Source: Adili: Transparency International Kenya newsletter.

Prof. ghai on the review process
in this issue in this issue
words of cauti0n
page 2
FAQs on corruption
page 3
edupuppets 2002
page 4
upcoming events
page 4
words of cauti0n
page 2
FAQs on corruption
page 3
edupuppets 2002
page 4
upcoming events
page 4
Most Kenyans think that your budget of Ksh. 4.5 billion is
too much and the review process may be used as an avenue
of corruption and election funding. What is your view on
this?
We are now working out the final budget and this figure is not final.
But what Kenyans have to understand is that the Commission is the
manager of the whole process and so, many of these costs are not
costs of the Commission itself, but the cost of related activities
where the two main activities are the National Constitutional
Conference and the National Constitutional Referendum.
The conference does not have much to do with us, but the costs will
have to come from our budget. That means the cost of 650 people
sitting, probably in Nairobi, for one month or more depending on
the deliberations and their per diems, transport, accommodation,
conference expenses and other related expenses. And then if we
don’t get full agreement at this conference, the Constitution of
Kenya Review Act, insists that we have to have a referendum, that
of course is like having a general election.
Are the full costs of the referendum included in your
proposed budget for the year 2002?
The budget we presented to the Treasury was much lower than what
the Electoral Commission later said would be adequate for a
comprehensive referendum involving all eligible voters and based
on issues that the members of the National Constitutional
Conference were unable to reach agreement on.
In the last budget, revealed to the public, we saw that the
percentage of money given by the donors is small. Why is
this?
What happens often is that donors require us to take care of expenses
of a particular activity and then a month or two later, they reimburse
us. So, when an activity ends, we then send them a report and based
on the success of the activity, they give us a cheque. Thus we
receive money in installments and not as a lump sum and what one
sees in the media reports of our budget are these installments.
Does the above show a lack of confidence by the donors on
the reform process?
Not at all, but they also take the view that the core costs of the
exercise must be borne by the government.
What happens if the government can’t afford to give you all
the money that you require?
Well, we are trying to raise money from the donors in more
substantial sums.
I can’t give you too many details as I’m currently involved in a
series of negotiations both with Kenya’s main external donors and
the local business community.
How necessary is a new constitution before the end of the
year? What is your position on minimum constitutional
reforms?
A new constitution is very necessary and there is no question about
that and nobody doubts that. On minimum constitutional changes,
I feel we are not in a position to say anything, but that issue will
only arise if we are not able to finish our work on time and at the
moment, we are still hoping that we can finish on time. But we shall
review the whole situation in April and inform the public.
There has been talk that some members of the review process
have draft constitutions that will be released if worse got to
worse. What is your view on this?
No. That’s absolute nonsense.
Lastly, what have you learnt in your period in Kenya that
you can apply if you get other similar opportunities
elsewhere?
I have learnt many things, but the main ones are that we perhaps
have too large a commission and that a commission should be
smaller and more professional than the one we have.
It’s also important to separate civic education activities from the
commission and there should be a separate body charged with that.
I think the civic education programme should be continuing but
I’m more concerned with the duration of the process and I think
that it just complicates the task of the commission too much to be
handling a diversity of activities. Some other body, which is more
skilled should be handed the process.
Prof. Yash Pal Ghai is the Chairman of the Constitution of Kenya
Review Commission (CKRC). This short interview was carried out
during a one-day conference on “Constitutional Reform To Fight
Corruption”. The conference, hosted by TI-Kenya, involved Prof.
Ghai, his commissioners, MPs, other civic and governmental bodies
and concluded by making recommendations to the CKRC.
In this Issue
addressing corruption:
the Ugandan experience