By PETER OPIYO
Prime Minister Raila Odinga has opposed the new provision requiring MPs to have university degrees.
The PM also criticised MPs for amending the Political Parties Act to allow party hopping without necessarily having the affected MPs resign from their parliamentary seats.
The changes are contained in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Ammendments) Bill, 2012, which was passed by Parliamentb last week. He said he had consulted with President Kibaki and agreed that the amendments infringed on the rights of Kenyans.
“I did consult with the President on this before and he knew I was going to make this statement. We are in general agreement that the amendments were unconstitutional and infringe on the rights of Kenyans,” Raila said.
Raila, who was in Russia at the time, said the university degree requirement is discriminatory as only a negligible population of the nation possess university degrees. The requirement, he said would also lock out majority of young people from seeking elective positions.
“Currently, less than two per cent of Kenyans have a university education. Kenya cannot now turn round on the people that the country has been unable to provide with educational qualifications and punish them for lacking those qualifications,” said the PM.
MPs proposed the amendment to the Elections Act, arguing that Parliament needs quality leadership to be able to effectively practice oversight given that cabinet secretaries would be individuals with high qualifications and experts in their fields.
Transport Minister Amos Kimunya and Finance Minister Njeru Githae, argued the Salaries and Remuneration Commission would peg salaries on qualifications and it was prudent if MPs go to school.
But Raila said this would lock out the youth as at 22 years of age they will not have obtained a degree.
“The amendment will mean that majority of the Youth cannot have the opportunity that as a country intended to give our youth as they will be locked out of taking up leadership positions,” said the PM.
He said the attempt to allow party hopping does not augur well with the principles of the Constitution and will subvert democratic will of the electorate.
“The attempt to licence party hopping is intended to give a new lease of life to the political indiscipline which the Constitution had stopped through Section 103 and through the Political Parties Act Section 14,” said the PM.
“My position is that neither the Executive, nor our citizens should allow these maneuvers to subvert the will of the Kenyan nation,” he said.
Parliament he said can do Kenyans a great service by looking at integrity of leaders to be elected into office.
“We should all hope that the intended leadership and Integrity Bill will genuinely attend to this issue which is more critical than the issue of university degree,” said Raila.
About 80 MPs are said to lack the qualification and they risk being locked out come the General election if the requirement stands. Some MPs have petitioned the President to decline assent to the Bill.
And about 70 NGOs also petitioned Parliament to consider the amendments to the Political Parties Act, Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Act and the Elections Act, saying they were not in tandem with the principles of the Constitution.
Led by Chairperson of the Kenya Human Rights Commission Atsango Chesoni, they presented the petition to the Office of the President and called for immediate action to reverse the amendments.
“We are concerned that the amendments do not reflect the principles of the Constitution,” read the petition.
They said the amendments that allow Presidential candidates and deputy presidential candidates to be nominated contravene the principles of the Constitution.
They also opposed the amendment to the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Act that allow the Judicial Service Commission to vet magistrates, saying it unconstitutionally donate powers of the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Board to the Commission.
While in Russia, Raila said he sealed deal with President Vladimir Putin to pursue a Bilateral Air Traffic Agreement that will allow Kenya Airways and Aeroflot of Russia to fly directly to Moscow and Nairobi respectively.
