Human rights group protests clause exclusion

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) on Friday protested over the removal of clauses concerning their organisation from the revised harmonised draft constitution.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitution Review also removed the Economic and Social Rights from the Bill of Rights from the same draft and excluded protection of the civil society. During a press conference at their offices in Nairobi, the state human rights watchdog asked the committee to rescind its decision. “If the MPs don’t revoke the decision,” KNCHR said, “Parliament should not heed their recommendations.”

According to the commission, its exclusion from the harmonised draft will undermine its ability to be an effective protector and promoter of human rights. KNCHR was established under an Act of Parliament and commissioners have been complaining that being at the mercy of the House makes them ineffective.

The parliamentary team will return to Naivasha on Sunday afternoon to continue with the discussions. “It is now clear that the MPs cannot make a fair constitution for Kenyans,” said KNCHR vice chairman Hassan Omar Hassan. In a prepared statement read by commissioner Fatuma Dullo, the human rights watchdog said what the committee had done went against both local and international standards.

In Naivasha, civil society activists on Friday descended on the Great Rift Valley Lodge in an attempt to scuttle the MPs’ debate on the constitution. The activists wanted to show their displeasure with the Parliamentary Select Committee’s decision to lock out lobby groups from the draft Constitution they were discussing. The MPs, during the debate on the Bill of Rights, had said there were some “unenforceable” clauses that ought not to be in the Constitution.

Disrupt retreat

The activists arrived at the secluded lodge in two buses but the police and hotel security prevented them from getting into the venue. Hotel sources told the Saturday Nation that some of the activists arrived on Thursday night and checked into hotel rooms. However, their motive to disrupt the lawmakers’ retreat was discovered and they were evicted from the lodge and their money refunded.

Led by Mr Churchill Suba and Mr Paddy Onyango, they said they were protesting the removal of the post of the Prime Minister from the draft and outlawing gay marriages, which they called “trans-sexual rights”. In related news, some women parliamentarians have opposed a proposal in the revised draft constitution that political parties nominate women representatives to regional assemblies.

They instead want competitive election to the counties, arguing that political parties cannot be trusted to accord women fair and effective representation. “Favouritism will take centre stage if political parties are allowed to nominate leaders at the country level since most of them are formed on ethnic or regional basis,” argued Prof Margaret Kamar, the MP for Eldoret East. The revised draft constitution proposes the formation of 47 counties, where each is expected to elect a woman to the National Assembly.

And a national youth organisation has warned the parliamentary select committee on the Constitution against hijacking the role of the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission. Youth Agenda Kenya on Friday said that the MPs had began to operate outside their mandate.

“The team should desist from drawing constituencies and boundaries because there is a commission mandated by Parliament to do so,” said the organisation’s programme officer Mr Collins Otieno. Mr Otieno was addressing the press in Kisii after he led his group to Kisii University to seek student views on the draft.

The organisation has visited several universities including Maseno, Mombasa Polytechnic University College, Kenyatta and Masinde Muliro. They are preparing for civic education ahead of the national referendum on the draft.

Elsewhere, the decision to settle for a presidential system of government has received mixed reactions. Bishop Mwai Abiero of Maseno South Anglican Diocese said that the agreement signalled hope and should be supported by all. His Maseno West counterpart Joseph Otieno Wasonga agreed, saying that the parties in the country were still weak, so it would be inappropriate to adopt the parliamentary system.

However, Nambale diocese ACK bishop Josiah Makhandia opposed the proposal. “It could have been better for the committee to have two drafts, one for the presidential and another for the parliamentary system, so that Kenyans, and not 26 MPs meeting in Naivasha, decide on the system they want,” said Bishop Makhandia.

Former Water assistant minister Raphael Wanjala lauded the move, but called for the barring of political aspirants from being appointed to the Cabinet. And Gender assistant minister Manyala Keya supported the proposed system of government. Speaking in Kakamega, he said Kenyans needed a system that will reunite the country and avoid conflict caused by opposing centres of power.

And a former chairman of the Kakamega county council, Mr Sammy Aswani, said the parliamentary select committee had betrayed Kenyans’ trust.

Cosmetic move

He said it was evident the ODM and PNU legislators were pushing an agenda to ensure they produced the country’s next president in 2012. Councillors from Kakamega municipality led by Mayor Vincent Anjeche rejected the system providing for a powerful presidency saying it ignored the input of experts in the harmonised draft, which reflected views of Kenyans.

And Immigration and Registration minister Otieno Kajwang said that by settling on a presidential system, the parliamentary committee had decided to maintain the status quo. “This is a purely cosmetic move which will not bring the changes which Kenyans have been agitating for,” he said.
Migori MP John Dache Pesa, also expressed his disappointment saying: “ODM stood for change; what is now emerging does not reflect the change that we promised Kenyans.”

Reported by Muchemi Wachira, Barnabas Bii, Benson Nyagesiba, Abiud Ochieng, Ouma Wanzala, Benson Amadala, Maurice Kaluoch, Alphonce Shiundu and Oliver Mathenge