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"content": "Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to also support this very important Bill. The matter of constitutional review is not new in this country. It is something which we should have disposed of a long time ago. In fact, I thought we had a unique opportunity immediately after the crisis that we had in this country, particularly when we had the Serena team in place. I must, however, confess that they did an excellent job. Constitution making always becomes easier in times of crisis than in times of stability and good times. Therefore, I am of the view that this should have been done yesterday. I also got worried that the Minister and the Government might have forgotten that this was a very important process, especially given that it has taken us a few more months before this Bill came to the House. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have only a few comments to make about the organs of the review process, one of which is on the proposed Committee of Experts. I am a bit pained to 2422 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 6, 2008 accept that the proposed experts can include foreigners. I would like the Minister and the Government to review this particular aspect of the composition of the proposed Committee of experts. Even though the Minister has said that this is a negotiated Bill, if foreigners are needed, we can have them as consultants to work with the Committee. Having foreigners to participate in the deliberations of a matter that is purely Kenyan is going too far to compromise our own sovereignty. So, this is a Kenyan process. It has got nothing to with foreigners. Let foreigners advise us, but let us, as much as possible, have Kenyan professors, Kenyan lawyers and Members of Parliament as well as the Kenyan people, drive the process. It should have nothing to do with any foreign persons managing this process. Therefore, on this particular organ, which is the experts who are supposed to harmonise all these documents, I would plead with the Minister to make it wholly Kenyan. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, even though we have no problem with four Kenyan experts sitting on the proposed Committee, the Minister should consider raising this number to eight. I say so, because constitution-making process is about perception. The perception that the experts involved are Kenyans, and that they represent the face of Kenya. It is so important for Kenyans to eventually digest and accept the contents of the final document. So, I suggest that we increase the number of experts to be appointed to the Committee, and even make clear the constitution of the Committee's membership in terms of gender balance, because the Bill is not even clear about the issue of gender representation. We are very keen on that aspect. It is also about the perception; that, this is a Kenyan process in which the Kenyan people are involved. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am told that members of the Committee of Experts will be nominated by the Parliamentary Select Committee, and the other three will be nominated by the eminent persons. That is where we have a problem. Even the nomination process by the Parliamentary Select Committee is not very clear. The Minister alluded to this. So, I hope that the relevant Departmental Committee will look at this provision in detail, so that we know the way forward. During the Eighth Parliament, I was a Member of the Committee. At that time, it was very clear how the membership was selected. In this case, the Minister should, perhaps, during the Committee Stage, consider carrying amendments to see how the Parliamentary Select Committee itself is constituted. If there is a perception that the Parliamentary Select Committee membership is twisted in favour of one political party or the other, we might go back again to the drawing board. So, it must be clear how this Committee will be constituted and who its membership will be. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, another bit I have a problem with is the referendum. The Minister said that we expect to have consensus. The question is: If there is consensus, why would we require a referendum? We will only require a referendum in the event that there will be no consensus, to allow Kenyans to decide. Therefore, I would like the Minister to ensure that the final document will have the acceptability of all the provinces in this country, so that we do not have a province feeling left out of this particular process. That is why even in the event that we go to a referendum, we should have at least 50 per cent of Kenyans voting, so as to ensure that this document is wholly accepted. We should also provide for a caveat, just like we have done for the Presidential elections, where we have provided that the President-elect should, at least, win 25 per cent of the total vote in five provinces in addition to emerging the overall winner. In this case, we should provide for the eight provinces. It should be mandatory that the entire membership of this country accepts the final document. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, finally, it is a question of goodwill. We can do so much but it will depend on the goodwill of this Government. So, it is important that there is goodwill within the Grand Coalition Government for this document to go through. The way I see it August 6, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2423 now, we need to work towards creating that goodwill. The Minister and the rest of us must work on that aspect, so that in the general elections, we do not go through the kind of difficulties we went through early this year. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, finally, I would like to talk about the review of constituency boundaries. There is a campaign that is going on in the country whereby, in highly populated areas, people want to increase their numbers in the House, which should be so. But as we say one-man-one-vote, we in the northern Kenya, perhaps, we should say: One-vote-one-acre. It could be compensated with a piece of land that we represent. We have no problem to increase the number, but it should depend on the size of the land. That way, we shall all gain. With those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}