FISHKENYA

President Mwai Kibaki has assented to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2008, setting into motion the realisation of a new constitution and effectively disbanding the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). Already a 27 member Parliamentary Select Committee has started work on the realization of a new constitution but had indicated it could not move forward without the presidential signature on the Bill. The recruitment of a panel of experts to guide the process is expected to kick off soon.
The PSC is also expected to appoint commissioners to the Interim Independent Electoral Commission and the Independent Boundary Review Commission which will guide the electoral reforms in the country. It is expected that the new law will be in place in a year’s time and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga has urged Kenyans to be ready for a referendum on the new law next year. Simultaneously the government has sent the entire staff at the ECK on compulsory leave pending their planned redeployment to the civil service.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 25th, 2008 at 4:35 am and is filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.