Koome: Executive is hampering work of constitutional bodies

The Executive has been accused of being the biggest hindrance to constitutional commissions and independent offices (CCIOs) performing their legal mandates, making most of them ineffective.

The CCIOs accuse various agencies of the Executive arm of government of frustrating their efforts to deliver through budgetary constraints and failure to enforce their decisions.

They also cited frequent delays in appointing crucial office holders to replace those whose terms have lapsed as another way the Executive has clipped their wings, leaving them unable to perform their roles.

CCIOs are commissions and offices formed through the constitution and acts of Parliament to provide oversight, capacity building and generally improve democracy in Kenya.

They include the Office of the Controller of Budget, Office of the Auditor General, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Independent Policing Oversight Authority and Judicial Service Commission, among others.

Promoting democracy

As they commemorated 10 years since the official start of their operations under the 2010 Constitution yesterday, the CCIOs noted that while most of them had made huge strides in promoting governance and democracy in the country, there still existed challenges that if not addressed would continue affecting their operations.

“In my assessment, the commissions and independent offices have risen to the challenge and have emerged as a catalyst for the realisation of the aspirations that animate the 2010 Constitution. They have proved to be consequential institutions and have made a difference in our country’s governance,” said Chief Justice Martha Koome.

“But we must also acknowledge that this impact has come against the backdrop of a challenging operating environment and one of the major hurdles that we have experienced as commissions and independent offices is in respect to financial and budgetary constraints,” the Chief Justice, who was the chief guest at the event, added.

CJ Koome said that the Executive’s continued allocation of meagre funds to CCIOs had hampered their optimal operation, saying it is a concern that Parliament should address.

“We have often witnessed delays in commencing the recruitment of new commissioners, leading to legal challenges as the legality of the decisions undertaken by the independent institutions during such transitioning times cannot be binding,” Ms Koome said.

The other major complaint made by the CCIOs and which has had an implication in their respective institutional reputations is in the implementation and enforcement of their decisions, where they said disregard for their recommendations hampers their work.

Budgetary constraints

“Once we make a determination, we are expected to talk to the parties to enforce that determination. But the law as it is, CAJ (Commission on Administration of Justice) Act, does not tell us how then we can move to the next step to enforce that determination. There are also some powers that have been given to us by the constitution but when it comes to execution it becomes a challenge,” said CAJ Chairperson Florence Kajuju.

This is even as the issue of disobedience of court orders by the government came up, with the CJ indicating that this has had implications on the Judiciary’s independence, dignity and authority.

“Court orders must be obeyed, otherwise we are undermining the law and we make nonsense of the existence of the Judiciary as the arbiter of disputes, and when a court order is not obeyed it’s a matter of utmost concern to us,” said Justice Koome.

Some of the commissions said that budgetary constraints had forced them to share offices in some parts of the country to deliver services to more Kenyans.

Through the CCIOs Forum, an umbrella body representing the 21 CCIOs in the country, they requested Parliament to form a committee to handle issues raised by individual and collective CCIOs to deal with the challenges witnessed over the past decade.

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