Lucas Barasa
17 March 2008
Nairobi — The country enters a crucial week when the historic pact that ended two months of post-election violence is expected to be enacted into law, setting the stage for a grand coalition government.
Debate on the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill and the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) is expected to start when Parliament resumes Tuesday.
Sources Sunday said the issue has been included in Tuesday's order paper, meaning, the MPs will start debate on the Bills immediately.
Once passed into law, the Bills will introduce the posts of Prime minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers, paving the way for PNU and ODM to start sharing power under a new governance system.
Expand Cabinet
President Kibaki is also expected to expand his Cabinet after the crucial Bills sail through.
"We expect the two laws to be passed on Tuesday for start of real healing. That is what the country and the world expects," Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo of ODM Kenya said. The party is allied to PNU.
In Mombasa Mvita MP Najib Balala led Coast MPs Dan Mwazo, Calist Mwatela, Hassan Joho, Ramadhan Kajembe, Benedict Gunda and Jeffer Kingi in declaring their support for the Bills.
They also urged communities in the region to live in peace and unity as part of the national healing process. Mr Balala said the new coalition was meant to address social and economic injustices perpetrated by past administrations.
Science and Technology minister Noah Wekesa said the two Bills were urgent. "We cannot take too long to debate since the principals have already agreed on the issues," he said. "Within two days we will have finished."
Dujis MP Aden Duale said MPs should capitalise on the mood in the country and speedily pass the two Bills.
"We are ready to pass them," said the ODM MP.
Party chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo said the debate will help shape the country's future. The Gem MP expressed confidence that the two Bills would be passed.
Kenyans are also eagerly waiting to see the composition of the expanded Cabinet, which is expected to bring together MPs from all parties.
PNU and its affiliates are expected to provide half the seats while ODM and its affiliates will fill the rest.
Power-sharing
The National Accord Bill will legitimise the power-sharing agreement signed by President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga on February 28, while the Constitutional Amendment will entrench the agreement in the Constitution.
Mr Kilonzo said he hoped that Parliament will "rise to the occasion" and use Standing Order Number 99 to pass the two Bills on the same day.
On Sunday, Ndhiwa MP Orwa Ojodeh (ODM) urged both sides of the House to support the Bills for the good of the country.
"They (Bills) should not be misconstrued as promoting an individual. They are for stability of the country," he said in a telephone interview.
PNU members have pledged to support the Bills but said they should be debated carefully to ensure critical issues in power-sharing are addressed.
MPs Peter Mwathi (Limuru), Lee Kinyanjui (Nakuru Town), Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa) and David Ngugi (Kinangop) said the Bills sought to address fundamental political issues that the country had failed to address in the past.
Former Kabete MP Paul Muite said a Bill can go through the second and third reading on the same day if no one objects.
Ordinarily, each stage of the debate is held on a different day. After the third reading, the Bills will only await presidential assent to become law.
Indicating the urgency of passage of the Bills, Mr Kilonzo said some internally displaced persons had refused to go back to their farms until the peace deal was transformed into law. Once this is done, MPs should start inter-parties rallies to preach peace and reconciliation.
Sources said the new Cabinet could be named soon after the Bills sail through.
Under the agreement between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, the Prime Minister will be leader of the party with a majority in Parliament or the party/coalition with the largest number of MPs.
PNU will provide one of the deputy prime ministers and ODM the other.
Once the Bill becomes law, Mr Odinga is set to become Kenya's second Prime Minister after Jomo Kenyatta's one-year tenure at independence.
On January 8, President Kibaki named half of his Cabinet, about a week after violence broke out over the disputed presidential election results announced by ECK on December 30.
Over 1,200 people were killed in the mayhem while some 350,000 others were displaced from their homes.
Some of the key ministries left out when the President named the first 17 ministers are Health, Agriculture and Trade and Industry.
Already there has been intense lobbying for the deputy PM posts with Sabatia MP Musalia Mudavadi emerging as front-runner in ODM.
Deputy PM
On the PNU side, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua is one of the candidates being considered for the deputy PM.
However, Kanu is pushing to have its chairman, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta appointed to the seat. The party argues that since PNU had the presidency and ODM-K the vice-presidency, Kanu, which is number three in the coalition, should get deputy PM. Kanu has four Cabinet positions, compared to ODM-K's two and PNU's 11.
MPs from across the political divide are also lobbying for the ministerial positions expected to be filled in the next two weeks.
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