PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
KENYA
CELEBRATING A JUBILEE, 1963 TO 2013
The life of the Tenth Parliament of Kenya came to an end on 15 January 2013, when its statutory five years ended. The Tenth Parliament began in an environment clouded by the inconclusive general election which lacked a clear victor. This was coupled with the spontaneous post-election violence that rocked most parts of the expansive Rift Valley Province. The period between December 27 and 29 2007, when the general election was held and January 15, 2008, when the first sitting of the Tenth Parliament was convened, was a stressful one. The convening of the Tenth Parliament was propitious in deflecting attention from the heated disputes over the results of the presidential elections. The constitutional and
statutory framework bound the two leaders of the leading contending political parties for the presidency. President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga were designated the Two Principals and their parties respectively, the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), entered into a coalition. The two Principals brought along their affiliated political parties. The lifespan of the coalition was given as five years, however, provisions were included by which it could be ended upon disengagement of one of the Principals. The negotiated agreement
on which the Two Principals penned their signatures on 28
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February 2008 was a product of the process shepherded by the African Union (AU), the United Nations, the European Union, and the East African Community (EAC). The African Union bestowed its mandate on the Group of Eminent African Persons led by the immediate former Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, the immediate former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Benjamin Mkapa, the former First Lady of Mozambique, Ms Graca Machel, amongst others. The AU and EAC team led by its Chairperson, JH.E. akaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreement. The structure and operational
mechanisms of the Coalition Government were closely guided by the provisions of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008. Among the key salient provisions was that:
(i) The two Principals would equally share out the Cabinet portfolios, thus the Tenth Parlia- ment has witnessed the biggest Cabinet since re-Independence in 1963. There have been 42 Cabinet Ministers and almost double the number of Assistant Ministers; and (ii) Appointments to all key positions in the Public Service would be made by the Presi- dent in consultation with the Prime Minister and vetted by the National Assembly prior to formal
assumption of office. The Tenth Parliament and
the Coalition Government are of marked significance in the political evolution of Kenya. They came to an end, respectively, upon the dissolution of the Tenth Parliament on 15 January 2013 and the holding of the general elections scheduled for 4 March 2013. The dissolution and general elections are collectively significant from a number of perspectives. Firstly they have served Kenya
in the ultimate decade of the first 50 years of re-Independence. As it ends, they usher in the next 50 years. The major activity of the next Parliament, that is, the Eleventh Parliament and the government formed after the general elections, will be to celebrate the Jubilee of the re–Independence. Nonetheless, it is instructive that the Parliament will mark its Jubilee on 11 June 2013, being the date on which 50 years ago the first sitting of the First Parliament was held. The government and the nation will celebrate Jubilee on 12 December 2013, which marked the date on which 50 years ago the British National Anthem and the Union Jack was lowered for the last time. Secondly, in both the Tenth Parliament and the Coalition Government, there has been no official opposition. It has been a parliamentary system without the benches for the ruling party and those for the official opposition and the parties in the opposition.
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