ODM leader Raila Odinga at his capitol hill office on June 24 2015. Mr
Odinga on Saturday aid the Jubilee administration was obstructing
implementation of the Constitution. PHOTO | CORRESPONDENT | NATION MEDIA
GROUP
Cord leader Raila Odinga on Saturday aid the Jubilee administration was obstructing implementation of the Constitution.
“If
the implementation deadline is not met it will be part of the culture
of obstruction and resistance to change that Jubilee stands for. It will
also be a confirmation of what we said during the campaigns in 2013
that Jubilee was not comfortable with the new constitution,” Mr Odinga
said.
Solving the land question alongside other
historical injustices, Raila told the Sunday Nation, is critical to
Kenya’s stability. “Jubilee is resisting this because it is basically a
continuation of the early regimes that sanctioned the sins the new
constitution set out to address,” he said.
To resolve
the looming crisis, Jubilee legislators are considering special sittings
to seek an extension of the timelines to pass 28 pending Bills which
have an August 27 constitutional deadline.
But the
opposition Cord has indicated that its MPs will not support the
extension, unless the government provides compelling reasons for that.
Suna East MP Junet Mohammed said Cord has called a parliamentary group
meeting on Tuesday to discuss on the matter.
Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki said there was a possibility of recalling Parliament from recess for special sittings.
“We
are prepared to break our recess to come back for special sittings. But
given the laborious process the Bills have to go through, it is not
practical to pass all of them,” Prof Kindiki said.
The
National Assembly and the Senate are on recess until August 18 and
September 15 yet the deadline to pass the Bills is August 27.
The
Bills are those of small claims Court, High Court and Court of Appeal
organisation and administration, forests, energy and petroleum
exploration, development and production.
Parliament is
also required to pass Bills on seeds and plant varieties, community land
and protection of traditional knowledge & traditional cultural
expression, physical planning, historical land injustices, maximum and
minimum acreage, eviction and resettlement, access to justice,
magistrates court and judiciary fund.
MPs are also
supposed to enact Bills to amend the law on the Judicial Service,
restructure the provincial administration, implement the two-third
gender rule, promote representation of marginalised groups in parliament
and strengthen the law on agriculture and livestock research,
irrigation, Central Bank of Kenya, controller of budget, language and
national museum and heritage.
Mr Mohammed said Cord will not provide the two-third requirement unless they are given compelling reasons by the government.
He
said that Cord MPs will vote for the extension if people take
responsibilities for the delays. Mr Mohamed said it should be
established who between the Commission for the Implementation of the
Constitution, Kenya Law Reform Commission, attorney-general’s office and
parliament is to blame for the delays.
He went on: “The Constitution is only as good as its implementation. Otherwise it will just be like a piece of paper.”
Prof
Kindiki described Cord’s position as “selfish and too simplistic. We
are in a democracy and they are entitled to their opinion. But from
where I sit, I find Cord’s argument selfish and simplistic. Even the
drafters of the Constitution anticipated such a scenario for extension
of the timeframe so as not to create a constitutional crisis,” said Prof
Kindiki.
Lawyer Nzamba Kitonga, who chaired the
committee of experts that drafted the Constitution, said there was no
other option but to seek an extension of the timeframe.
“If
not, any person can petition the High Court to have Parliament
dissolved. The problem with the people concerned is that they wait until
the last minute before seeking an extension or rushing through
Parliament unconstitutional or poorly drafted laws, yet they had all the
time in the last five years,” said Mr Kitonga.
His
views were shared by Amani National Congress party leader and former
Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi. Mr Mudavadi accused the
government of sitting on the Bills until the last minute before seeking
an extension.
“The situation that we find ourselves in
does not augur well for the government. No one says the 28 Bills must be
forwarded all at once,” said Mr Mudavadi. He added that although he
does not support the extension, Parliament had no alternative.
National
Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi also said Parliament could not be blamed
for the current impasse. “That question should be directed to those
responsible for generating bills, not Parliament,” he said.
Attorney-General
Githu Muigai disassociated with the delay saying that it was not the
work of his office. “If the media are looking for a scapegoat this is
not the time for that,” he said.
According to Senate
Majority Leader, the drafters failed to space the legislation required
to implement the constitution and ended up loading the fifth year with
very many legislations.
“The executive is also bound to
follow stringent requirements including stakeholder participation. We
also have to take cognizant of the emotive and senstive nature of the
last cohort of the Bills including the land and gender laws. They cannot
be rushed,” said Prof Kindiki.
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