Nasa leader Raila Odinga. PHOTO | SIMON MAINA | AFP
It’s 2018, finally, and Kenyans are settling in to the humdrum
grind of daily life. But as the year progresses, several news events are
likely to remain a constant, at least until June. Nation
looked at some of the personalities and issues that are likely to shape
conversations in the country this year. Here are the seven news events
to keep an eye on:
1. Raila Odinga/Nasa’s future
National
Super Alliance (Nasa) leader Raila Odinga has started 2018 much the
same way he ended 2017 — in suspense. Much as he declared that his
coalition would not recognise the outcome of the October 26 presidential
election, the former Prime Minister has largely remained silent,
creating suspense in the national social, political and economic psyche.
He insists he will be sworn in, and possibly run a parallel government, if President Uhuru Kenyatta does not cede to calls for national dialogue.
Because of his own clamour to be sworn in, Mr Odinga is likely to shape political events in the new year.
The
plan to swear in Mr Odinga got a boost towards the end of last December
when his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, upon returning home from a long
sojourn in Germany, declared that he would participate in the planned
oath if there is no genuine national dialogue.
TAKE OATH
Mr
Odinga’s next step, whatever it will be, will make headlines for the
better part of 2018. In his Christmas message, Mr Odinga promised his
supporters that he would take oath as the people’s president “very early
in the new year” or call for self-determination — in what might mean an
escalation of the push for secession.
In
his New Year message, Mr Odinga heightened his message when he said
Nasa would unveil a civil disobedience programme if the Jubilee
government persists in undermining calls for dialogue.
Just
what happens next provides mouthwatering prospects for the news media,
much as it will determine the future of Kenyan politics in the near
future.
Closely related to the
plans to swear in the two, is the future of the main opposition entity,
Nasa. Unity among the constituent parties has lately been an issue of
concern to some partners, who accuse ODM of being domineering and
patronising them.
ELECTION
Signs
of trouble emerged following the election of members to the regional
assembly in Arusha and the election of chairpersons and their deputies
to various committees of the National Assembly. ODM swept the leadership
of all watchdog committees, to the chagrin of both Wiper and ANC.
The
first cracks have emerged and how the coalition navigates this
challenge will definitely make the headlines in 2018. Linked to this is
the alleged plan by Jubilee Party to isolate Mr Odinga by ensuring that
all his co-principals are appointed to the Cabinet.
2. New education curriculum
When
schools opened Tuesday for the start of the 2018 academic year, the new
education system developed to replace the 8-4-4 system also set to take
off and is most likely to dominate discussions and news.
The
system places emphasis on continuous assessment tests (Cats) over
one-off examinations. The new system replaces the current Standard One
to Form Four with Grade 1 to 12.
It
has been categorised into three phases: Early Years Education covering
nursery education to Grade 3, Middle School Education covering Grade 4
to Grade 9 and Senior School covering Grade 10 to 12.
INDUSTRIAL ACTION
A
National Basic Education Curriculum Framework (NBECF) implementation
plan developed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD)
shows that the last Standard Eight candidates to sit the Kenya
Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination will do so in 2021,
while the last Form Four to sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary
Education (KCSE) examination will write the papers in 2025.
However, teachers and their unions have opposed the rush in implementation of the new system
and called for systematic implementation of the programme. Knut has
threatened legal or industrial action if the government does not shelve
proposals contained in the new curriculum. It has demanded that the
rollout be deferred to pave the way for “intensive and extensive”
consultations.
Kuppet has
announced it will use all means to influence the National Assembly to
halt the implementation of the new system until all contentious issues
are addressed.
3.Leadership wrangles in counties.
As
the first-term governors settle into their offices, a number of the
regional governments are set to witness leadership wrangles between the
county chiefs and their deputies, as well as ward representatives as has
been witnessed in Kisumu.
The
wrangles mostly stem from a fight for control of power, tenders, jobs
and resources, and could stretch to months and affect the delivery of
services, just as witnessed in the first term of devolution.
Some
of the deputy governors, who have previously criticised the law for
assigning them secondary responsibilities, have also accused their
bosses of sidelining them from decision-making in county policies. This
is expected to continue in the second term of devolution.
This
is while the MCAs have in the past been accused of blackmailing
governors for favours such as foreign trips and kickbacks in tenders
before passing legislation.
4.Audit reports
A number of government ministries and departments, both in the national and county levels, will be put to task to explain their expenditures
as Auditor-General Edward Ouko and Controller of Budget Agnes
Odhiambo release reports for the third quarter of the 2015/16 financial
year.
The two levels of
government have been faced with tough audit queries in previous reports,
on expenditure on salaries and development, most of which have been
flagged for exceeding the set thresholds.
The
reports by Mr Ouko and Ms Odhiambo are also set to shed light on the
expenditures as the country struggles to contain the ballooning wage
bill blamed for eating into the development funds.
Consequently,
it is through the reports that newly-sworn in governors as well as
their colleagues, who were re-elected for the second term, will form the
basis for hiring or freezing the appointment of new staff.
5. Sachang’wan
The
Salgaa stretch on the Nakuru-Eldoret road, which has so far claimed at
least 200 lives in the past month alone, will also be an area of focus
as the government seeks to rein in road carnage.
Part
of the focus will be the construction of the proposed Sh500 million
dual carriageway that was announced by the national government last
month after 16 people died at the black spot.
According
to Roads Principal Secretary John Mosonik, the construction will begin
in January or February, and will take six months.
The
project will be done by the Kenya National Highways Authority. The PS
said bumps would be erected on the road as a temporary measure, before
the expansion begins.
6.Election petitions
The Elections Act obligates courts to dispose of all petitions within six months. A total of 348 petitions
drawn from all elective positions were filed after the August 8 General
Election in early September and the judgments are all due before the
end of February.
Already, 60 of
these petitions have been concluded and rulings delivered. In these 60
cases, at least three governors have survived and 17 others await their
fate. It is estimated that two or three governors may have their wins
nullified by the courts.
This
could open the door for by elections that could bring with them long
drawn and messy campaigns as well as all manner of political shenanigans
that could be a reflection of the 2022 succession politics.
7.Court of Appeal judges
The
Judicial Service Commission is expected to recruit more judges,
especially at the Court of Appeal, to replace those who have either
retired or been promoted to superior courts. For the past two years,
five judges have retired, among them former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga,
Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal and Justice Philip Tunoi of the
Supreme Court.
The top three
posts were filled almost immediately but JSC did not recruit judges for
the country’s second highest court. Justice Isaac Lenaola is yet to be
replaced in the High Court after he was promoted to the Supreme Court
last year. Others who are yet to be replaced are Justice Joseph Mutava
and Justice Nicholas Ombija in the same court.
RETIREMENT
At
the Court of Appeal, the retirement of Justice John Mwera, Justice
Anyara Emukule and Justice Festus Azangalala has left the court with
only 21 judges out of the maximum 30 required in the court.
There
are four Court of Appeal stations — Nairobi, Kisumu, Malindi and Nyeri.
The court had a total of 3,387 pending cases by June last year, with
the highest number of cases being in Nairobi. Five judges of the Court
of Appeal are also between 65 and 69 years, meaning that more judges are
set to retire this year.
In
the recruitment, the JSC must ensure that not more than two-thirds of
the members are of the same gender in compliance with the principle of
regional and ethnic balance. The Constitution calls for equality, equity
and ethnic and regional balancing in all public appointments. There are
only seven women judges at the Court of Appeal.
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