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Thursday, January 21, 2010

325 MPs: PSC's Paradox of Presidential System

It must be such an obtuse paradox to have parliamentarians as authors of a presidential system of governance. Well, if the imperial presidency is synonymous with impunity, then the parliamentary system is a poor acceptance of tribal tension among Kenyans.

Kenyans have been unanimous in demanding one centre of power. Consequently, the PSC meeting in Naivasha have taken cue to settle for presidential system of governance. So far the whole PSC business smacks of smartly-disguised mischief.

What a lucky and privileged lot? Not only do they set and increase their own salaries, this time around they have upped the game by creating more constituencies for themselves.

Now we have PSC members determining a cap of 325 MPs. Which leaves you wondering what were their parameters in their hurry to jump the gun. Here we have people enslaved with the present political dispensation selfishly prescribing a future manual and structure of governance.

It appears the Kenyan voter hasn't seen the last of these scoundrels. One would be forgiven for believing the MPs when they shamelessly wax patriotic and pseudo objective until they start voting on weighty matters using their stomachs and mouths.

But you cannot blame the MPs who are only flying their Principal's flag. Lack of leadership from the TOP proved a clear abdication of responsibility. This saw the PSC being entrusted with an enormous task that the real power men never even pretended to solve.

Well, plastic patriotism may make us shout in denouncing those classifying us as a failed state. But the reality remains we are in the same cesspool as that hosting Mugabe and Tsvamgirai.

Kenya may not be Zimbabwe (spelling and pronunciation) but the common thread through both countries is the beautiful MIRAGE of a new constitution.

16 comments:

  1. Taabu,

    Why don't you one day think like a man and propose a solution instead of telling us daily what is in the press and public knowledge.
    Do you have the balls to take a position and defend it?
    The last time i checked, Phil and Mwarangethe challenged you to take your stand and your thread thick wisdom was exposed.
    Yours is a case of waiting for others to think, make a decision and publish it and then you come wagging a tongue of KNOW IT ALL.

    Kenya needs those who can say this is the way not whiners who line up drinking dens in the villages telling their drooling mates how bad the government is being run...or e-whiners like Taabu here.

    Kumekucha Prefect

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  2. So many of us are eargerly waiting for the "khonsitititituushon" aka the magic wand to add several bakuli of porridge and unlimited kilos of meat on our empty fire pits.

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  3. This "Kumekucha Prefect" weirdo is cyber-stalking Taabu daily, exposing his/her/it's shallow brains to all and sundry. Get a grip, wise up, grow up and you will make a fine adult. If you don't like what Taabu writes, why not just ignore his posts then? It's like someone is pointing an AK47 in your head and forcing you to log here and whine and rant daily like a mad dog. There are millions of other blogs out there and I'm sure if you look hard enough you will find one that ticks your fancy.

    ***********

    Well, well! what makes these scumbag MPs think they will be re-elected come 2012? I'm promising you they will all be axed by the sick and tired patriots called Kenyans. We shall kick them all out! Enough is enough with their dirty snouts in our tax trough! Did you guys watch patriotic Kenyans join the police to fight Al-Shabaab goons who were causing chaos in our city? These same patriots will defend our country will the same vigour and zeal from greedy politicians. And you can take that to the bank! In the mean time, I will continue refusing to pay my taxes until MPs are taxed as well and taxes are used for the good of all Kenyans and not the scum called MPigs.

    ****************

    Chris,

    umelost sana ndugu, kwani what are you chasing? You promised a weekly post called "playing nyatiti and drums" but it looks like that was just hot air which is well perfected by our politicians. You can possibly play some nyatiti for Jeff Koinange coz he's doing some great job in his Capital Talk show aired on weekdays at 8pm. Last week he brought us those legendary broadcasters like Leonard Mambo, Fred Obachi Machokaaa, Sam Madoka etc. This week he's on football's forgotten heroes like Mohammed Abbas, Sammy Onyango Jogoo, JJ Masiga, etc. Grapevine has it that in the near future he will bring the likes of Mzee Ojwang', Mama Kayai. My-duda and that judge lady from Vioja Mahakamani. Isn't it fantastic forgetting politics for a while and remembering some forgotten Kenyans who shaped their respective fields? Well done Jeff!

    http://burekabisa.blogspot.com/

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  4. How funny that you guys are bashing Members of parliament and yet your Party bosses have been having a stupid obsession with entrusting these same MPs with the duty of handpicking Kenya's chief executive! And you have been standing right behind them clapping.I repeat it, if anyone wants to govern Kenya, they should take the campaign road heading to Kitui, Moyale, Mbita, murang'a, Taveta,Busia and everywhere else. You have to be voted for by Kenyans!

    About the proposal for additional Members of parliament, what exactly are you against? Is it the formula of coming up with the additional constituencies, is it the cost implications or just the usual whining?

