Nairobi — The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor will be setting up shop in the country in the coming months to investigate the events leading to the 2007 post-election violence.

His findings will set the stage for what has been billed as one of the most testing scenarios for post-independence Kenya, namely the possibility of sending those suspected to have fanned the political violence for trial at The Hague.

Mr Ocampo will, therefore, be playing the very delicate game of administering justice to an already agitated population, and his decisions (or indecisions, for that matter) may end up sending Kenya back to the precipice.

Nzamba Kitonga

Lawyer Nzamba Kitonga is the man in charge of the team spearheading the constitution review process. He and eight other experts are mandated to prepare a harmonised draft from previous review exercises.

Mr Kitonga and his team are expected to consolidate the views of Kenyans collected from November 17 to December 17, 2009, hence giving the draft constitution shape before it goes to the Parliamentary Select Committee and then to Parliament for debate and endorsement.

Kenya's quest for a new constitution stretches back two decades, and there are high expectations that the country will say 'Hello!' to a new supreme law by mid-2010.

The document is expected to help Kenya tackle her past, which has been characterised by inequalities, corruption and impunity.

Mr Kitonga has the duty to ensure that the timetable for the review process is followed to ensure that the country gets a new constitution but, in his own admission, the timelines of the Constitution of Kenya Review Act, 2008 are tight.

The success of the constitution review process relies heavily on how this man leads his team towards getting a draft that will not be reject at the referendum as it happened in 2005.

Kenneth Marende

National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende is expected to ensure that MPs debate various House matters in an objective and fair manner, and there is little doubt that the former Emuhaya MP, who was recently feted as the 2009 Jurist of the Year for his "outstanding and non-partisan" leadership in Parliament, will handle the job with his trademark finesse.

The Speaker will be expected to ensure that Parliament efficiently and effectively debates the country's new supreme law, including deliberations on such matters as the National Accord and Reconciliation Act and the Constitution Amendment Act 2008, which must be amended before a new constitution is enacted.

The National Accord must be hammered to ensure that the coalition does not cease to exist with the enactment of a new constitution, while amendment of the Review Act is necessary as the mandate of the Committee of Experts expires before the timelines set in the law pass.

Also expected to come up for debate in the New Year in Parliament is the national land policy and a report on the salaries of MPs that proposes that members' salaries should be taxed.

Amos Wako

Expectations will be high on Attorney General Amos Wako to deliver on various legal issues that will contribute to reforms. He, after all, is at the centre of most of the processes since he is the government's legal adviser.

In 2010, other than his active role at the Committee of Experts as an ex-officio member, the AG will be instrumental in the introduction of various Bills on the reform process.

His work, of course, may be hindered by a recent travel ban imposed against him by the Government of United States of America, which accused him of being a stumbling block to Kenya's reform agenda.

Key among the expectations we have on the long-serving Wako is the institutionalisation of the Witness Protection Programme, seen as an important aspect as the country prepares for the possible trial of post-election violence suspects at The Hague.

Kenya already has a Witness Protection Act, but the AG's office is to table amendments to the law that are aimed at strengthening the yet-to-be-established Witness Protection Unit.

Bethwel Kiplagat

Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat has the elephantine task of reconciling a country that, after the disputed 2007 presidential elections, found out how divided it was.

His mandate, however, extends beyond 2007, and covers all the injustices meted against Kenyans since Jamhuri Day on December 12, 1963.

Working in association with other State bodies, among them the Office of the Attorney General, Mr Kiplagat will be expected to give past offenders and their victims a platform to tell the truth and, hence, reconcile. His team will also decide who will receive reparations and amnesty.

In particular, Kenyans will be watching to see how Mr Kiplagat deals with the post-election violence of 2008, a culmination of the ethnic tensions that have informed our electoral processes for years.

Between now and November 3, 2011, Mr Kiplagat and his team will carry out investigations, hearings, research and documentation, after which they will make recommendations and prepare a report to be presented to the President and published to the public.

The process is expected to come to an end on February 3, 2012, by when Parliament will have discussed the TJRC report and set up the implementation framework.

Issack Hassan

Lawyer Issack Hassan leads a team of eight other commissioners who are tasked to reform the country's election management and conduct following the chaotic 2007 elections.

With a mandate expiring in mid-2011, Mr Hassan and his team have the enormous task of ensuring that the country goes to the next polls, in 2012, with a "reliable and transparent" electoral system.

However, even more urgent for Mr Hassan is the registration of voters since the previous register was thrown out together with the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya.

He anticipates that the referendum on the new constitution currently being reviewed by the Committee of Experts to incorporate public views will be held in June 2010, and that's a short time indeed within which to put his house in order.

The IIEC chairman says the voter registration exercise will kick off in February next year, and the electoral body expects to employ more than 40,000 clerks and other officials before the new year.

However, Mr Hassan says the IIEC will not be able to conduct the referendum electronically, although it plans to automate the electoral system by the 2012 elections. In the meantime, it will set up new ICT infrastructure at its head office and conduct electronic voter registration in 17 constituencies.

Mr Hassan will also be expected to sensitise MPs on two laws prepared by the electoral body and the Kenya Law Reform Commission, and which are expected to reform the country's electoral system.

The Elections Bill, 2009 will govern the conduct and management of elections, while the Electoral Commission Bill, 2009 is aimed at putting in place an effective electoral body.

Andrew Ligale

Former MP Andrew Ligale is, at the beginning of the year, expected to start the process of coming up with a formula that will guide the delimitation of administrative and elective boundaries.

The move is critical in the pursuit of equitable representation across the country, and will guard against the perfunctory creation of new administrative areas for political reasons.

Mr Ligale, a former assistant minister, will have to ensure that his team expeditiously executes it mandate, which some politicians are now tying up to the new constitution.

Inequitable representation has been cited as one of the factors that have led to unequal distribution of resources in the country.

Mohamed Abdikadir

Mandera Central MP Mohammed Abdikadir has the strenuous task of leading 26 of his colleagues in a quest to establish consensus on the draft constitution. He is expected to receive the draft from the Committee of Experts on January 8, after which he will open a 30-day deliberation period among the MPs.

In the last year, Mr Abdikadir has managed to steer his team through various processes that have seen five reform bodies established under Agenda Four with minimal controversy.

During deliberations on the draft in January 2010, Mr Abdikadir will be expected to help bridge three schools of thought that have characterised the debate among MPs.

In the PSC, the two sides of the Coalition Government that have taken divergent views are represented, as is a group of MPs who represent the Parliamentary Caucus on Reforms.

As chairman, Mr Abdikadir is expected to ensure that a consensus is reached on the contentious issues before the draft is prepared as a Bill for presentation in Parliament.

His team will also be critical in breaking any deadlock that may arise in Parliament once the House debates the document.