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"id": 180628,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/180628/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
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"speaker": {
"id": 148,
"legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
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"content": "Mr. Obama beat two veteran senators: The Senator of New York, Mrs. Clinton in the primaries and this morning he beat the Senator of Arizona, Mr. McCain, to become the President of the USA. We are celebrating because he overcame great odds, and as we speak, he has become the leader of the free world. He could only do so because of institutions. Great institutions that have been established over 200 years by the American people to embrace democracy. That is why a young man who, in spite of his age and inexperience, in spite of the colour of his skin, his tribe and descent, was able to win the elections that were truly historic. Last Sunday, I also witnessed the swearing in of the President of Zambia in Lusaka, His Excellency, Mr. Banda, and though the victory was narrow, only 30,000 votes separated him from Mr. Sata, the opposition leader, there was no violence. There was peace in Lusaka and Zambia; the institutions that exist there enabled the people of Zambia to realise their democratic rights. I cannot say the same situation applies to our country. We all know what happened at the beginning of this year and it was as a result of weakening of institutions over years of an imperial presidency, where power was concentrated in the presidency. In the process, there was a gradual weakening of other institutions, resulting in an overbearing Executive and a feeble Judiciary. The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) that was not independent made possible the violence that we saw. As we speak today, we are a country in a crisis. We are in a crisis in the sense that our institutions are in a crisis to the extent that Kenya almost became a failed state. Therefore, for a Motion like this one, I must congratulate my hon. friend, Mr. Ethuro, for bringing it. I must also congratulate Messrs. Keter, Oloo-Aringo and all those who attempted before him to bring this Motion, so that we can strenghthen the only institution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I dare repeat that this is the only institution in Kenya today that has the confidence of the Kenyan people. In recent results, where polls were taken, indeed, the Speaker of the National Assembly, was the only leader of an institution who got the highest endorsement of the Kenyan people; Seventy per cent of Kenyans indicated that they have confidence in the Speaker and the Tenth Parliament. Therefore, we must, as hon. Members of the Tenth Parliament, support this Motion to strengthen this House by ensuring that Parliament has an independent calender controlled by none other than Parliament itself. Indeed, we talk of the supremacy of Parliament, but it cannot be a supreme organ if it operates at the beck and call of other institutions. We do not know when it shall be convened or when prorogation shall be 3284 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 5, 2008 ordered. It is a matter of vital national importance that we ensure that the amendments proposed to Section 58 and 59 of the Constitution of Kenya are effected and Parliament is able to have a fixed calender and operate independently. I believe that we are making great progress in this nation. I can say that yesterday this House passed the Bill for the Constitutional Review, setting a road map that will, at the end of the day, put the review of our Constitution back on track. But still, we have had several attempts at this. For several decades since the 1990s we have attempted to give Kenyans a new Constitution, but we have not succeeded. Indeed, even after this road map, we are not sure that Kenyans are going to get a new Constitution within one year as was promised. But the surest way is not to wait for a day when a miracle will happen and we give this country a new Constitution but to start, block by block, working on this Constitution; doing what we did at the beginning of this year in March when we amended our Constitution to introduce, and give effect, to the National Accord. We have, today an opportunity - we do not have to wait to embark on this journey. We have the opportunity to deal with Sections 58 and 59 and we can do that through this Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also have the situation at the ECK. We do not have to wait for a comprehensive review of this Constitution. We can, after dealing with Sections 58 and 59, deal with Section 41, because Kenyans have spoken, the Gallup opinion polls have indicated, Kriegler has spoken that, indeed, if there is an institution that has suffered the loss of confidence, it is the ECK. We do not want to wait for a year to deal with it. After we clear with this Motion by Mr. Ethuro, I think the next Section of our Constitution is Section 41. The other institution that has suffered loss of confidence is the Judiciary. We had the chaos at the beginning of the year because the aggrieved parties had no confidence in our Judiciary. They could not have grievances addressed by the Judiciary and, therefore, they took to the streets. Look at what it has cost this country! We do not have to wait. We have to start looking at Sections 60, 61, 62 and 68 of our Constitution, so that we deal with the issue of the Judiciary after the ECK. These are areas that we need to start applying our minds to. We do not have to wait for the magic wand to say: \"Now, the road map is ready! Now, the comprehensive review is being done\". Let us go step by step. By the time we get there, we will have dealt with the essential sections of our constitution. I really support what others have supported, including the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) about an incremental amendment of our Constitution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we do not have to wait. It is a long journey. We can go step by step and let us support this Motion so that we begin dealing with Sections 58 and 59. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are also other sections that need urgent attention like Section 42. This is to allow for constituencies boundary review. That does not have to wait. We also have issues touching on independent candidates in Section 34. There is the issue of dual citizenship in Section 97. We do not have to wait. Indeed, as we begin this journey today, we want to ask ourselves whether we can put our institutions back on their feet. The first and foremost institution that remains intact is this Parliament and this is where we must begin. We must ask ourselves whether we can have a new Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) that can command the confidence of all Kenyans. We must be inspired by the words of Barrack Obama who said: \"Yes, we can\". We can do so without waiting for a year or two to deal with these issues in the manner that Mr. Ethuro has proposed. We can look at the Judiciary because it is in crisis. When you hear lawyers putting petitions to the President that they have lost confidence in the Chief Justice, then we must realise there is a crisis. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, these are issues that cannot wait and we do not have to wait at all. I would like us to appreciate the words of a professor of law, Professor Weeramantry who wrote a book: The Law in Crisis . The good professor indicated that many a times in the November 5, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3285 human history, great societies have collapsed because of failure to realise crisis situations that operated in them. We must begin by asking ourselves: Is the crisis situation in Kenya such as the good professor talked about? If we do so, we should start by dealing with the institutions. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I support this Motion."
}