Blame game over who has frustrated enjoyment of Constitution’s benefits
From left: Bishop Mark Kariuki of the Deliverance Church, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and High Court judge George Odunga at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi on August 27, 2015 where Christian leaders met to mark the fifth anniversary of the Constitution. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL |
What you need to know:
- Scorecard shows MPs have pushed deadlines for constitutional Bills four times in five years.
- Chief Justice criticises churches for "inelegant" stand during the 2010 referendum.
- Speaker points accusing finger at Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution chairman Charles Nyachae and the AG.
aKenyans on Thursday marked five years since the passing of the new Constitution as opposition and government leaders engaged in a blame game over who was behind the failure to pass laws to move the country into a new constitutional dispensation.
ODM used its Katiba Day press conference to blame the Jubilee administration for the delay, accusing the ruling coalition’s leaders of frustrating the implementation of the Constitution.
At Parliament, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said it was the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) and the Office of the Attorney-General that were to blame for the delays.
In Mombasa, President Uhuru Kenyatta did not mention the Constitution in his address during the opening of the ASK show. He only asked the national and county governments to work together to improve the lives of Kenyans.
The Constitution was promulgated on August 27, 2010.
FACED CHALLENGES
In Nairobi, wananchi held processions in the streets to celebrate the fives years as Kenyans also took to social media to celebrate the day. On Twitter, views about the Constitution were trending under the hashtag #KatibaDayKE.
A group of ODM lawmakers and their supporters marched through the city streets, starting from Orange House, the party’s headquarters, and ending at Uhuru Park.
At the party headquarters, the lawmakers said Jubilee was engaging in schemes to derail the full implementation of the Constitution.
“This Constitution has faced challenges... Those who mean well for this country must stand up and fight these challenges because they are caused by the very opponents of the Constitution,” said Mr John Mbadi, the ODM chairman.
Although President Kenyatta’s government has defended its record and asked for cooperation to achieve the remaining targets, ODM, which is part of the Opposition coalition Cord, has claimed that the government has been giving instructions to supportive MPs to derail the programme.
Parliament went on recess on Thursday and will resume sittings in September. On Tuesday, MPs voted to extend the deadline for passing some of the pending constitutional Bills (see separate story).
“This Constitution is under serious threat from people holding state power,” said Mr Opiyo Wandayi, the ODM secretary for political affairs.
“All of us have seen the very concerted efforts by those who control the National Government to put roadblock after roadblock on the part of the realisation of the full benefit of devolution.”
TAKE MANDATE SERIOUSLY
The 2010 Constitution has provided for laws that should have been passed by Thursday.
On Tuesday, however, after debating the motion to extend the time to pass these laws, lawmakers from both the government and the Opposition endorsed a 12-month extension.
On Thursday, Mr Muturi said the National Assembly could not be blamed for the mistakes of other agencies in adopting the Constitution.
“We extended the period for enactment by another 12 months, hoping that those who have not been keen on their duty (will) take their mandate seriously so that we finish this business by August 27th, 2016,” he said.
Mr Muturi blamed the Constitution implementation commission, the KLRC and the AG’s office for not preparing draft laws on time.
But in an interview with the Nation, CIC chairman Charles Nyachae defended his team.
“Our job as a commission is to monitor, coordinate, facilitate and oversee the implementation but the actual implementation is done by (the) government and its various agencies,” he said.
During the 2010 referendum, the Constitution was endorsed by 67 per cent of voters despite opposition from churches. On Thursday, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga criticised the churches’ vilification of the Constitution in the events leading up to the promulgation five years ago.
“Even as the Church played a big role inducting political pluralism, its role was inelegant in the two constitutional referenda in 2005 and 2010. The Church preyed and played on unfounded fears to rally against the Constitution,” he told church leaders at a meeting at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi.
