Opinion and Analysis
By JOSEPH LISTER NYARINGO
There is no doubt that the current Constitution is
better than the one we had previously. However, the crafters failed to
adhere to one fundamental aspect: the ramifications of a bloated
Legislature and its impact on the Exchequer.
So far, we need to applaud the Jubilee government for
crafting a lean Cabinet, but the raging debate on the wage bill isn’t
something that can be wished away when national economic indicators
reflect a downward trend.
Recently, Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo
expressed how the country is being drained on paying salaries instead of
development projects. This was the clearest indication that a small
government is a panacea for Kenya’s economic success.
It’s through downsizing the public workforce and
scrapping unnecessary bureaucracies nationally and at the county levels
that Kenya can move forward to become a developed country.
On the current Constitution, we all know that laws
are not carved on stone but formed by humans to be changed, augmented,
scrapped or improved to suit prevailing governance systems and
processes.
Since it was not a perfect document during its
passage by Kenyans, it means that it can be subjected to amendments to
suit the needs of the country.
Streamline
The debate on downsizing the National Assembly has
come at the right time. It’s healthy for Kenyans to point out the pros
and cons of the current Constitution in order to streamline the faulty
areas through a referendum.
We need to look at how to scale down the bloated
legislators, especially Parliament and see if the country real needs the
Senate.
There is no reason why Kenya; a nation of 40
million people should have 358 Members of Parliament and 67 Senators. It
would make a lot of sense if we either scrap the Senate or reduce the
current constituencies by merging them.
Additionally, if we had transformed the eight
provinces into counties, it would have saved the Treasury huge
expenditure costs because, as it stands today, funding 47 counties has
proved to be a burden.
Besides, it’s emerging that the counties; once
touted as the pillars of development are proving to be pillars of
disunity and clanism.
Secondly, we need to abolish the apportioning of
seats to special interest groups in the Senate and Parliament because,
it doesn’t serve any purpose.
Laws are not made to benefit a particular group but to serve every Kenyans fairly, justifiably and with impartiality.
The duplication of roles is also another area that
needs to be looked into both at the national and county governments. In
the Counties, there is glaring waste. The best way to go is to have a
referendum in order to fix the anomalies.
The writer lives in New Jersey, US.
The writer lives in New Jersey, US.
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