constitution of kenya review commission (ckrc ... - ConstitutionNet

22services and budgetary allocation to them should be made. We should have a ceremonial President who is above party politicsand who is a unifying factor for our country and we should have Prime Minister answerable to Parliament. The election dateshould be fixed possibly in the Constitution and my suggestion is that Parliament should automatically fix it on 31 st October onthe fifth year of the election.That election should be held in every year before 31 st December and there should be a fixed date for swearing in the newPresident and Parliament. Possibly towards the end of January the following year or early February. So that there is a period toprepare the handover and for the incoming President or Prime Minister to actually choose members of their government.Ministers should be vetted by a committee of Parliament and indeed all-senior public appointments. The Electoral Commissionshould be trimmed. We don’t need an electoral Commission of 22 Commissioners like we are having currently. In my view, itshould have no more than three members who should not be elected under the same process that we are having today.There should be a wide consultation by stakeholders, which should include religious groups, association of professional society,the association for workers which is COTU, the federation of employers and eventuall, the people they nominate should gothrough a second vetting by a Parliamentary committee and that Commission should be charged with ensuring that the electionsare free and fair. The budget should be approved by a committee of the Parliament in consultation with Treasury. They shouldnot be answerable to anybody but Parliament and there should be an obligation that they have to enforce the laws.If they fail to do their duties according to the Constitution, there should be personal penal sanctions so that we ensure there arefree and fair elections. The Judicial appointments should be made by the Judicial Service Commission which should consist ofthe Attorney General, the Chief Justice and representatives of the Law Society of Kenya. Their nominees should be furthervetted by a Parliamentary Committee, after which the President can make the appointment. The resources of Kenya shouldbenefit Kenyans. If it is the minerals, if it is proceeds from tourism and the way to ensure that is to have a Constitutionalprovision that provides in any joint venture for the exploration of the minerals between the government of Kenya and a companyor individuals. The majority shares probably 60% should be for the benefit and welfare of Kenyans. Currently we haveindividuals exploiting our natural resources together with foreigners to our disadvantage. So, we need to reign in this by aConstitutional provision. Every Kenyan should have a right to challenge the state, if they feel that the natural resources are beingexploited to the exclusion of Kenyans. The government should have a duty in the Constitution to protect the environment andfailure to do so, any citizen should have a right to challenge this inner Constitutional Court. On the issue of land, all Kenyansshould have equal rights to access, use and ownership of land irrespective of gender. Equal rights in inheritance and equal rightsin acquisition of land.The government should have a duty in the Constitution to re-distribute land in Kenya. Currently we have a lot of idle landowned by rich people and used for speculation, which is what is raising land prices in Kenya. The government shouldcompulsorily acquire all idle land and we should have a ceiling on how much one Kenyan can own. This will help to