mzalendo :: Eye On Kenyan Parliament

• IDPs To Vote or Not to Vote 2012

  Posted: September 29, 2011, 12:51 am by admin

  
  
  

  By  Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  A story in one of today’s papers states that Lari MP David Njuguna has advised IDPs not to vote in the 2012 election unless the government settles them by Christmas.  According to the article, he said the government was only concerned about the welfare of politicians.  The MP said the IDPs are living under harsh conditions while others are yet to come to terms with the loss of their beloved ones lost during the post election violence.  He added that the IDPs are also starving because of the high cost of living, “These people are suffering and starving and living in deplorable conditions with their children. Education for their children is also at stake.”’

  While I do agree with the fact that government is wrong in its failure to resettle the IDPs almost four years on, and that IDPs suffer disproportionately because of the governments failure, I disagree with proposal that the IDPs should demonstrate their disapproval of the government’s failure to resettle them by not voting in the upcoming election. In fact I think their vote is the strongest participatory tool that the IDPs have, so far protests, and lobby groups, though they have done an admirable job, seem to have had little effect with regards to resettlement. With their vote IDPs can signal their disapproval of the fact that government has done little to resettle them.

  If the IDPs do give up their right to vote in the 2012 election, how else will they hold their parliamentary representatives accountable, how else will they signal their desire for change?

• On Sidelining of Commissions and Independent Bodies

  Posted: September 27, 2011, 9:55 am by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor Moreen Majiwa

  Why form commissions and independent bodies if they are going to be sidelined?  The government/parliament has a very poor record of non-interference, follow through, or implementing recommendations of commissions and independent bodies created to perform specific tasks. This trend seems to have carried on in the new dispensation, let’s review.

  First, the Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC), whose role is to oversee the implementation of the Proposed Constitution, seems to have a hit several roadblocks i.e. the wrangle between the commission and government over the issue of payment of salaries of the commissioners. The most recent development in the CIC salary dispute being the A-G’s dismissal of a petition brought against himself, the Minister of Finance, and the Public Service Commission, pay negotiations are still ongoing.

  Second, the CIC is being increasingly sidelined in its oversight role. Parliament passed 15 bills in less than two weeks against the CIC’s advice and disobeying a court injunction granted to stop the passage of said bills. There’s the unilateral decision by the cabinet to propose the postponement of the date of the next election contrary to the CIC advice, the issue is currently in the hands of the Supreme Court. and the illegal passage of two acts the National Government Loans Guarantee Act and the Contingencies and County Emergency Fund Act.

  Third, despite the fact that the IEBC is supposed to be an independent body,  a section of MPs are attempting to influence the panels shortlist of candidates for the positions of commissioners.

  I bring this up because there are 11 commissions are to be formed in the new dispensation. Commissions cost taxpayers millions probably billions of shillings every year. The role of commissions play is crucial to reform. However commissions and independent bodies this can only do their job successfully if given an enabling environment and so far it appears parliament is the biggest barrier to proper functioning of the very commission they create.

• Amendments To The Constitution, Your Thoughts?

  Posted: September 23, 2011, 6:58 pm by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  Who would have thought amendments would come this soon?  Barely a year after the constitution was passed there are two possible points of amendment on the table.

  I was at a civil society meeting yesterday where the proposals to amend the constitution to facilitate realisation 2/3-gender rule in Article 81 (b) of constitution, and the proposed postponement of the next election were discussed extensively.

  On implementation of the not more the 2/3 of either gender rule there were 2 divergent opinions. The first, that there was no way that requirement of Article 81 (b) could be met without a constitutional amendment, and, therefore,  requisite amendments should be made to the constitution to ensure that the 2/3 threshold is met.

  The second , no amendments to the constitution should be made with regards to realisation of 2/3 gender. The 2/3 gender rule an aspirational and progressive one, to be realised over time through the creation of an enabling environment therefore no amendment is needed. What is needed is a levelling of the playing field for both genders running for elective positions. Furthermore an amendment to the constitution at this early day would open the gateway for amendments made for political expediency.

