Now Pesa Mashinani reaches out to Uhuru

What you need to know:

  • Even though it is instructive that President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are opposed to the referendum call, the governors have dangled a carrot at them by proposing to raise the bar on any effort to impeach the President.
  • The governors also propose a new clause to Article 181, which reads: “The removal of a county governor and a deputy county governor shall only be initiated upon a judgment by the High Court confirming the grounds specified.”
  • The draft Bill also proposes to enhance the role of the Senate by giving senators an oversight role on national institutions, state organs and constitutional commissions.
  • Council of Governors Chairman Isaac Ruto said the draft Bill will be refined before being presented to Parliament for debate. However, he also warned that if it is shot down, governors would seek other options to force a referendum.
  • The Bill will be submitted to county assemblies by the Council of Governors before it is taken to Parliament where National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has promised that it will be debated and passed.

Governors have tactfully thrown a political bait to the President, senators and members of county assemblies by proposing amendments to the Constitution that will make it more difficult to impeach the Head of State while also offering development cash for wards.

In the Bill that they have drafted in their quest to change the Constitution to increase allocation to counties, the governors have also moved to protect their own positions through an amendment requiring accusations against them be heard and determined in court before they can be impeached.

Council of Governors Chairman Isaac Ruto said the draft Bill will be refined before being presented to Parliament for debate. However, he also warned that if it is shot down, governors would seek other options to force a referendum.

“What you have seen is work in progress. There are a few changes, which we will make before taking it Parliament,” he said in a telephone interview.

A copy of the draft Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2014, obtained by Nation reveals that the governors have lined up 11 amendments to the Constitution to prevent any future manoeuvres to weaken devolution.

The Bill will be submitted to county assemblies by the Council of Governors before it is taken to Parliament where National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has promised that it will be debated and passed.

In talks between governors and Jubilee leaders, the county bosses had been advised to introduce the changes they have been campaigning for through a Bill and drop their quest for a referendum.

In its preamble, the Bill states: “A Bill for an Act of Parliament to amend the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, by popular initiative, pursuant to Article 257 of the Constitution of Kenya.”

DANGLED A CARROT

Even though it is instructive that President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are opposed to the referendum call, the governors have dangled a carrot at them by proposing to raise the bar on any effort to impeach the President.

They propose to include a new clause under Article 145 of the Constitution to require that those pushing for impeachment must get a court ruling approving their grounds before they can start the process of removing the President from office.

The Bill says: “The removal of the President shall only be initiated upon a judgment by the High Court confirming the grounds specified in clause.”

The governors also propose a new clause to Article 181, which reads: “The removal of a county governor and a deputy county governor shall only be initiated upon a judgment by the High Court confirming the grounds specified.”

They have proposed that if a governor is impeached, his deputy should face the same fate.

In addition, they propose that any Motion seeking to impeach a governor should be backed by signatures of at least 25 per cent of all registered voters in at least half of the wards in a county. That means, if a county has 10 wards, those pushing for impeachment must get 25 per cent of voters in five wards to support their cause, which is a high threshold.

ROLE OF SENATE

The draft Bill also proposes to enhance the role of the Senate by giving senators an oversight role on national institutions, state organs and constitutional commissions.

“The limitation of the Senate to oversight only institutions ‘that participate in the allocation of national revenue to the county governments’ is unnatural and has no clear policy justification behind it. Besides, it is difficult to see how one would identify such institutions with certainty.

The Senate should have oversight over all institutions,” the governors have said, in a charm offensive to win the support of senators. They have also proposed that for the National Assembly to overturn special county Bills by the Senate, it will need 90 per cent of MPs’ votes, up from the two thirds majority currently.

And to win over the support of Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), the governors have proposed an amendment to establish a County Ward Development Fund to finance projects in wards.

The fund, which has been a battleground between MCAs and the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo, will draw an allocation of three per cent of the money released to counties by the national government. MCAs would be expected to make decisions on how the money is to be spent in their localities.

“There is hereby established a Fund to be known as the County Ward Development Fund which shall be administered by the County Government,” the draft Bill proposes.

Other proposals put forward include one giving counties more say in the management of national resources including land and forests. This will include a formula under which such resources can be managed by the two levels of government.