Secrets of Naivasha deal unraveled

• DRAFT LAW: Intense political horse-trading and threats of walkouts by some MPs characterised the 11-day retreat that has raised the hopes of Kenya writing a new constitution

Preserve neutrality

On Saturday, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo, who was said to have kept mostly quiet during the talks to preserve his neutrality as the minister in charge of the review process, praised MPs for striking a deal.

He also promised the process would not collapse as it did after another Naivasha Accord on contentious issues in the Bomas draft was struck in November 2004 only to come apart a few months later.

“There is a commendable difference this time round,” said Mr Kilonzo. “In fact, we have agreed not to call it Naivasha Accord, to prevent the jinx of the past. The Naivasha of the past was badly organised. I was also a member of the PSC then. But the mistake we made last time was to treat it (PSC retreat) as a political class discussion.

This draft is driven by Hansard (verbatim report of the debates and proceedings in Commonwealth parliaments) and parliamentary orders. The Naivasha talks this time round were not about grandstanding but about national issues,” he said.