  On the proposal by cabinet to have the date of the election changed from a date in August 2012 to a date in December 2012, a consensus was reached to wait for the Supreme Court opinion on the matter.

  Views on the importance of date of the next general election varied from – the date of the election is not as important as people who are elected, to the view that the constitutional provision on the election date should be given the simplest reading, and the intention of the constitution followed by having the next elections in the 2nd week of August 2012. Some argued that the cabinet was being disingenuous in its reasons for its proposal to have the election in December, and all that was needed for an election to be held in August 2012 was political will and not an amendment to the constitution.

  One of the panellists, a CIC commissioner, made the very good point that if any amendments to the constitution were to be made, the process of amendment should be consultative, with 100% public participation. Before any constitutional amendments are made there should be a broad consensus on the amendment by the citizens. Finally, any amendments made to the constitution should be made with the intention effect implementation rather than to erode gains.

  What are your thoughts on amendments to the constitution, and what conditions would place for amendment if any?

• Tigania West CDF funds embezzlement

  Posted: September 14, 2011, 7:19 pm by admin

  
  
  

  We have recently received a report highlighting the abuse of CDF funds in Tigania West constituency.

  The full report can be accessed here and the excel spreadsheet with the breakdown of expenses can be accessed here.

  What can you do?

  Ping the MP on twitter – @kilemi  or on Facebook and ask him to respond to the allegations made in the report.   And if you are a constituent of Tigania West, let us know whether you agree or disagree with the contents of the report.

  Some highlights from the report:

  • KShs. 70,122,903 out of the KShs. 153,639,843 disbursed to Tigania West between 2007/8, 2008/9 and 2009/10 by the National CDF Board cannot be accounted for. The money missing does not include ghost projects and abandoned projects. This means that the misappropriated amounts are much higher; possibly almost the entire three years allocation of KShs. 153,639,843.
  • No money was disbursed to the most important component of CDF (bursaries) as at the end of 2009/2010 financial year.

• On the Teachers’ Strike

  Posted: September 9, 2011, 2:36 pm by admin

  
  
  

  The public education system needs more than just the hiring of new teachers to correct everything that’s wrong with it. Some would say the whole 8.4.4 system needs an overhaul to stay relevant. However if the government does nothing else with regard to reforming the public education system this yea, it should hire more teachers.

  The internationally recommended teacher student ratio is 1 to 35. Student ratio in most of Kenya’s public schools is one teacher for every 50 students. In some schools the teacher pupil ratio is as high as 1 to 100.

  With those kind numbers it’s hardly surprising that this week 240,000 teachers launched an open ended, nation wide strike, which affects 10 million primary and secondary school children. The teachers are demanding the government hire more educators to ease over crowding in classrooms. KNUT (Kenya National Union of Teachers) estimates 79,000 are teachers needed to cover the deficit.

  A 1 to 100-teacher student ratio and a 79,000 deficit in teacher numbers has detrimental on both the educators and the children. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the quality of education is reduced as the ratio increases. In fact with such a ratio one wonders how many children that graduate from class to class acquire even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills? Or how one teacher teaching 50 plus students to manages to ensure a well managed classroom and a skilful assessment of all 50 plus children to facilitate learning and reduce disparities? My guess is that as the teacher student ratio increases, education in public schools may become more about crowd control than actual teaching.

  The government response to the teachers strike has been varied some MPs have threatened to stop the enactment of the Finance and Appropriations Bills if the demand for employment of additional teachers is not meant. The Minister of Education proposed the hiring of 20,000 on temporary contracts, an idea that was quickly shot down by the KNUT. The Finance Minister has stated unequivocally that there is no money in the budget for the employment of additional teachers.

  Given that’s understaffing in public schools is no secret and long term negative implications of the shortage of teachers on the society why did the government divert money from the budget meant for hiring new teachers to the Department of Defence?

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes