We
did not get rid of the KANU hegemony only to have the National Assembly
assume the mantle that had been yanked off Rais Moi's shoulders in
2002. Kenyans have demonstrated an almost zen-like capacity for patience
with their elected representatives. In a spectacular show of
philanthropic magnanimity, Kenyans have time and again allowed its
elected representatives to behave as if the Consolidated Fund was their
personal bank account, to be dipped into whenever and wherever they felt
that they were running a bit low on cash. The manner in which they have
used the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2012 to advance
their selfish ends may be the straw that finally breaks the camel's
back.
Kenyans suffered in the period between 1982 and 2003 at the hands of their government, especially the overmighty hand of the Executive as personified in President Moi and from the fecklessness of the National Assembly that acted as a rubber stamp for all that the Executive deemed to be in its interests. The supine form that the Judiciary assumed during this period made a bad situation worse by endorsing the acts of the Executive at every turn, handing down judgments against men and women arraigned before it on trumped up charges with gay abandon. In 2002 Kenyans began a revolution that removed President Moi, peacefully, from power, denied him a back-door into the Executive; this revolution culminated in 2010 when Kenyans overwhelmingly ratified a new Constitution. The gains made since then are slowly being reversed, not at the hands of the Executive, but that of the National Assembly.
In 2010, after almost a decade of disappointment from the National Assembly, Kenyans endorsed a Constitution that sought to corral Parliamentarians from making off with the last of our taxes in pay and perks that were wholly undeserved. We insisted that regardless of their popularity, Parliamentarians (and leaders) needed certain minimum skills in order to steer this nation to the next level in its quest for development. Members of Parliament who had enthusiastically supported the draft Constitution have now, Janus-faced, turned around and rejected the compact they made with Kenyans and are determined to water down the prescriptions in the Constitution to suit their own ends. In the past week, Kenyans shamed the few MPs with a conscience into reversing the retrogressive amendments introduced to the Miscellaneous Amendments Bill, forcing their greedy, grasping, recalcitrant peers to appeal directly to the President and Prime Minister to reject the final version of the Bill and not assent to it.
Kenyans do not want to be held hostage by their elected representatives as much as they do not want to be held hostage by the Executive branch. Kenyans are witness to the reforms taking place in the Judiciary and they are hungry for more; they will endorse any law that reduces the capacity of Parliamentarians to draw from the national Treasury. They will endorse laws that compel their elected representatives to represent the peoples' views in Parliament. They will endorse laws that will reverse the decades of corrupt acts perpetrated by the members of the government, be they elected or appointed. Kenyans have declared loudly and clearly that they are no longer cowed by the trappings f power. They will speak truth to power even if it means cutting down their favourite sons and daughters to size. The faint glimmer of hope for a better future have been sighted. Kenyans have declared that they will remain vigilant and prevent their elected representatives from snuffing out the light.
Kenyans suffered in the period between 1982 and 2003 at the hands of their government, especially the overmighty hand of the Executive as personified in President Moi and from the fecklessness of the National Assembly that acted as a rubber stamp for all that the Executive deemed to be in its interests. The supine form that the Judiciary assumed during this period made a bad situation worse by endorsing the acts of the Executive at every turn, handing down judgments against men and women arraigned before it on trumped up charges with gay abandon. In 2002 Kenyans began a revolution that removed President Moi, peacefully, from power, denied him a back-door into the Executive; this revolution culminated in 2010 when Kenyans overwhelmingly ratified a new Constitution. The gains made since then are slowly being reversed, not at the hands of the Executive, but that of the National Assembly.
In 2010, after almost a decade of disappointment from the National Assembly, Kenyans endorsed a Constitution that sought to corral Parliamentarians from making off with the last of our taxes in pay and perks that were wholly undeserved. We insisted that regardless of their popularity, Parliamentarians (and leaders) needed certain minimum skills in order to steer this nation to the next level in its quest for development. Members of Parliament who had enthusiastically supported the draft Constitution have now, Janus-faced, turned around and rejected the compact they made with Kenyans and are determined to water down the prescriptions in the Constitution to suit their own ends. In the past week, Kenyans shamed the few MPs with a conscience into reversing the retrogressive amendments introduced to the Miscellaneous Amendments Bill, forcing their greedy, grasping, recalcitrant peers to appeal directly to the President and Prime Minister to reject the final version of the Bill and not assent to it.
Kenyans do not want to be held hostage by their elected representatives as much as they do not want to be held hostage by the Executive branch. Kenyans are witness to the reforms taking place in the Judiciary and they are hungry for more; they will endorse any law that reduces the capacity of Parliamentarians to draw from the national Treasury. They will endorse laws that compel their elected representatives to represent the peoples' views in Parliament. They will endorse laws that will reverse the decades of corrupt acts perpetrated by the members of the government, be they elected or appointed. Kenyans have declared loudly and clearly that they are no longer cowed by the trappings f power. They will speak truth to power even if it means cutting down their favourite sons and daughters to size. The faint glimmer of hope for a better future have been sighted. Kenyans have declared that they will remain vigilant and prevent their elected representatives from snuffing out the light.
No comments:
Post a Comment