Kenya draft law suffers setback as politicians squabble

The major political parties dealt a blow to the draft constitution on Thursday, taking antagonistic positions in the review process. MPs rejected for a second time, an attempt to hold a meeting to seek unity in Naivasha, meaning that the squabbling could spill over to the floor of the House on Tuesday afternoon.

There were fears that the review had become a theatre for political wars and power struggles within the ruling coalition. “There is a lot of drama surrounding this (review) process that has nothing to do with the new constitution. I think we should not allow these differences to cloud the objective of getting a new constitution,” said Parliamentary Select Committee on the constitution chairman, Mr Mohamed Abdikadir.

He asked MPs not to politicise the review when debate on the draft begins next week. Orange Democratic Party and Party of National Unity have taken opposing sides on whether there should be amendments to the draft presented to Parliament by the Committee of Experts.

PNU favours the revision of the draft done by the PSC while ODM supports the output of the CoE as the final document. On Thursday, PNU members of Parliament met and expressed fears that some of their ODM counterparts were hatching plans to derail the review.

They criticised Prime Minister and ODM leader Raila Odinga over the rejection of a motion of adjournment on Wednesday evening, needed for MPs to proceed to Naivasha for familiarisation with the draft and consensus talks. The more than 40 MPs who met in Nairobi said Mr Odinga and a few ODM MPs led the crusade against the motion of adjournment.

The motion was defeated when 25 MPs voted against it as compared to 23 who were in favour. “We know that it is only the Prime Minister and a section of ODM that are against the Naivasha retreat. What we want to make clear is that just because one group is satisfied with the draft, it should not block the rest of us from seeing how it can be improved,” said PNU secretary George Nyamweya.

He was speaking after the meeting which was attended by key PNU personalities including Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti, who is also the party’s chairman. Tigania East MP Peter Munya said the meeting in Naivasha was similar to the informal meetings (kamukunji) that Parliament usually holds to “avoid the stringent parliamentary rules”.

He added it would not be proper for MPs to adopt all the proposals given by the Committee of Experts since “none of the review organs has the monopoly of the process”. “When you say that the document should be adopted as it is, are you saying that the CoE is more important than Parliament, which has the people’s representatives, in handling the views of Kenyans?” asked Mr Munya.

However, ODM secretary general Anyang Nyong’o said while they were ready for dialogue on the contentious issues, ODM would push for adoption of the current version of the draft. “ODM’s objective is to ensure the draft is passed in Parliament the way it is. We will not block any moves for consensus, we are ready for it,” he said.

During the PNU meeting, the MPs are said to have gone through some of the proposals that they would eventually table in Parliament when debate on the proposed constitution begins. The MPs are said to be uncomfortable with the some of the provisions on representation, legislature, devolution and transition.

“As we have said previously, we are in agreement with what the PSC agreed on in Naivasha during their retreat. This meeting would have given us the opportunity to harmonise the proposals by the PSC with those of the experts,” said Mr Nyamweya. He added that PNU was against the current form of devolution, saying they wanted the number of counties increased from the proposed 47.

Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo urged President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to give the review a fresh push by attending the debate on Tuesday. Mr Kilonzo said their presence in the House would rekindle commitment to the reform agenda. “I am requesting that President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga be in the House when debate begins on Tuesday. It will give the search for a new constitution the urgency it deserves,” he said.

Mr Kilonzo said Mr Abdikadir will move the motion on the draft and expressed hope that either the President or PM can second it. The minister criticised MPs who voted against an adjournment motion on Wednesday, blocking MPs from heading to Naivasha, saying it was “costly”.

He said the Naivasha meeting would have sought a consensus on issues removed from the draft by PSC but reinstated by the Committee of Experts. “We are not going to Naivasha to amend the draft. We want to build consensus on issues which stand out,” he said.

Roads Minister Franklin Bett said there were some sections of the constitution which needed consultation and consensus and that the leaders should have a sober approach to the making of laws. He said the proposed draft is better than previous ones and that “we should work towards fine-tuning it for the benefits of the nation and not selfish needs”.

In Eldoret, President Kibaki supported the draft constitution before Parliament and urged MPs to solve outstanding issues raised by different sectors. “I salute the parliamentary select committee on constitution review for having made possible the Naivasha consensus, which has finally resolved key contentious issues that had stood on the way of our new constitution,” he said, as he opened the Eldoret agricultural and trade fair.

He also cautioned MPs against introducing sideshows in the law review, saying it had taken long for Kenyans to get a new constitution.

Additional report by Kennedy Lumwamu