during this transition period, we must initiate a proper constitutional culture,” said the CIOC chairman.

He added that the 80 new constituencies should be included in the next polls, because it will be illegal to have constituencies less than the 290 stipulated in the Constitution. The law provides for 290 constituencies. Kenya has 210 constituencies. The remaining 80 are top of the list of the task that the day-old Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has to conclude.

The CIOC chairman said his committee backed a December election date, because Parliament has to serve its full five-year term.

“The term of Parliament is five years. Our term began on the day we were elected…five years from that date is a date that you all know,” he said. The last elections were held in December 27, 2007, and Parliament first sat on January 15, 2008.

MPs Gitobu Imanyara (Imenti Central) and Danson Mungatana (Garsen) have questioned the constitutionality of the Bill saying there was no consultation before it was generated. They also termed it as an affront to the jurisdiction of the courts which were handling the matter. The fate of the Bill will be decided on Tuesday.