Guard against return of powerful House

What you need to know:

  • This must have informed the need to appoint the accounting officers of ministries from outside the political cabal, which has proved time and again to be prone to corruption, manipulation, and impunity.
  • Even as the Legislature accuses the other arms of government of impugning the Constitution, it is the one that appears to have earnestly embarked on the road to mutilating it. Why? One may ask.
  • This trend is replicated at county level, where county assemblies have been recruited by the Legislature and the Executive to whittle down the powers of the county executive. This boils down to an onslaught on devolution.

The spat between Parliament and State House over whether Cabinet secretaries should be questioned by the House has been in the news recently, although it appears to have been settled this week with the apparent withdrawal of the National Assembly demand.

The dispute raises questions about the institutions established by the Constitution. The common theme that runs throughout the statute books is the separation of powers of the various arms of government.

This must have informed the need to appoint the accounting officers of ministries from outside the political cabal, which has proved time and again to be prone to corruption, manipulation, and impunity.

Even as the Legislature accuses the other arms of government of impugning the Constitution, it is the one that appears to have earnestly embarked on the road to mutilating it. Why? One may ask.

I believe it all lies in the hope of reclaiming the power previous parliaments enjoyed, where the line between the Legislature and the Executive was grey.

The President, his deputy, and the Cabinet were all parliamentarians, all at one with the political class. They became, in the final days of the last Constitution, invincible. This is why the Kenyans wanted these institutions along with the Judiciary to be independent.

The current Parliament, basking in the glory of the President’s party and enjoying “tyranny of numbers”, has set its eyes on clawing back lost glamour and is bent on trying to return the country to the pre-2010 order.

ONSLAUGHT ON DEVOLUTION

This trend is replicated at county level, where county assemblies have been recruited by the Legislature and the Executive to whittle down the powers of the county executive. This boils down to an onslaught on devolution.

Yet bigger challenges lie elsewhere. First, there is increasing blatant disregard of the law. Parliament and the Senate have shown that one can ignore court orders and get away with it.

The ugly face of lawlessness has begun to surface. A county assembly can impeach a governor just because he refuses to condone its members’ greed. A small crowd can hurl abuse and shoes at the President, fully aware that the law will be subverted and “forgiveness” proffered. A dissatisfied citizen can cane a leader and expect redemption.

Secondly, if Kenyans were to allow a tyrannical Legislature, what will happen when, at some future date, the President has a minority in Parliament? No government project would see the light of day, in which case impeachment may follow.

Yet such a president will have been popularly elected by the citizens. Parliament’s actions, whatever form they take, would subvert the people’s will.

This situation is already alive in certain counties, such as Makueni. In Vihiga, where the governor is hopelessly outnumbered, he is held hostage by the county assembly.

In the inaugural session to grill Cabinet secretaries, only Majority Leader Aden Duale came out smelling sweet. The rest of the pack displayed the true nature of the summons: To establish Parliament’s supremacy over the other organs of the state.

The President must ride on his current popularity to rein in his lieutenants.

Mr Masidza is a communication consultant. [email protected]