Who will speak for you?

The salient features of the Donde Bill escape me, but if memory serves, the then Hon. Joe Donde published a Bill that sought to regulate the manner in which the Central Bank of Kenya would set minimum and minimum interests rates on deposits held and money advanced on credit. The substance of the Bill is not relevant; what is is the fact that Hon. Donde came to be associated with the rights of borrowers as against their banks and other financial institutions. This is the situation as it obtains in the West, especially in the United States, where many civil libertarians and civil rights activists are bemoaning the loss of Russ Feingold from the US Senate. He was one of the few senators who proposed amendments to the USA Patriot Act when it was passed in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks. In Kenya, very few legislators can lay credit to being identified with a matter of national importance, but a few come close.

Njoki Ndung'u will forever be remembered for the way in which she shepherded the Sexual Offences Bill through Parliament in the face of very strong and chauvinistic opposition (remember the antics of the likes of the then Paddy Ahenda?) and Hon. John Mututho will be remembered for the Alcohol Control Act, that seeks to reverse the debilitating effect of alcohol on the lives and livelihoods of Kenyans. But try as I might, I am hard pressed to consider any of our current legislators as synonymous with a national issue. Hon. Martha Karua resigned from government because, in her eyes, the Executive did not respect the role of the Minister for Justice in the appointment of Judges. But other than her resignations, and the speeches she has made regarding the small matter of official corruption, who can say that Hon. Karua is a leading light in the National Assembly in the fight against corruption? Who among the 222 Members of Parliament is a champion of the civil liberties of Kenyans, or a proponent of universal health care for all Kenyans regardless of their station in life? Who speaks for the rights of the child in the National Assembly? Certainly not Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona, even though she styles herself the Member for Children. Who is the champion for affordable housing for the lesser among us? Certainly not the Minister and Assistant Minister for Housing.

Our legislators, and those who wish to enter the August House, are united in their desire to become MPs and the perks that go with the position. But, in the absence of an ideology, all our MPs are frequently mouths for hire and paper tigers, incapable of articulating an issue as a matter of principle or national interest. This sad state of affairs has prevailed for many years and it does not seem to be coming to an end any time soon. Gidion Mbuvi has spent at least three nights in police custody after being arraigned in court on charges which, if convicted, would see him spending time behind bars as a guest of the state. Hon. Karua, the chairman of Hon. Mbuvi's party, Narc-K, has maintained studious silence on the whole saga perhaps because she was either willfully negligent in the vetting that permitted Hon. Mbuvi to stand on her party's ticket or because she is complicit in his alleged crimes. The Prime Minister must be enjoying the sight of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense, Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, defending himself against the demands of members of his party to step down as the chairman of KANU as he is a state officer, in line with the provisions of the Constitution. Why is it that the Prime Minister has not offered to resign his party position in favour of someone who is not a state officer? It is after all law.

Today we have a group of MPs holding the House Agenda hostage because of the actions of an Independent Commission that the National Assembly appointed. The irony should not escape you. Mr. Andrew Ligale was chosen, vetted and appointed with the acquiescence of all Members of Parliament. I am yet to trace any statement against his appointment as chairman of the IIBRC in the Hansard. While Prof. Yash Pal Ghai is correct that the failure of Parliament to endorse the names proposed for the CIC or the CRA will not overly cripple the implementation of the Constitution, he misses the point when he fails to call the politicians on what they truly are - a selfish, self-interested, semi-informed, semi-literate bunch of tax-dodging, privileges-abusing, hate-mongering crooks. If we have a National assembly and Senate composed of men and women of the same ilk after the 2012 elections, we are doomed to mediocrity and petty, partisan brinkmanship that will do nothing to advance this nation to the objectives of Kenya Vision 2030, or any other vision for that matter.