    My understanding is that the Abdikadir team have invited the Boundaries comission to come and advise on the best criterion based on the proposals they collated from the ground. It is these proposals that the PSC will weigh against the need for fair demarcation based on population figures as well as geographical spread. The rationale for additional constituencies stems from the political reality that it will be impossible to scrap those tiny and badly populated enclaves that Moi made constituencies and which have been responsible for the skewed Parliamentary representation which saw KANU have majority seats in the 92 and 97 elections despite gannering only 37% and 36% of the popular vote. Do we now want the status quo to remain so that we can keep bragging of a Parliamentary majority fraudulently and deceptively acquired? Or do you propose we wipe some of the existing constituencies out? Is it politically feasible doing that?

    Women in this country have been demanding extra non-competitive seats (And I do not support it). Since it is a very popular suggestion, do these proposed additional seats then not provide a reasonably sensible way of doing it through the proposed so called counties each nominating a woman to parliament?

    These are things we should be debating as opposed to just shouting about imaginary injustices meted on us by MPs!

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  5. vikii

    za mwaka mpya bro

    ==
    entrusting these same MPs with the duty of handpicking Kenya's chief executive
    ==
    agree thats a bad idea, nairobi mayor elections is lesson enough for most of us


    ==
    proposal for additional Members of parliament, what exactly are you against?
    ==
    myself find it a case of cart before horse, how do you determine the number of 322 (270 + 50) then invite someone else to rationalise your decision.

    also if these guys already know the total number, why waste tax payer money on that IBRC

    ==
    The rationale for additional constituencies stems from the political reality that it will be impossible to scrap those tiny and badly populated enclaves
    ==
    my understanding is IBRC is supposed to make the formula and adjust boundaries accordingly


    ==
    Women in this country have been demanding extra non-competitive seats (And I do not support it)
    ==

    issue of special interest groups which include women, physically challenged, religious bodies etc - requires more consolidated and far reaching strategy, these piece meal approaches or tokenism is in the long run more harmful

    it may make sense to identify core issues/values and adopt proactive / empowerment programs on a case by case basis


    but overall, these guys were mandated to arrive at consensus on HDC, they have instead invented different duties. cant bring together a group of architects to design a building and they come up with recommendations on how to make the best tea in the world

    the time for the magic number of 325 is when IBRC present their findings

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  6. KENYANS WILL AGAIN REJECT YET ANOTHER HALF BAKED DOCUMENT.

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  7. Kumekucha prefect has a point. Continue smoking out Taabu and leave that fellow of bure kabisa blog alone. The guy is frustrated since his blog attracts no visitors.

    Na nimesema.

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  8. Anonymous @ 1/20/10 10:20 PM wrote:

    Well, well! what makes these scumbag MPs think they will be re-elected come 2012? ... We shall kick them all out! Enough is enough with their dirty snouts in our tax trough!

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Sorry to say it, but, the bitter truth is that even electing new mps or having one centre of power will not help much.

    As Shaw told us even:

    "Revolutions never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder."

    If we read history we hear this: "Even this, O Rome, must one day be thy fate!" wept Scipio over the ruins of Carthage. History tells us he was dead right.

    He was right because he could see that even a revolution would not save Rome. Why so? Because he knew one simple truth that has eluded Kenyans. It is this:

    The advances in a civilization/community is not secured in the constitution of man, but, in the constitution of society.

    Thats why Pliny tells us that:

    "Latifundia perdidere Italian", i.e. "great estates ruined Italy."

    As any one can see from the Italian ruin, the problem was the constitution of that society. So, it is Kenya today.

    Let us now get to the main point:

    When a society is configured to produce artificial inequality, such that it tortures men who labour in the midst of abundance and makes them full of fear of want, such social arrangements can only:

    - stunt the members of that society physically,

    - degrade them intellectually, and

    - distort their morals. This alone, prevents development of a HARMONIOUS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. Kenya is such a society.

    In such society, men become greedy for wealth because the conditions of distribution are unjust. It must be so because, envitably, the majority is such a society must be condemned to want. Just look at Korogocho and Mathare. In such a society, we have the idea of "let the devil catch the hind most."

    As a result, in the race for and scramble for wealth all considerations of justice are trampled underfoot as men sell their souls in a deadly struggle for material things.

    Unfortunately, in such a society as Kenya, such arrangements produce upper class that may be luxurious (see the Range Rovers they drive) and polished. However,such a class IS NEVER INVENTIVE.

    It follows that such men in power, are like Samson with his arms around the pillars of a state. As a matter of fact, if you listen carefully, u can hear the pillars of the state trembling.

    Hegel tells us that:

    "What experience and history teach is this - that people and governments never have learnt from history, or acted on principles deduced from it."

    Thus, what Kenya needs is not new mps or a revolution. Kenyans only need enlightement as to how their troubles ORIGINATED. This will lead to an INFORMED DESIRE to change them.

    Otherwise, it is the desire WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE that is dangerous to a society.

    We must therefore, know the origin of the ills we wish to cure. This must be so because, if political action is to be successful, it must be based on the complete understanding of a given situation, and nothing can be understood without a knowledge of how it came to be.

