Sonu threatens protest over law changes

The Students Organisation of Nairobi University (Sonu) on Sunday added to the controversy surrounding the Miscellaneous Amendment Bill by threatening to hold protests if President Kibaki assents it into law.

Sonu told journalists the amendments were offensive to the Kenyan public and that Members of Parliament were only serving their personal goals.

“The misuse of the statute law by MPs to engage in self-serving missions is repugnant and contravenes the constitution provisions. The amendments are not in the interest of the citizens of Kenya,” said Sonu Chairman Denis Kiogora.

But they want the proposed law to retain academic degrees as one of the conditions for one to qualify to vie for a Member of Parliament.

“We cannot have parliament that is going to vet cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries to have members who are form two dropouts. What questions can a form two dropout ask a professor, for example, who has been appointed the Minister for Medical Services?”

The Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2012 is a set of changes the MPs have proposed made on the Elections Act and the Political Parties Act.

Last Wednesday, the legislators changed section 14 of the Political Parties Act to allow MPs and Councillors to freely form and join new political parties even as they held tight on to their current seats.

Moreover, losing presidential candidates would, if the President signs the amendments into law, now have a window to get back to leadership through nomination to Parliament or to the Senate.

The move drew criticism from various sections of the public who accused MPs of being egocentric.

But it has since become an irony after 80 MPs realised the degree clause would lock them out in the next General Election should the Bill become law. Read (80 MPs turn to Kibaki to beat rule on degrees)

The legislators, most of whom had suggested changing the clauses in the Elections Act from “post-secondary qualification” to degree from recognised universities later discovered they themselves lacked such qualification.

They have since joined the bandwagon against the amendments, although each group opposes sections, not the entire Bill.

On Friday, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy welcomed the proposal to allow the appointment of the Registrar of Political Parties as an independent office, but still urged the President not to assent it into law.

At a press conference in Nairobi, CMD said it would only urge President Kibaki not to assent to the Bill to allow for further correction to clauses they opposed.

“One of the options would be petitioning the president not to assent (the Bill) into law, but he should refer it back to Parliament with clear instructions on what should be done to it,” said CMD Chairman Justin Muturi.

Currently, the office is held by an acting officer working under the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

The students said they would call upon their colleagues from other tertiary colleges to demonstrate to the office of President Kibaki by Wednesday unless the Bill is returned to Parliament.

“We were hoping that parties in this country would become institutions of checks and balances but now the MPs have amended them so that they can continue manipulating parties every day.”

With the idea to allow in presidential losers back to Parliament, the students argued the MPs had made it possible for jokers to vie.