Kenya recruits foreign drafters for new law

Kenya has enlisted the services of four experienced foreign legal drafters from the Commonwealth secretariat to help it prepare crucial Bills required to enforce the new constitution.

The experts will join a team of local drafters drawn from the Attorney General’s office and the Kenya Law Reform Commission in preparing 49 Bills required to bring the Constitution into operation.

Attorney General Amos Wako named the four as Mr Michael Shane Wright from New Zealand, Mr Ian Gray from the UK, Mr Werner Krull from Canada and Ms Margaret Nduwula from Uganda.

Mr Wright will assist in drafting legislation in the area of Finance, Mr Gray (Land), Mr Krull (Devolution) while Ms Nduwula will deal with electoral system and people’s representation.

Once drafted the Bills will be handed over to the Charles Nyachae-led Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) for fine tuning before they are tabled before Parliament.

By the end of this year, Parliament is required to at least pass 16 new laws to lay ground for the implementation process.

“The experts will also provide advice to government ministries, departments and agencies on legislative and other legal matters within their areas of specialisation,” said Mr Wako in Nairobi on Wednesday before a closed door meeting with members of the CIC who were sworn in Tuesday.

Severe shortage

The country has a severe shortage of legal drafters. Not all of the drafters at the AG’s office, the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) and Parliament have the experience to deal with the proposed laws in the new Constitution.

This prompted the Government seek assistance from the international community.

Mr Wako last year flew to London to negotiate for more drafters from the Commonwealth secretariat to join the government team. Mr Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth secretary-general, said last year that the drafters will initially concentrate on the Bills that will bring into force chapters on Devolution, Public Finance, People’s representation and Land.

On Wednesday, Mr Wako told the CIC members that even though their appointment was a bit delayed, he was confident that they will deliver.

“I know that you will play your part in ensuring that political expediency, undue influence in furtherance of personal or ethnic interest or short cuts will not play any role in the implementation of the Constitution,” he said.

He went on; “Let us redouble our efforts to ensure that the maximum number possible of legislation passes through our hands in the next few months.”

The AG asked the commission to prioritise the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Bill and Judicial Service Bill to unlock reforms in the judiciary.

“I kindly request that you give urgent considerations to these Bills,” he said.

And he announced that he had so far received - from the Internal Security Ministry - the National Police Service Bill, the National Police Service Commission Bill, the Independent Policing Oversight Bill and the Private Security Industry Regulation Bill.

He had also received the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Bill that had been recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs.

The Bills are currently awaiting consideration by the Commission for the implementation of the Constitution and Cabinet.

Mr Nyachae said he expected the government to fully fund their operations.

“We do not expect funding to be a problem...we shall be laying out these expectations to the government,” he said.