Folks,
It is about time these posts be openly and publicly be advertised so people can apply, and every candidate be able to display talent and skill with knowledge to perform.
We want transparency and accountability where public gets involved into their affairs.
This consitutionality is not at the bequeth of Kibaki, PM Raila or Marende to make final in appointments. They should listen to what the public wants and should provide lead as a guide to integrity in order to build trust from the public.
Incase there is a cry from the public, they aught to listen.
Women have demonstrated they have since been left behind, they have voiced concern, in my opinion, all those posts should now and conclusively go to women. Women are the majority voters and as well are the ones who mostly curry the burden of political quagmire.
I therefore add voice to inject the proposal that all those remaining posts should now go to the Women and the Youth.
No more recycling. It is vunja mifupa……kama bado ungali………
People, we must fight to join in decision making now to add value to what is seen as going a miss in the current crop of heads. We cannot sit back and just watch things go haywire…….Take a step of faith and act.
Cheers people !
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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Envoys decry partisan politics in enacting Constitution
By Saturday standard team
Ten heads of mission in Kenya have raised concern over what they term as partisan politics in the implementation of the Constitution.
The envoys from Europe, Japan and Canada, on Friday met the Speaker in Parliament buildings and registered their concern over the implementation of the Constitution. The envoys, who paid the Speaker a courtesy call, praised him after he delivered a ruling that defused tension over the presidential nominees to the Judiciary.
“We welcome the role of the Speaker in enhancing the standing of Parliament and working for constitutional and constructive resolution of disputes,” British High Commission Rob Macaire said.
Macaire termed as outstanding the manner in which Marende resolved the dispute. He said the missions have in the past supported the implementation of the Constitution and will continue to do so if done in the right manner.
“Many of us have already supported activities relating to the implementation of the Constitution. We are pleased to offer further support but we are concerned that partisan politics risks jeopardising progress,” said Macaire.
Not shaken
He noted that time left to put crucial legislation in place before the next election is rapidly running out.
The Speaker and the envoys discussed the pace of implementation of the Constitution and specifically how the international community can support the process. Neither the Speaker nor the envoys however could divulge the nature of support.
Marende tactfully avoided being sucked into standoff between the President and the Prime Minister by giving them a ten-day window period to resolve their disagreement and referred the dispute to two House committees.
On Friday Marende told the Press the High Court ruling will not have any effect on his ruling.
Meanwhile, two MPs from Western province have told Marende not to be shaken by a vote of no confidence threat.
MPs Justus Kizito and David Were said Marende is not in Parliament illegally and should not be threatened by legislators who want him out of office.
They vowed to stand by Marende over his decision to decline to give a ruling on the controversial list of nominees made by President Kibaki.
“We shall stand by Marende whichever way he takes us. Some of these rulings are not easy,” said Kizito.
Kizito (Shinyalu) and Were (Matungu) explained that regional balance must be given priority during appointments.
They expressed shock that the nominations did not take into consideration regional and gender balance. The MPs were speaking in Kakamega in reaction to media reports indicating that Marende had received threats over the matter.
“We shall vote overwhelmingly for him if there will be a vote of no confidence,” said Kizito. Kizito also told the Party of Ntional Unity to make good their threats of withdrawing from the Grand Coalition Government.
He explained that the Cabinet is already bloated, arguing that withdrawal will be in line with requirements of the new Constitution on the number of ministers At the same time, Garsen MP Danson Mungatana has said those planning to bring a Motion to censure the Speaker should be ashamed. of their plans.
They now want to kill Parliament in the same way they killed Kanu
By Barrack Muluka
“They want to kill Parliament the way Kanu was killed.” I was 17-years-old when I first heard these words at Emanyulia market. Our Member of Parliament, Martin Shikuku, had made a sudden appearance at the market. He was having one of his regular chats with the people, on such occasions. He told the largely dumbfounded audience things about Kanu. He lamented about a mass movement that had once been the voice of the people – and the lot.