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  9. @Kumekucha prefect,
    Don't delude yourself you are NO CRITIC but a baffoon chasing his intellectual tail. Your obsession with Taabu leaves you exposed as an empty shell.

    You are so easilt excitable at seeeing Taabu's name so much so that you hit the keyboard with furry giving leave to the empty space separating your ears.

    Stop e-stalking and prove the difference with mature argument not cheer leading others and bashing your DAD Taabu.

    And BTW stop fighting your mum's battle. Get on with it, you are only an emotional acccident/by product between her and Taabu.

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  10. Thank you Vikii. At least some sobriety looms in this blog when sense and mature discourse takes place.

    At this time and moment, there are a few discontent views in Nairobi and some MPs have already started the blame game, accusing UK and an unnamed cabinet minister (read Star) for pushing the presidential system through in Naivasha.

    The arguments pursued by none other than Jakoyo Midiwo even before the agreement was announced this morning, shwos that the writing was on the wall for some time. First went the hybrid system, one party lost, then went the parliamentary, and a new type of presidency was introduced. The other party lost. Then, this morning came the shocker and the rest is history.

    At least to the politicians, it will be a lesson that all political parties and their commitments should be based on ideologies and not parochial interests. Unity is a must!

    Again, unity of purpose is required through and through. Whichever political party wanted what, should realise that numbers are important in such events and the powerful presidential system coming in without a fight shows what can be achieved.

    It is not about PNU or ODM now, but at the rate which one of the interested parties has ceded space, clearly tells you that the civil war in ODM will continue to tear apart and chop limbs off the entity that visited Kenya with euphoria never seen before.

    Anyway, brace for turbulence in the political arena. Real trouble to be precise for those who have not embraced modernity and maintained chieftainship and dictatorship.

    William Ruto wants to vie for the presidency. Let him do so. Wish him well. I know and you know that he cannot be elected. Let him dirty his linen. Why start a crusade to demonise him.

    Nonentity Eugene Wamalwa cannot be elected and he knows it. Nobody makes noise and demonises him. Martha Karua wants to be president. She will not make it, bit she was allowed to run across the country popularising her course. Why should there be restriction in ODM alone!

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  11. Apart from the USA, other democracies have ministers appointed from among the elected MPs. Jack Straw is an MP in the UK, so is Alistair Darling and Alan and his brother David Miliband. Unless the MPs are made State Secretaries, how will the cabinet appointments work?

    There is an aspect of party accountability that has to be taken into consideration and this is where the party has to be brought to account.

    I have just checked other European democracies and I wonder what will come of our system when Jos Konzolo is appointed finance minister or Tony Gachoka is appointed information minister. Honestly, some one has to work out what is to be achieved by electing a president and then asking him to appoint ministers from outside the august house. It needs redefining.

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  12. Before I go, I wonder what it was all about. If it was about the two main political parties agreeing after jostling and haggling, I think the ODM side was subdued even before it started. Imagine, Kilonzo, Musila, from ODM-K joining hands with Isaac Ruto, William Ruto, Joseph Cheptumo from the other ODM to support PNU. Walkover of sorts. The high price of disunity. A friend of mine in Zurich has just sent a message that Raila Odinga left his team with a message on pure presidential system when he left for Singapore last Sunday....Ojanga, can you be sensible for once. Please Ojanga...spare us this trash. So, Raila wants to claim credence for this while his own deputy Musalia Mudavadi went public against the same when he made a presentation to the CoE at the height of their negotiations. Ojanga be smart!

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  13. Deroo,

    If we go completely presidential (not mixture as today), then ministers will come from outside parliament. Think US of A. Most european countries have parliamentary systems. Ministers have to come from parliament because as they say Government is operating in parliament.

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  14. Derek , I agree with you that we stand to gain little from having cabinet appointments from outside Parliament save for the incentive to deter the usage of national resources in the development of a single constituency. But then again there is nothing to stop Jos Konzolo from using the treasury platform as a launch pad for his campaign for the Shinyalu parliamentary seat. Agreed, there is little more in this idea than sheer populism.

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  15. I like the pure presidential system. I am disappointed by additional MPs and I believe they should reduce the number not increase the number. I think they should have 120 constituencies in total. Each constituency to elect two MPs a male and a female, and do away with nominated MPs crap such that everyone going to bunge is elected. Regarding the nomination of people with disabilities and youth and other stuff, that should be done away with as all those are either make or female. They should also linit the number of ministries and ministers the president can appoint... say max. 24.

    Thanks,
    Simon.

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  16. well am glad the IBRC at least so far is ahead of the PSC game

    http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/846996/-/vpe0vl/-/index.html

    ==
    The Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission chairman Andrew Ligale termed as "dangerous and alarming" the PSC move to draw constituencies and other boundaries.
    ==
    But on Thursday, Mr Ligale told a press conference that was also attended by other IIBRC members in Nairobi, that it was not the mandate of PSC to decide on representation.

    "Deciding the representation of the people is not about a few individuals sitting in a room with pencils to draw lines on a map. It is important to ask people what works for them, and what does not," Mr Ligale said.
    ==

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