Saturday, October 30, 2010

About the TJRC during Peace time and imputy of Old Kenya.

On 25th January 2010, i attended a briefing session with the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). The Commission is headed by Amb. Bethwell Kiplagat. I particularly remember the challenge posed by Betty Murungi (who latter resigned as Vice Chairperson of the Commission). She stated that the TJRC, unlike other truth Commissions in the world, was working when the country was experiencing relative peace. She continued to note that this is a unique case and it will be interesting to see whether it fulfils its mandate.

Kenyans know what the TJRC has turned to. The parliamentary committee on legal affairs has given the Commission 72 hours to resolve all manner of controversy surrounding it. This means that the Commission has up to Monday 1st November 2010 to clean its house or risk dissolution by parliament.

Again we all know that this is in connection to the Chairman's suspected involvement (directly or indirectly) in the Wagalla Massacre. I have in previous posts argued that unless Amb. Kiplagat vacates office of Chairperson, TJRC will never work to fulfill its core mandate. I have condemned the hiring of victims as statement takers as an attempt to cover up the chairman, victim No. 1.

Back to the comment by Betty during our meeting. The reason why Commissions work with relative ease immediately after a period of war or unrest, is due to the willingness by all citizens to resolve past injustices. I believe that Kenyans quickly forgot the 2007/2008 post-election violence. If we still recall this tragic moment, it does not evoke the same sense of urgency as it did then. IDPs are a forgotten people. We even read reports that IDP resettlement funds were misappropriated. IDPs still ranguish in camps. Mr. Ocampo is yet to charge any Kenyan at the International Criminal Court, although investigations are proceeding well.Truth, Justice and Reconciliation -to resolve all historical human rights violations- is no longer a priority. I bet that the next time Kenyans will be treated to the language of Peace! Peace! Peace! is in 2012, before the elections.

Amb Kiplagat was among the first Kenyans to call for peace in 2007/2008. Today the Ambassador does waver in his quest to hold on to the position of chairman even if TJRC should collapse. This is high level impunity.

The TJRC was enacted through one of the a comprehensive legal mechanism - The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Act No 6 of 2008 (at www.kenyalaw.org). Therefore all factors remaining constant the Commission should be effective. However the chairman must resign if he truly respects Kenyans and all victims of human rights violations. Section 17 of the Act has very clear provisions on how the chairman may be removed from office.

I repeat Kiplagat must resign or the Commission disbanded. If the latter option prevails Kiplagat will never be remembered in Kenya for all his works good/bad.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Heko Mashujaa

Maneno Law salutes all past and present Mashujaa. Particularly those who withstood human rights violations to liberate our land. We celebrate all Kenyans who have championed the course of justice and equality. We celebrate Prof Wangari Maathai for her zeal, passion and sacrifice for justice and environmental conservation. We celebrate all victims of Nyayo torture chambers for their sacrifice. We salute all victims of the 2007/2008 post-election violence for their hope amidst despair. We celebrate Justice Philip Waki for his demonstrating that a commission of inquiry can be effective.

We celebrate Prof Yash P. Ghai a wonderful constitutional expert. We celebrate Rev. Timothy Njoya a true cleric and fighter. We celebrate Paul Tergat. We salute Hon John Michuki, a great public officer. We celebrate Mzee Maruge whose sunset years taught Kenyans the value of education (and reading the bible). We salute all police officers who enforce the law fairly without favouritsm or bribes.

We salute all Kenyans who respect the rights of their brothers and sisters, uphold the Constitution and work hard to pay taxes. We salute all young and energetic Kenyans who remain true to the dream of our forefathers.

I celebrate Reuben Kigame.
I salute my grand father Mzee Wandeto.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Maneno joins Bloggers Unite

Hi friends, this is to inform you that Maneno Human Right has joined the larger family of bloggers - BLOGGERS UNITE.

I have joined as a participant of the International Human Rights Day, celebrated on December 10th, sponsored by Amnesty International. My main goal is to ensure that people appreciate the need for public education on the Constitution we enacted recently.

You may follow my comments on the blog as we work hard to ensure that Kenyans are enlightened to demand and respect human rights.

BLOGGERS UNITE http://www.bloggersunite.org/
User Name :              Wandeto

Good day.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Structure of government under the Constitution of Kenya.

Maneno H.R has deliberately chosen to focus on the Constitution adopted by Kenyans on 04.08.2010. I have talked to many people who have confessed that they have not laid a finger on the Constitution after the referendum. A friend was brutally honest and told me " this constitution is for you lawyers". It is our duty to invest in civic education so that people understand the constitution that governs them. Today lets examine the structure of government. Note however that county governments will start operating from 2012 after the general elections.

The power exercised by state officers in parliament, executive and judiciary is delegated to them by the people, Article 1 of the Constitution.

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
  • Executive (Chapter 9) The executive is made up of the Cabinet. The cabinet is composed of the President, Deputy-president, Attorney - General and Cabinet Secretaries.

  • Parliament (Chapter 7). Parliament is composed of the National Assembly and Senate.The national assembly shall consist of 290 elected MPs, 47 elected women representatives, 12 nominated MPs and the speaker who is an ex-officio member. The senate is composed on 47 elected senators, 16 women nominated by political parties, one man and one woman representing the youth, one man and one woman representing persons with disabilities and the speaker who is an ex-officio member.

  • Judiciary (Chapter 9). The structure of courts is as follows
          Supreme court - Court of Appeal - High court, Employment Tribunal, Environmental Tribunal and 
          other tribunals - Subordinate Courts (Magistrate court, Kadhi court and Court Martial)

COUNTY GOVERNMENTS
  • County Executive Committee (Article 179). It is composed of Governor, Deputy Governor and 1 - 10 members appointed by the governor with approval of the County Assembly (Equivalent to Cabinet Secretaries at the National Executive).

  • County Assembly (Article 177). The assembly is composed of one member elected from every ward in the county, special seats to ensure that the a third gender rule is obeyed, members representing marginalised communities and persons with disabilities and the speaker.
Clause 17 of the Sixth Schedule provides that within 5 years the national government shall restructure the provincial administration to accord with and respect the system of devolved government. This does not mean that the provincial administration will be posted in the County governments. I simply means that officers in the provincial administration shall be given other jobs within the public service.

Have a governed day.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Elections 2012 know how many leaders Kenyans will elect.

After the contest, that was the referendum, it is important that we all invest in educating our people on the contents of our constitution. Public education will be key to the successful implementation of the Constitution since citizens will make informed demands.

Today i examine elections 2012. Specifically the total number of leaders Kenyans will elect in 2012.

The National Executive and County Executive Committee.
  1. At the National level, we shall elect the President who heads the national executive- Article 136 to 138.
  2. At the County level, a Governor is elected in every county - Article 180.
Note that before the elections, the President and Governor will nominate a candidate as Deputy President {Article 148 (1) - (3) } and Deputy Governor {Article 180 (5) and (6) }. The candidates nominated will not be elected. Instead, candidates for president and governor win the elections, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall declare them as elected after the elections.

Parliament - National Assembly and Senate
  1. A member of parliament from every constituency - Article 97.
  2. Woman representative from every County - Article 97.
  3. Senator (who represents the County in the senate) - Article 98 (1) (a).
County Assembly
  1. A member of the assembly from every ward - Article 177 (1) (a).
Therefore in total Kenyans shall elect six leaders. This will undoubtedly an uphill task for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.