By Stephen Makabila          

Nairobi,KENYA: Former National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende says he is a man of all seasons, with wide options after defeat on Thursday.

“I am in my early 50s, looking at the horizon for what is available in terms of options,” Marende told The Standard on Sunday.

He said he would take two weeks off before making a final decision on what becomes of him.

“I have taken the loss in my stride after all its not the end of the world. I had a rough time steering a Grand Coalition Parliament and I have no regrets for whatever I did,” added Marende.

He said he has the option of going into business, farming, leading a quiet life or going back to legal practice.

I am still a partner in a law firm. It is only that I have been dormant,” added Marende.

Foreign openings

He said he equally has a lot of international openings. Last year, Marende was the lead panelist at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Annual United Nations Parliamentary Assembly Hearing on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution.

In 2011, he was a resource person at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference in Maldives, where he presented a paper titled Managing conflict, promoting stability and prosperity, The Kenyan Perspective.

Marende has also served as the President of the Commonwealth   Parliamentary Association (CPA).

Prior to Thursday’s election, Marende who has been Speaker since 2008, had expressed optimism, at one time declaring he was to win in round one, with a commanding two-third votes of the 349 member House.

Stormy years

But as fate had it, Marende is out, and with him goes the rich experience that propelled the Tenth Parliament through five stormy years of the ODM and PNU coalition.

The outgoing Speaker says that days before the opening of Parliament, had banked his hopes on his performance and merit.

“My decisions in the House have helped the country move forward and progress over the last five years. Any reasonable MP has little choice but to vote for me,” Marende had said.

Given his appeal, did party loyalty among MPs override the sense to see merit in Marende?

One of the major decisions Marende is remembered for is the famous ‘Solomonic ruling’ in April 2009 that deflated a major tussle between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on who should be the Leader of Government Business in the House.

Tough ruling

On November 2011 while ruling on whether Kibaki and Raila had consulted on appointment of Chief Justice, he said: “After careful consideration of this matter, doing the best I can, weighing one thing against the other, it is my considered opinion that the required standard of consultation is not so high as to mean concurrence or agreement and thereby become a recipe for deadlocks and brinkmanship.”

His past performance aside, Marende had equally big plans for the National Assembly.

For example, he had planned to oversee the review of the National Assembly’s strategic plan and align it to Vision 2030.

“The Strategic plan for the year 2008-2018 requires review to bring it into step with the current realities and circumstances under which the House functions,” Marende said.

Marende had also indicated he was prepared to oversee smooth running of the National Assembly and the Senate.

Adding value

“There should be amicable operational partnership between the Senate and the National Assembly to add value to our governance,” Marende.

Marende was first elected to Parliament on a National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) ticket in 2002 to represent Emuhaya Constituency.

He was re-elected in 2007 on an ODM ticket. Upon his re-election to the Tenth Parliament, Marende joined the race for the Speaker of the National Assembly and won.

During the presidential campaigns, Marende did not align himself to either CORD or the Jubilee coalitions.

It remains to be seen whether the incoming regime will tap Marende’s rich experience in other national building activities after his Thursday lose.