ODM proposes weaker premier, with ministers appointed from Parliament
ODM national chairman John Mbadi (left) presents his party’s views before Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi on February 26, 2020. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
ODM officials called for the adoption of the Tanzanian model with a powerful elected President who will remain the Head of State and government.
The prime minister will be the leader of the political party with a majority of seats in Parliament.
The PM will be appointed by the President and approved by the House; will be the leader of government business in Parliament.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party now wants all ministers and their deputies appointed exclusively from among members of Parliament and the size of the Cabinet limited to between 15 and 20 members.
Ministers are now mostly technocrats drawn from the professional cadres.
The party’s proposal is a departure from the system proposed by the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which wants a Cabinet comprising MPs and technocrats, with the latter being made ex officio MPs upon approval by Parliament.
In their presentations to the BBI steering committee on Wednesday, ODM officials called for the adoption of the Tanzanian model with a powerful elected President who will remain the Head of State and government, as well as the commander-in-chief of the defence forces.
The prime minister will be the leader of the political party with a majority of seats in Parliament. The PM will be appointed by the President and approved by the House; will be the leader of government business in Parliament; and have authority over the control, supervision and execution of the day-to-day functions and affairs of the government, ODM proposed.
The party also suggested changes to the law to address situations when the President has reservations about the appointment of judges.
“In the event the President has reservations on an appointee, he should communicate by memo to the JSC and the JSC may consider the said reservations and if satisfied take the necessary steps. If not, it can resubmit the names to the President, who will have no option but to appoint them and if he doesn’t do so in 14 days, then the judges automatically assume office,” ODM chairman John Mbadi told the panel sitting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
ODM also wants the Directorate of Criminal Investigations delinked from the National Police Service and made an independent security agency to be renamed the Bureau of Criminal Investigations or National Criminal Investigation Services.
The party also wants the Ministry of Devolution eliminated, a policing team established in counties under the supervision of governors, the merging of road agencies overseeing county roads, and the granting of financial independence to county assemblies.
