Civil society rejects power sharing
Civil society groups want an interim constitution providing for a transitional Government enacted. The 160 NGOs on Wednesday said power sharing would not be a panacea to the political impasse, and called on Parliament to amend the Constitution. At a meeting at the Centre for Multiparty Democracy offices, Nairobi, the NGOs called for the overhaul of Parliament to pave way for a Senate that would devolve power and annul judicial and electoral laws.
While faulting calls for power sharing between President Kibaki and Mr Raila Odinga, the co-convener, Mr Sam Ongoro asked: “How can you share powers you do not have? Whatever posts are proposed for sharing are not in the Constitution. They must be created.” The proposed interim constitution, the NGOs explained, was a hybrid of various documents, including the Bomas and Wako drafts. The groups, calling themselves the National Civil Society, said they had drafted a constitution and presented it to the former UN Secretary-General, Dr Kofi Annan.
The group accused protagonists in the mediation talks of frustrating the people’s aspirations and treating post-election crisis as a duel between President Kibaki and Mr Raila Odinga. Some of the NGOs represented were Abantu, Action Aid, Centre For Multi-Party Democracy, Fida, International Centre for Jurists, the Green Belt Movement and Kenya Human Rights Commission.
East African Standard
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