Constitution must not be derailed by petty politics

The removal of the MP for Budalangi Ababu Namwamba as the chairman of the parliamentary committee on legal affairs and the style the Speaker of Parliament has handled the matter is nothing short of a national fiasco.

Of the two, Speaker Kenneth Marende who hitherto cultivated and rightfully enjoyed both national and cross-party support for his principled position on issues comes worse than the youthful Namwamba.

The dispute was simmering for quite sometime. Its deterioration culminating in Namwamba’s ouster was principally due to the cavalier manner the office of the Speaker chose to handle the matter.

The dispute

According to Isaac Ruto, the crux of the dispute lies in the fact that majority of the members of the committee comprising PNU and what is popularly referred to as rebel or Ruto ODM faction simply lost confidence in the leadership of Namwamba.

He is accused to writing reports unilaterally and has failed to carry with him members of the committee.

It is very poor politics that the issue in dispute has come down to this unsavoury situation.

First, Namwamba, a seemingly rising star in Kenyan politics, should have adhered to the values to writes and breaches.

He is admired by many youthful Kenyans who like the governance and democratic values he usually says are close to his political soul.

Unfortunately when he had an opportunity to effectuate the same in full public glare, he has miserably let down his youthful admirers.

His refusal to resign when the majority of his members have lost confidence in his leadership, and in doing a classic Laurent Gbagbo move of sheltering in a banker manned by the Speaker, goes a long way to show that his political talk is just hot air.

Second, he has shown Kenyans that he is a typical politician who puts his personal interest of retaining the chairmanship at whatever cost before the public good of having a functional committee.

Marende must however shoulder the larger part of the blame. His half-hearted attempt to facilitate the election of a new chairman of the committee created a paralysis that greatly undermines the entire constitutional implementation process.

In putting the interest of Namwamba before the entire country, Marende must now see how shortsighted and costly his omission has proved.

This sordid episode shows how destructive narrow personal politics can be when allowed to gain primacy over the national good.

House committee

It was clear to all Kenyans that if election for the chairmanship of the House committee was held, Isaac Ruto would have been elected. That was also very obvious to those who were to facilitate the election.

Fine, whereas such a proposition may be untenable for ODM as a party in that a renegade faction would have wrestled a very important committee from its grip, it was quite interesting to know what the thinking of the Speaker in the matter was.

Majority of Kenyans don’t care which ODM faction ascends to the chair. They simple want a functional committee. ODM should also reconcile with the fact that since it is a divided soul, Kenyans haven’t seen the last of its torturous mutation process. The earlier it comes to terms with that inevitability the better.

Kenyans don’t really care who assumes the chairmanship of this committee. What they know and care about is that the implementation process of the Constitution must not be derailed by narrow party politics or selfish personal interests.

The legal committee is pivotal in the implementation process. Its role to midwife the process is truly indispensable especially at this point in time when the country faces constitutional deadlines for the enactment of a number of statutes.

The process has damaged the reputation of both the House and that of the Speaker. Marende must regain his authority and ensure that the committee howsoever constituted assumes its rightful place in the business of the House.

Mr Abdullahi is the publisher, Nairobi Law Monthly. [email protected]