A
REASON TO BELIEVE IN THE PRESIDENCY
The
dawn of the 2010 promulgation has been like a millennium celebration in Kenya.
It is in the true sense. Kenya feels accomplished. Citizens feel recognized. It
is true. It is a time to celebrate the long awaited and hard earned inclusive
and liberal constitution.
For
decades, Kenya has yearned for a presidency with reduced powers. We have yearned
for a presidency whose power to hire and fire public officers are minimal. This
has been achieved by a provision that public officers are accorded protection
and shall not be removed from the office without the due process of the law[1]. The
presidency has deceased from this. However immediately after the first
elections under the Constitution a majority of cases have sprung in the Kenyan
Industrial Courts following removal of public officers without the due process
of the Law[2].
These actually are from the County Governments which are newly created systems
in Kenya and not from the Central government or the Presidency.
For
the same, as long as the Kenyan Civil society has kept fighting for the new
reforms, we have also wished to have a parliament without the control of the
president. This is somewhat achieved. It is haven for Kenyans to have a
president who is not a member of parliament. A president who cannot determine
bills by being on one side of the motion is what we got. This is a nice thing.
Nevertheless, we still have left a loophole for the leader of the majority
party and leader of the minority. The natural Kenyan attraction to power and preferably
the 50%+1 rule of presidential elect’s votes, however general it may be,
presumes the president to be coming from the majority party. This means that the
president still has control over the National assembly and his take may prevail
especially on policy matters. This has not solved the political cartels in Kenya
in any way.
Thus
this explains our other intention. We have wanted a president who will not lead
through executive delegated powers of corrupt leaders. We actually have wanted
one who would fight corruption. A myriad of Constitutional Commissions with the
word “independent” have been created. These; apart from the harmonious
co-existence of state organs of advice, consultation and co-ordination are
under direction of nobody except the law and the Constitution. With this it is
trite that the Commissions do not fall under the executive hierarchy of powers,
where the president can command and issue orders. Separation of powers is best presented by
this position where appointments and suspensions have to be approved by the
parliament, which parliament the majority is the president’s 50%+1. This cannot be avoided either way.
The
sensational mayhem about the IEBC has been castigated by the foundation of
these theoretical underpinnings. However the presidency may wish to push
things, there is no direct maneuver due to the fettered powers and the insistence
on the power of the ballot. The majority of his party in parliament may be
believed to support him. Nevertheless it is not always the case since the
Parliamentarians themselves are afraid of losing favour in the eyes of the
voters. The oppositions have also found it hard to cast blame. With the checked
system, the net of blame does not fall on specifics. It falls on a homogeneous
chain of state organs where none can be claimed for total failure. It is for
the feeling on these two sides of the political system in Kenya that at some
point every side has been trying its wish on “the road not taken”. There is a
simple solution, to amend the Constitution.
Happy
for Kenyans, a Constitutional amendment requires a referendum. This referendum
is within the mandate of the Kenyans and their power to exercise their ballot
power. True enough, we are not in the 1980(s) when the Constitution was a
document for lawyers or an archive document in the historical monuments.
Kenyans can read it, can read the amendment bills and observe the mischief.
True enough, we are not in the ages where political gerrymandering could
conceal information. Kenyans can hear, read the media, contrast it with
political statement and fill in for themselves even the undisclosed grafts.
The
outcome of this has been grudging leaders. This is because they wish to control
but they cannot. They make mistakes but they cannot hide. We have also
non-effective opposition. They wish to expose but there is nothing to expose,
they wish to blame but the net is too wide. With this, political leaders blame
one another if they don’t cover each other. If covering becomes hard, they
absorb the corruptible Kenyan to help them mask. This is where the problem is. The
Kenyan is corruptible. The power is fettered. The opposition is ineffective.
In
all this, it is the Kenyan to offer himself a reason to believe in the presidency.
It is not anymore for the presidency to offer the Kenyan a reason to believe in
it. An incorruptible Kenyan offers himself a reason to believe in the
presidency. For a better Kenya, we need a reason to believe and that reason is
to be incorruptible.
DISCLAIMER: This article has been
written and published without intention to create any political inclination to
any candidate, be it presidential, parliamentary or gubernatorial.
Written by: Dennis Maanzo
