CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 000682 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KE SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ¶1. On March 6, the Kenya Gazette Supplement published the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill of 2008. This proposed constitutional amendment will be debated by Parliament at its next session on March 11. Begin text. THE CONSTITUTION OF KENYA (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2008 A Bill for an Act of Parliament to Amend the Constitution Enacted by the Parliament of Kenya, as follows- ¶1. This Act may be cited as the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act, 2008. ¶2. The Constitution is amended in section 3 by inserting the following new proviso immediately after the word "void" - "Provided that the provisions of this section as to .consistency with this Constitution shall not apply in respect of an Act made pursuant to section 15A (3)." ¶3. The Constitution is amended by inserting the following new section immediately before section 16 - BEGIN INSERTED CLAUSE "15A. 1. There shall be a Prime Minister of the Government of Kenya. ¶2. There shall be two Deputy Prime Ministers of the Government of Kenya. ¶3. Parliament may, by an Act of Parliament and notwishstanding any other provision of this Constitution, provide for - a. the appointment and termination of office of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Mnisters and Ministers; b. the functions and powers of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers; c. the establishment of a coalition Government; d. any other matter incidental to or connected with the foregoing. ¶4. Subject to the provisions of any Act made under subsection (3),the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Ministers shall be Ministers of the Government of Kenya. ¶5. The Act made pursuant to subsection (3) immediately following the commencement of this section shall, while in force, be read as part of this Constitution. ¶6. Nothing contained in or done under the authority of an Act of Parliament made pursuant to subsection (3) immediately following the commencement or this section shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of any provision of this Constitution." END INSERTED CLAUSE. ¶4. Section 17 of the Constitution is amended in subsection (1),by insel1ing the expression "Prime Minister, two Deputy Prime Ministers" immediately after the expression "the Vice-President". END TEXT OF Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill, 2008. ¶2. The Bill also contains a Memorandum of Objects and Reasons. Begin text: This Bill emanates from the agreement reached between His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki on behalf of the Government/Party of National Unity and Hon. Raila Odinga on behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement. The agreement was witnessed by His Excellency President Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Chairman of the African Union, and His Excellency Kofi Annan, Chairman of the Panel of Eminent Africa Personalities, who chaired the deliberations of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee. The Committee was formed after a political crisis ensued following a dispute on the outcome of the Presidential elections held on 27th December, 2007. The political crisis brought to the surface deep-seated and long-standing divisions within The Kenyan society. NAIROBI 00000682 002 OF 002 The Committee held its deliberations under the auspices of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities comprising the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Kofi Annan, His Excellency Benjamin Mkapa, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Her Excellency Madam Graca Machel. The Government/Party of National Unity team was led by Hon. Martha Karua, Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and consisted of Hon. Prof. Sam Ongeri, Minister for Education, Hon. Moses Wetangula, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr. Gichira Kibaara, while the Orange Democratic Movement team was led by Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, and consisted of Hon. William Ruto, Hon. Sally Kosgei, Hon. James Orengo and Mr. Caroli Omondi. It proposed and agreed on a raft of constitutional, legal and political measures to defuse the crisis, which culminated in the signing of an agreement entitled "Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government" on 28th February, 2008. The Agreement provided for the establishment of the offices of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, and the formation of a coalition Government. A team chaired by the Hon. S. Amos Wako, the AttorneyGeneral of the Republic of Kenya, and comprising the Hon. Mutula Kilonzo, the Hon. James A. B. Orengo, Mr. Gichira Kibaara and Mr. Caroli Omondi, was mandated to draft a constitutional amendment Bill to entrench the Agreement into the Constitution. This Bill therefore seeks to give effect to this Agreement. It seeks to amend the Constitution to provide for the establishment of the offices of a Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers. The Bill also seeks to provide for the enactment of an Act providing for the appointment and termination of offices of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and various Ministers of the Government of Kenya, the functions and powers of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, and the establishment of a coalition Government. The enactment of this Bill shall occasion additional expenditure of public funds to be provided for through the estimates. Dated 6th of March, 2008. End text. RANNEBERGER