Constitution commission asks for more funds to conduct oversight role

The Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) has asked for more funds to enhance its independence ahead of its taking over of the role of overseeing the Constitution implementation process.

KLRC Chief Executive Joash Dache is also pushing for an independent vote such as was enjoyed by the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitutional (CIC), whose five-year term was not renewed.

KLRC has taken over CIC's role.

“The former CIC had a budget of Sh500 million compared to KLRC’s Sh223 million and yet the salaries of its commissioners were drawn from the consolidated fund,” he said.

Mr Dache said more funds would enable KLRC to hire more researchers and enhance its capacity.

In addition to an independent kitty, he asked the government to also transfer the salaries of its commissioners to the consolidated fund to give it further independence.

He said the commission, which is tasked with ensuring that the Constitution is not mutilated through laws that weaken its provisions on top of its law drafting mandate, was up to the task.

Although he did not indicate how much more money the commission would require, he suggested that the budget that had been set aside for the defunct CIC be transferred to the KLRC.

Mr Mbage Ng’ang’a, the KLRC chairman, said the commission was ready to take over the role of the CIC to oversee the implementation of the 12 laws that are yet to be enacted after Parliament extended the deadline for the laws by one year.

The laws had an August 2015 constitutional deadline.

REDUCE ELECTIVE SEATS
He said the commission had been involved in the drafting of the laws and was waiting to see the changes made by Parliament before intervening.

Mr Ng’ang’a said the commissioners had been competitively recruited and had institutional memory, having been involved in the drafting of the legislation, and that there would be no vacuum in watching over the Constitution following disbanding of the CIC.

He said the commission would also resist attempts by the office of the Attorney General to interfere with its operations.

There have been mixed reactions over the disbandment of the CIC after Parliament declined to renew its term, with critics seeing it as an avenue for interested parties to scuttle the constitutional implementation process.

The CIC had highlighted a raft of laws that had been introduced by Parliament that were draconian and unconstitutional, especially those aimed at improving legislators’ terms and perks, including pension for first time MPs.

In its final report, the defunct commission advanced a proposal to condense the number of elective seats, which will ultimately reduce the public wage bill.

However, politicians led by Leader of Majority in National Assembly Aden Duale hit out at the former commission led by Mr Charles Nyachae, accusing it of laxity and failure to forward draft legislation to Parliament on time, and for relying on other bodies such as the KLRC to carry out its work.