Post by Onyango Oloo on Oct 8, 2005 22:46:53 GMT 3
by Raila Odinga
There is an orchestrated chorus of sinister allegations and insults from the Banana camp portraying those who oppose the Wako draft as power-hungry liars and pumbavus who are using the referendum to illicitly seize power.
Vicious personal attacks against me, such as those yesterday by Hon. Nyachae in Kisii town and Hon Kombo in Western, have also escalated in the last few days. In addition, it is now being claimed that the Wako draft is really no different from the one agreed at Bomas. Hon John Michuki said yesterday that 99 percent of Wako was the same as Bomas!
These efforts are patently designed to shift the focus away from the critical issues that are at stake in the November 21 vote. It is therefore vital that Kenyans know that the Orange ‘NO’ campaign is based on the substance of the proposed Constitution, which we believe will bring ruin to our country.
There are real issues propelling both campaigns.
The ‘YES’ side believes in a powerful Presidency, with control of key national decisions including resource allocation retained at the Centre. We in the ‘NO’ umbrella are committed to sharing Executive power, including through devolution. It is for Kenyans to decide, in a genuinely free and fair manner, which model they believe is best for our political stability and economic progress.
The Orange ‘NO’ team rejects the proposed Constitution because it mutilates the immensely popular Bomas draft, and reverses every democratic gain that it would have brought Kenyans. For over two decades, this nation has fought, suffered and made enormous sacrifices to create a democratic Constitution which would restore power and sovereignty to the people by limiting Presidential power and devolving power to local communities, thus liberating people’s energies to create jobs, establish local priorities and control the use of their resources.
Kenyans finally drafted such a Constitution at Bomas, after undertaking Africa’s most comprehensive and participatory process of consultations involving every region of our Republic and every segment of society, at a cost of billions of shillings. But the government, using its enormous power, hijacked what had been a wondrous, people-driven process and instead came up with a version drafted by a small clique which comprehensively turns all the key Bomas provisions on their head.
Kenyans at Bomas correctly identified the concentration of power in the Presidency as the basic cause of our long years of misrule, corruption and national impoverishment, and proposed power sharing between the President, the Prime Minister, the Vice President and the Cabinet. The Wako draft does the opposite, giving the President infinitely more power than he now enjoys, and for the first time, constitutionally vests executive authority exclusively in the Presidency.
The President would for example be able to:
- appoint a Prime Minister of his personal choice, not one from Parliament’s largest party,
- dismiss the Prime Minister without explanation,
- appoint as many ministers to the Cabinet as he chooses.
Furthermore, Parliament would no longer be able to remove the President through a vote of no confidence. He would have to be impeached, for constitutional abuse of office only, by a near-impossible 75 per cent majority in Parliament. Astonishingly, the Wako draft also places the Constitution above the law, explicitly ruling out any legal challenge to it.
The claim that Parliament, the Cabinet and the independent commissions on key issues such as land, gender and human rights will provide a system of checks and balances is hollow. Kenyans are well aware that Parliament can be dominated by a large number of ministers and assistant ministers (there is no limit to these in Wako) who can hardly be a check on the very Executive which appointed them. The same is true of the commissions, for which nominations will come from stakeholders but whose chairmen and members will be appointed by the President.
The devolution of power to the people was at the heart of Bomas. And yet many have remarked that devolution is the draft’s worst chapter. There is no formula in Wako for availing resources to the grassroots, the most important aspect of devolution since such resources are crucial to boost the economic prospects of communities. Job creation, one of the most pressing issues facing the country, will thus be made much more difficult. There is also no provision for affirmative action for poor and marginalized constituencies, contrary to the agreement at Bomas.
The Wako draft instead puts in place a vague system of district government. The absence of local authorities means that there will be no councillors, removing a key element of representation essential to empowering the grassroots.
Land is an issue of immense importance to Kenyans. And yet the Wako draft eliminates control of land by communities. Instead, it invests in a non-defined central body which, as has already been seen, could take illegal decisions for politically-expedient, short-term goals.
Empowering women was a central aspect of Bomas. The Wako draft gives no indication of how the 30 per cent target for women MPs will be achieved, leaving this and other women’s issues to be decided by Parliament.
Indeed, one of the greatest flaws in this draft is that many of its most contentious provisions are left for Parliament to determine. This can only ensure bitter debates and possible national paralysis for years. Nearly 60 percent of the chapters need parliamentary action to take effect! This will entail more than 30 new laws being debated and passed in the first year alone — by a parliament which currently passes only five every year. Nor is it known how many Members the new Parliament will have, how many districts there will be in the Republic, and indeed whether President Kibaki’s first term will be counted from December 2005 instead of 2002.
The power of a sitting President and his party is also entrenched by preventing those standing for the Presidency from running for Parliament. This is a huge blow to democracy and will significantly reduce the power of political parties, whose leaders will be reluctant to run for the Presidency unless they are certain of success.
Finally, this Constitution will be nearly impossible to amend if the people so wish. It would require the collection of a million signatures from all regions, which would then have to be verified for authenticity, a daunting if not impossible exercise that could take years since no time frame for certifying signatures is provided.
This draft Constitution does not meet Kenyans’ needs, and there is ample evidence that they will vote it down. Using the national treasury, and at immense cost to taxpayers, the ‘YES’ team is resorting to desperate and even illegal measures to win the support of constituencies they have treated with utter disregard so far. Bomas enjoys overwhelming national support, a fact finally dawning on the Banana camp.
Bomas provides us the basis to develop a new consensus document that can unite Kenyans — as they were for the first time in decades in electing NARC to power just three short years ago. That dream of unity was shattered by power-seekers around President Kibaki. We should not allow the promise of Bomas to be now crushed the same way.
