ODM supports 7-year presidential term in ‘problematic’ Aukot proposal

The Orange Democratic Movement Party has slammed Dr Ekuru Aukot’s “Punguza Mizigo” Bill as “problematic”.

In a statement to newsrooms on Thursday, ODM called for the Bill to be discarded, saying it lacks clarity on several key issues affecting Kenyans.

The political outfit further questioned Dr Aukot’s motive of the campaign, saying he had ulterior intentions aimed at “scuttling the Building Bridges Initiative”.

“We cannot fail to [note] that the motivation of this initiative was to scuttle the Building Bridges Initiative, which the sponsor had attempted to achieve through court actions,” said ODM in its statement.

“We have taken time to study the bill and have found it problematic as it undermines the spirit of the very Constitution it seeks to amend. It is full of contradictions and inconsistencies and would result in a chaotic constitutional order while not even living to its promise of lessening the burden on the mwnananchi.”

ODM CONCERNS

Financial burden

“The bill claims to be targeting expenditure sites that burden the Kenyan public but doesn’t even mention the real areas of concern.”

Members of Commissions

“The bill proposes to delete Article 250 (1) removing the mechanism for appointment of members of independent commissions without providing for an alternative.”

-Reduction of the number of constituencies-

“The bill purposes to abolish constituencies but purports to retain the wards as is. This is a cheeky gimmick to trick County Assemblies into supporting the Bill.”

Scrapping of deputy governor posts

“The bill seeks to abolish the position of deputy governor without a convincing justification. If it is on the account of cost, elevating one member of the CEC to perform the functions of principal assistant to the governor would result in the same costs but with reduced accountability since the said-CEC member would serve at the pleasure of the governor.”

Doing away with Woman Rep positions

“The Bill seeks to delete Article 100 (a) and 177 (b), which promote representation of women in Parliament and County Assemblies. It also seeks to abolish nomination in the National Assembly, County Assembly and the Senate. Going by the current status, these Houses would be almost 100 per cent male dominated.”

-Converting counties into constituencies-

“It has proposed to abolish the 290 constituencies and instead have the 47 counties turned into constituencies. Having parliamentary representation at county level goes against the dictum of “no taxation without representation.”

The ODM Party, however, highlighted four areas it concurs with the Aukot-sponsored Bill.

“We concur with the Bill fully or partially with regard to: need for rationalisation of Parliament, but disagree on the numbers, 7-year non-renewable presidential term, but only in the context of a parliamentary system, increasing equitable allocation to counties. However, while the Bill proposes this at 35%, we are of the view that it should be increased to 45%, including 5% ward development fund, making every Kenyan who acquires an identity card an automatic voter,” said ODM in their statement signed by the Party’s Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna.

The party’s position on the “Punguza Mizigo” Bill comes just a few days after the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) formed a team of experts comprised of top constitutional lawyers to look into the “Punguza Mizigo” bill and advise the County Assemblies on its implications.

Forum chair Johnson Osoi said the team would begin poring over contents of the referendum bill next week on Monday until Friday before submitting a report to CAF secretariat.

“At the County Assemblies Forum we have formed a team of experts to consider the bill and advise the MCAs so that when they start debating on it, they will do it from an informed point of view,” said the CAF chair who is also the Speaker of Kajiado County Assembly.

Legal experts

The team of experts, he said, is comprised of legal experts in constitutional law including Collins Odote, Kamotho Waiganjo, Wachira Maina and Abdikadir Mohamed.

In a telephone interview with People Daily on Tuesday, July 23, Osoi said several County Assemblies have received the bill but could not state where the bill has so far landed.

“Hopefully by Friday this week, all the 47 County Assemblies will have received the bill…from there, the next course of action will be 90 days for the MCAs to work on the bill then the speakers will transmit the final outcome to the National Assembly,” Osoi.

This comes as some Mombasa MCAs have vowed to rally their support behind the referendum bid. The MCA said the proposed amendments will help relieve Kenyans from the huge economic burden brought about by the 2010 Constitution.

Meanwhile Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yesterday dismissed claims that there was no public participation in the “Punguza Mizigo” initiative saying the agency publicised the list for 21 days.

-Legal experts-

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said the list is still on the commission’s website though they were not able to publish it in the Kenya gazette and local dailies due to financial constraints.

He said the commission publicised the list on its website for purposes of providing an opportunity to supporters of the initiative to confirm their support for referendum bill.

Elsewhere, Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson ole Sapit has called for a proper audit of the Constitution before any amendments are made. 

Speaking at Busia Agricultural Training Centre on Tuesday, Sapit said it is only through an audit that areas to be retained or discarded can be identified. 

He said the high wage bill is a great burden to the country hence Kenyans should seize any opportunity to reduce it.