NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 29 – Three petitioners have moved to court seeking orders to stop the on-going National Dialogue Committee (NDC) on the Kenya Kwanza, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya talks.
Issa Chamao, Patrick Ekirapa and Paul Kirui are challenging the legality and constitutionality of the 10-member committee led by Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah and his co -chair Kalonzo Musyoka representing the Azimio delegation in the dialogue.
According to the petitioners the establishment of the Committee is illegal since it was not subjected to public participation.
“The National Dialogue Committee isolated issues for amendment of the Constitution without involving the people’s constituent and sovereign power to decide for themselves the complete set of issues for amendment of the 2010 Constitution. It is not clear how the issues were arrived at. Are they conclusive?” they stated in their suit papers.
The petitioners further opine that the dialogue committee raises fundamental issues concerning its attempt to consider amendments of the Constitution including the reconstitution of the Independent electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which they claim is currently in a state of limbo.
“Constitution provides that IEBC is required to undertake boundary delimitation 10-12 years after 2010 (the last time when delimitation was done). We are left with only 6 months for the Commission to undertake this exercise. Delays will occasion an unnecessary constitutional compliance crisis,” they said.
They also state that key agenda concerns raised by the Bi partisan committee are set to push through issues of political self-interest using the Constitution.
“Entrusting the amendment of the Constitution exclusively to politicians sets a dangerous precedent. Politicians cannot be trusted. The political elite seems to be using the Committee for political self-dealing. Why pick issues that appear to safeguard the self-interest of the political elite?”
The petitioners have also faulted the dialogue committee for omitting important stakeholders such as the Law Society of Kenya and civil society in the general composition of the Committee.
The claimed that the committee is already incurring public funds in its sittings, remuneration of the technical teams, consideration of the memoranda, conducting the public hearings and the compilation of the Report to be submitted in 60 days.
“It is reported that the committee will incur up to shilling 100 million of public funds in the illegal sittings at the Bomas of Kenya. Parliament has violated the principles of public finance in Article 201 of the Constitution. If the Committee is not restrained, it will waste public resources in a process that is void and unconstitutional.”
Both the Kenya kwanza government and Azimio coalition highlighted their agenda issues to be discussed on the table during the dialogue including the implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, reconstitution of the IEBC, audit of the 2022 presidential election, Constitution of the Senate Oversight Fund, establishment of office of the leader of the Official opposition and high cost of living.
