EDITORIAL : DAILY NATION, KENYA

 

 

Operations not enough

A massive security operation is presently underway in northern Kenya following the Sunday attack when a remote security camp was overrun by armed raiders who killed two officers.

The area has been the theatre of serious clashes between the Turkana and Pokot communities, who also have to contend with raids from rival pastoralist groups from across the border in Sudan and Ethiopia.

Security forces have come up against large numbers of defiant and heavily-armed warriors, and there have been sizeable casualties.

The security operation is long overdue. For far too long, the outer reaches of northern and eastern Kenya have been abandoned at the mercy of marauding warriors, cattle-rustlers and bandits.

But government in many of those remote reaches hardly exists, and the people are left with no choice but to arm themselves heavily because there is no police to protect them from hostile neighbours.

Therefore, the present security operation must go beyond retaliation and pacification.

It must extend beyond merely enforcing security to establish a solid government presence together with all the services and development that all Kenyans should have as a right.

Consensus needed in interpreting new law

When Kenyans voted for the new Constitution last August, they were convinced that it offered the single most critical element in the realisation of a just and fair society.

Years of political oppression and economic disempowerment convinced Kenyans of the need for a new order.

But in passing the Constitution, Kenyans were under no illusion its implementation would be easy. It is the nature of human beings to resist change.

After 10 months, it is essential that its impact be assessed. That is what informed the conference convened in Nairobi this week by the Constitution of Implementation of Committee.

An examination of the presentations at the conference illustrates that people have dramatically divergent views of the new laws.
Two examples illustrate this. First, opinion is divided over Article 77 (2) that deals with the management of political parties.

Since the article prohibits appointed State officers from holding positions in parties, the question is whether elected MPs are State officers.

Second, whereas Article 210 stipulates that all those who earn an income must pay tax, MPs who have not been doing so except on their basic salaries, argue that the provision should only come into force with the next Parliament.

But more critical is the fact that the implementation of the Constitution has tight deadlines.

By the end of August, Parliament should have enacted at least 16 laws to give life to various provisions. So far, only four have been passed.

In this light, it would be useful if the conference helped to clarify some of the grey areas, and more importantly, provided the necessary impetus to actualise the Constitution.