MPs vow to keep off party politics in debating draft

• Parliamentary group seeking consensus on recommendations to make on document

Members of the Parliamentary Caucus on Reforms have vowed to keep party politics out of the debate on the harmonised draft constitution.

Briefing the media after a two-day discussion forum at a Naivasha hotel on Saturday, Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch cautioned other politicians against commenting on the draft before understanding how various sections and clauses inter-relate.

“The fear that political class will interfere with the process is unfounded,” said the legislator who spoke on behalf of the more than 30 MPs.

He said after further deliberations, the group will have a consensus on what recommendations to make to the Committee of Experts.

He said the MPs had already debated the Chapter 12 that deals with the Executive and had looked at the presidency and the vice presidency quite exhaustively.

“We are also going to look at what the draft says pertaining to the issue of Prime Minister,” said Mr Aluoch.

The purpose of the deliberations, he said, was to understand what the draft says in the Kenyan context to enable MPs make comments from an informed position.

“We are looking at the draft proposals word by word,” said the legislator

On Friday, the Parliamentary group said it would prioritise the Constitution making process.

“From Parliament, there is a determination in reading and understanding this draft and for the next 30 days, our plan is to make sure we read and understand each and every proposal that is contained in the draft,” said Garsen MP Danson Mungatana who spoke on behalf of the group.

The MPs said they were discussing issues on devolved government, Legislature and the Executive as contained in the harmonised draft constitution.
Mr Mungatana said they discussed at length draft proposal in the chapter that deals with devolution.

The MP appealed to Kenyans to read and understand the draft, saying there were very good proposals in the document.

He urged politicians and other stakeholders to pinpoint areas that required amendments instead of dismissing the entire document.

“We want to have an acceptable document for all the Kenyans,” said Mr Mungatana.

He said Parliament was committed to ensuring that Kenyans got a new constitution.