Nairobi — Public debate on the proposed new constitution starts on Tuesday, when the Committee of Experts working on the new law publishes its final draft.

However, the CoE seems to have been beaten to the chase by the political class, whose haggling over the sharing of power between the President and the Prime Minister has dominated rallies across the country in the recent past.

The public will have the benefit of 30 days during which to actively interrogate the document, after which the experts hope to strike a national consensus.

Daunting task

But that remains a daunting task for the committee, especially following the heat generated by their proposal to retain Kadhi courts in the new constitution, and the suggestion for the establishment of regional and county systems of governance in the country's administrative structure.

"In a country steeped in ethnicity, is it right to entrench tribal enclaves in the constitution?" posed former Kikuyu MP and Nairobi lawyer Paul Muite on Sunday. "What will be their additional value to the country? Has anyone calculated how much these would drain the Exchequer?" he continued.

"Look at the proposed bloated Senate, the expanded lower House and the regional governments and counties. Who will pay for the running of these?" Mr Muite also questioned the obsession by legislators with the powers of the Executive, especially by coalition partners PNU and ODM.

He said this had relegated other more important issues of the constitution-making process to the back seat as leaders concentrated on who gets what powers. He added that the CoE appears to have misinterpreted its mandate to include making decisions on behalf of Kenyans instead of building consensus.

And, speaking at the Jesus Celebration Centre in Mombasa after the Sunday service, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said debate on the proposed law should not be informed by partisan preferences.

"Every Kenyan is important. We want to build consensus over all issues this time," said Mr Musyoka, who added that he hoped for a non-politicised, harmonious referendum during which Kenyans will either approve or trash the draft law.

Most pertinent

The sharing of Executive authority between the President and the Prime Minister has been touted as one the most pertinent issues in the way of a new constitution. The politics of power is so strong that a coalition team put together to come up with a harmonised government position in Mombasa failed to do so.

The two coalition partners have agreed on most of the major issues in the draft, but have locked horns over the structure and powers of the Executive arm of the government.

The proposal to significantly alter the current division of power between the President and the Premier, while raising the threshold of the presidency, is said to have been at the heart of numerous past disputes between ODM and PNU.