People did not quite seem to understand what the MP was saying. But one thing was clear. Something was terribly wrong. JM Kariuki of Nyandarua North had been murdered a few months earlier. They dumped his body in Ngong Forest, for hyenas to deal with.
Parliament was investigating his killing, amid so much official frustration. A few days earlier, bombs had rocked Nairobi. One of them had killed people on a Mombasa bound bus. It was said that the bomb had been planted on the bus because JM was supposed to travel on the bus. The bomb was aimed at him. They wanted to get rid of him, for his fiery political views and style. It did not matter who else they killed in the process. Such was our Government.
A few days after the encounter at Emanyulia Market, Shikuku repeated the ‘Kanu is dead’ remarks in Parliament. They matched him straight to detention without trial. The Deputy Speaker, Jean Marie Seroney, then also MP for Tinderet, came in tow. The Deputy Speaker had supported Shikuku’s ‘Kanu is dead’ sentiments. For when Kajiado South MP, Stanley Oloitiptip and Vice-President Daniel arap Moi asked that Shikuku substantiate his remarks, Seroney quipped that you do not substantiate the obvious.
They were arrested right within the precincts of Parliament, lending credence to the fact that Parliament was dying. And it did die, for a while.
We have gone full circle and we are back where we were in 1975. They want to kill Parliament the way Kanu was killed. I shall not belabour to substantiate how Kanu is dead. For Kanu died a long time ago. But the Kanu orphans are alive and well. They have ganged up again. They have also brought some new virulent faces to the bandwagon.
Together, they now dominate Parliament. And they want to kill it. House Speaker Kenneth Marende and his deputy, Maalim Farah, are the only obstacles between the political malefactors in Parliament and their malevolent goals. Even the smartest thugs in the world know that the best way to achieve their dastardly goals is to dress them out in cloaks of legality.
On Wednesday this week, the Speaker confirmed he had been threatened with impeachment. PNU has raided a substantive portion of MPs from ODM. They now have the numbers in the House, which is basically fine. But when they threaten to use the numbers against the Speaker in his rulings, then the country is truly in trouble. For, that is like placing a revolver on the Speaker’s head and ordering him to repeat after you the ruling you desire of him. That is where Parliament has got. Speaker Marende’s ruling on Thursday, regarding President Kibaki’s controversial appointments of senior lawmen was perhaps in keeping with the law.
But it was also buck passing and self-preserving. With the gun on his head, the Speaker could not afford to mess about with the gunman. But his conscience would also not allow him to say what the gunman wanted. So he threw the burden to somebody else.
Marende acted like a person who is suddenly accosted by a gunman who wants to rob him. He threw his endowed wallet as far as he possibly could and shifted the robber’s attention from himself. But the robbers will come back with their political guns, Marende. You are still in the woods and Kenya is with you. Over the next five days, there will be unprecedented wrangling, recriminations and falling out in the two parliamentary committees to which Marende has passed the buck.
Like Parliament itself, the same forces that had placed a revolver on the Speaker’s head dominate the committees. They will use their numbers to have it their way, regardless that the outcome is good or bad for the nation. The matter will then come back to the House. This time round Marende will have to choose between biting the bullet and sinking the nation. For, even procrastination can go only so far.
The danger in all this is that we are reversing the gains we had begun making after decades of political and legislative dereliction. The death of Parliament is the death of everything. You can use the dead House to institutionalise anarchy and nihilism. You can use Parliament to make laws that kill all other institutions and legalise dictatorship. That was what happened to Kenya between 1964 and August last year.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga is learning rather too late. You do not go to bed with these fellows. They will mess you up thoroughly. They have regrouped and they are determined to kill Parliament.
Make no mistake, they will bury freedom and roll Kenya solidly back to the draconian years. But the political class would meanwhile do well to understand that the consequences of killing Parliament are extremely bloody and dear. For, you leave the nation without any avenues for democratic ventilation. Democratic institutions become caricatures and rubberstamps. You can ask Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, formerly of Tunisia, and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt for the rest of the story.
They know better.
—The writer is a publishing editor and media consultant.