Nairobi — MPs no longer have the power to single-handedly recruit members of the powerful Implementation Commission for the new constitution.

A draft Bill prepared by Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo and exclusively seen by the Star has instead mandated a committee comprising the Public Service Commission, the Cabinet office, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Justice and Public Service ministries and the State Law Office to interview and shortlist those qualified for appointment as chair and members of the commission.

According to the Mutula Bill, Parliament's role will be limited to oversight to avoid the "professional massacre" by some MPs who have in the past taken advantage of their legislative privileges to ridicule "unwanted" candidates in previous vetting. The commission is expected to be in place by November.

The recruitment process proposed in the Mutula Bill is different from the one used to set up the Agenda Four commissions.

Then, Parliament had through a competitive bid recruited a human resource company that interviewed and shortlisted the candidates for the Interim Independendent Boundary Review Commission, the Interim Independent Electoral Commission and several other commissions.

Millie Odhiambo, vice chair of the Parliamentary Committee on the Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs, yesterday said the decision to change the recruitment procedure may have arisen out of claims of bias by MPs picking the Agenda Four commissions.

City lawyer Cecil Miller was knocked out of the running as Interim Independent Electoral Commission chairmanship after beating other candidates to the shortlist when some MPs unleashed a personal attack on him.

Former National Assembly Speaker Francis Kaparo who was shortlisted for more than three vacancies by the human resource company, Manpower Development, during the recruitment of the IIEC and the IIBRC declined to attend one of the interviews citing a subjective and personal ridicule campaign against him by some of the MPs.

An MP who talked on condition of anonymity confirmed this saying, "Some of the MPs would advance for the recruitment of their relatives, friends and clansmen. It was pathetic!"

Nominated MP Mohamed Affey who is the chairman of the Committee on Equality said MPs will keep a close watch on the recruitment even before it gets to Parliament to ensure regional and national balance.

"It does not matter whether they have pushed MPs out of the shortlisting exercise or not. But we are going to insist that all the modern basic equality procedures and national diversity be adhere to," Affey said.

He denied MPs engaged in character assassination during the creation of Agenda Four commissions saying there could not have been a better way of doing it.

Those applying to chair the commission or become members will however be subjected to rigorous vetting by the technical team who will include Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, Permament Secretaries Dr Mohamed Isahakia, Amina Mohamed, Titus Ndambuki, the Attorney General Amos Wako and the PSC Secretary Bernadette Nzioki.

The Mutula Bill was yesterday being evaluated by the Justice Committee in Parliament. "It's good that Parliament will still keep its mandate of vetting the candidates whose names shall have been forwarded by the President and the Prime Minister," Odhiambo said.

Once the Bill is passed by Parliament, candidates will have a fortnight to submit their applications to the PSC which will present them to the technical team for interview and short listing.

The PSC chairman Titus Giteere yesterday said his commission was ready to recruit the candidates. The list will include three people qualified to be chairpersons and 18 as members. After the shortlisting and selection by the PSC, President Kibaki and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga will nominate the commissioners and present them to Parliament for vetting.

If Parliament approves the nominees, the President will make the appointments within a week of receiving confirmation from National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende.

If Parliament rejects any of the nominees, Marende has three days to inform Kibaki and Raila who will be expected to submit the names of new nominees within a week.

According to the Justice ministry, the government will spend Sh401 million to establish the commission whose mandate will include monitoring and taking charge of administrative procedures required for the implementation and coordinating with the AG's office, Parliament and other related commissions in implementation of the new constitution.