Debate centres around sharing of power between president and prime minister

The sharing of power between the president and the prime minister was one of the hottest issues of discussion as Kenyans debated the new constitution.

Kadhi courts and devolution also attracted attention, as debate on the draft enters its second week. Kenyans now have three weeks to debate the draft law and propose changes.

Among those who gave their responses on the draft was Nairobi Metropolitan Development minister Njeru Githae who said it needed to be amended to “represent the views of majority Kenyans”.

He said he did not think the Committee of Experts, charged with writing the new constitution, had given Kenyans the document they wanted.

“Having two centres of powers is a recipe for chaos and the committee should stop experimenting on the lives of our people,” he said at Nguini-ini Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Kirinyaga West district.

Derail the process

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka asked leaders to be tolerant so that the new constitution can be passed. He said the draft would help the country achieve many things that it has been yearning for.

Speaking in Eldoret at the weekend, Mr Musyoka cautioned politicians not to say things that might derail the process.

“Politicians should not utter things that can ruin the process and the country like what happened last year,” he said.

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula also objected to what he termed the creation of two centres of power. He argued that Kenya should either adopt the parliamentary or presidential system, but not both.

“At face value, the draft appears popular. It has good clauses worth adoption but has issues that need to be looked at critically,” Mr Wetang’ula said.

And, speaking at Usao Secondary School in Mbita, Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ supported clipping of the powers of the presidency. The abuse of powers vested in the presidency was the reason Kenyans had been agitating for constitutional change, he argued.

The Catholic Church said it will make its position on the draft law public in the next two weeks.

John Cardinal Njue told a Peace and Reconciliation Mass at Molo that the draft required thorough scrutiny and appealed to the public to understand it to avoid the process being hijacked by politicians.

During the 2005 referendum, politicians took over the process from the public even before people could understand the Wako draft, he said.