PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
the 47 county governments; (ii) National values and principles of governance – these have been expressly spelt out under section ten of the constitution and are binding on all State organs and officers;
(iii)Separation of powers, checks and balances – these have been expressly stated, whereby specific state organs and officers have their mandates, roles and functions specified; (iv) Oversight roles and functions – these roles and functions have been entrenched and spread out to more state organs and offices; though, traditionally exercised by the Legislature, specific inde- pendent constitutional commis- sions and offices have been cre- ated to bolster oversight powers and functions; (v)Sovereignty of the People – starting with section one and traversing the constitution, is the enhanced pivotal position and role of the people as the owners of the sovereign power to govern; (vi)Participation and surveillance of governance by the people – the constitution provides guaran- tees for the people to participate in the work of the state organs and offices, access information held by state organs and offices, petition the Legislatures to ex- ecute matters falling within their purview and finally to recall an elected Member, prior to expiry of the lifespan of the elected body; (vii)The Bill of Rights - the rights and fundamental freedoms are specified as belonging to each individual and not granted by the State; the State and every state organ is charged with the duty to observe, respect, protect, promote and fulfil them; (viii)Citizenship – every citizen is entitled to the rights, privileges and benefits of citizenship, sub- ject to constitutional limitations; provisions exist for dual citizen- ship;
(ix)National Level of Government – national Executive comprises the President, Deputy President
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and a Cabinet of not less than fourteen and more than twenty – two Secretaries; (x)National Legislature – bicamer- al Parliament - National Assembly of three hundred and fifty and Senate of 69 Members; (xi)County Level Government – County Executive Committee comprise the Governor, Deputy Governor and County Executive Committee Members; (xii)County Assemblies – uni- cameral Legislatures comprising 1,450 elected Members, with each County Assembly compris- ing of not less than 15 Members; (xiii)Independent Constitutional Commissions and Offices – these have been established to bolster the oversight and accountability mechanism, these include- Commission on Rev- enue Allocation, Salaries and Re- muneration Commission, Auditor General, Controller of Budget, Commission on Implementation of the Constitution, the Independ- ent Electoral and Boundaries Commission; (xiv)The Judiciary - an independ- ent Judiciary headed by the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court; Judges appointed by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister and vetted by the National Legislature, has independent management under the Judicial Service Commission and a separate budget.
The nitty gritty of the operational mechanisms of the Executives and the Legislatures in fulfilling their mandates will bring out the extent of the paradigm shift brought about by the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. Gone is the procedure where one state organ or office would accomplish execution of a function without the participation of any other. The constitution recognizes the distinctiveness of the two levels of government, while at the same time making them interdependent on each other for the due execution of
70 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One
their functions. At the centre of the operations of all state organs is the requirement that, the organs, provide processes by which the people participate in their work. Thus the Eleventh Parliament, to be elected on 4 March 2013, will redraft their procedure to ensure a bicameral process as well as reaching out to the 47 County Assemblies.
Generation shift When the general elections are held, the incoming Executive and Legislature will comprise Kenyans who were not in public service at re-Independence on 12 December 1963. Thus the Tenth Parliament has bid farewell to the last eminent Kenyan who was in both the Legislature and the Executive of the first republic, 1963 to 1969. Virtually all Members of the Eleventh Parliament will be persons without experience of the First Parliament. At most, the majority of them will be drawn from persons born after re-Independence. The valedictory of the Tenth Parliament goes to President Mwai Kibaki, who has served continuously as a Member of Parliament from the first sitting of the First Parliament on 11 June 1963 to the last sitting of the Tenth Parliament on 15 January 2013. The President has in 50 years, distinguished himself as one of the Members who have successfully served in both urban and rural constituencies. The tenure of the President started in low-income Eastern Nairobi, Donholm Constituency, between 1963 and 1974. In the second general elections, held on 14 October 1974, he shifted base to the rural agricultural constituency of Othaya, Nyeri County, which he has served from 1974 to 2013. In successfully switching from urban to rural constituencies, he proved wrong the Kiswahili saying:”Jogoo wa mjini hawiki mashambani” (a country rooster would not crow
while in town). In this period, he served in various portfolios in the executive including Finance and Planning, Commerce and Industry, Health and Vice President for 10 years to 1988. Apart from the ministerial
positions the President held in the Executive, at Parliament, he occupied equally key positions. The key positions included: Leader of Government Business, 1978 to 1988; Leader of the Official Opposition Party in the House, 1998 to 2002; and founder Commissioner of the Parliamentary Service Commission from 1999-2002. In acknowledging the service
of the President, Parliament held a special sitting on 19 December, addressed by the President. Members from across the divide recalled his parliamentary performance as an effective, articulate debater . In his 20-minute address, the President underscored the centrality of Parliament in the governance of Kenya. Forming part of the generation
shift in the paradigm shift, was the passing on of the third Clerk of the National Assembly, Samuel Waweru Ndindiri, in April 2008. Mr Ndindiri had a long tenure in the Clerk’s Chambers starting in the Third Parliament, 1974 to 1979. Additionally the Eleventh Parliament will miss the services of the last Clerk of the Unicameral Parliament, Mr Patrick Gichohi who has retired from service, along with his Senior Deputy, Mr P.C. Owino Omollo. The generation shift has also gone with Mr Murumba Werunga, the founder Head of The Centre for Parliamentary Studies and Training. To keep the service continuing, the Parliamentary Service Commission has already appointed Mr Justin N. Bundi and Mr Jeremiah Nyegenye to serve as Clerks of the National Assembly and the Senate, respectively.
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