Prime Minister Not Solution To Political Tension in Kenya
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:11 am
Some leaders suggest that the political tensions experienced during every election in Kenya is due to the winner-take-all kind of politics in the country.
Some have gone ahead to suggest that constitution should be amended so that Kenya will have a President, Prime Minister and 2 Deputy Prime Ministers in order to ”spread out the power”, and thus reduce tensions during and after elections.
Political leaders, mostly governors, have suggested that there should be Regional Governments above the County Governments, and offered reasons why this would be good for Kenya.
Prime Minister
I see 3 possibilities regarding the position of prime minister:
1. Executive Prime Minister elected by MPs, and ceremonial President elected directly by the voters: This would be a disaster for Kenya. It would be possible for a billionaire drug dealer to buy MPs votes to make him Prime Minister.
2. Executive President elected directly by voters as is the case currently, who then appoints non-executive Prime Minister and 2 Deputy Prime Ministers from his party: Apart from creating extra burden on the taxpayer, there is no reason to believe this would reduce political tensions in any way.
If we consider the speaker of the National Assembly to be the no. 3 in the ruling party(Jubilee currently), and the speaker of the Senate to be no. 4, what would change if one was made the PM and the other the deputy PM? How would that reduce political tensions in the country?
Furthermore, in such a scenario where PM and Deputy PMs are above the speakers in terms of seniority, then the speakers’ positions will cease to be as prestigious as before.
3. Executive President elected directly by voters as is the case currently, who then appoints non-executive Prime Minister and 2 Deputy Prime Ministers from the losing political party:
Maybe this would reduce political tension in the country after elections. In that case, Kenya would then be a de facto one party state.
Therefore, people proposing this change to the constitution should go ahead and frame it properly i.e. Do you want Kenya to become a one party state? And the voters would decide.
The Change in Constitution That Would Reduce Political Tension Slightly Without Compromising Democracy or Economy
Currently, there are Minority leaders in Parliament & Senate. Technically, these are leaders of opposition in parliament and senate. The problem is that the presidential candidate for the losing party is left high and dry after the elections.
Let the person who comes no. 2 in the presidential elections be called the leader of opposition, and be provided with a house and paid a salary equal to that paid to the speaker of parliament.
This will has these advantages:
1. It makes the presidential runner-up have some prestige, does not dilute Kenya democracy, and does not create conflict with the elected president.
2. Will help create strong political parties because no serious politician would like to be in a party with no chance of coming no. 2. because there will now be a big difference between no. 2 and the rest.
Regional Governments
Regional governments on top of county governments would bankrupt Kenya. Many governors are for the idea because they can only serve a maximum of 10 years as governors.
However, former governors are free to contest for president, senate or even parliament. It is an insult to Kenyan taxpayers for anyone to suggest they are so important that new political offices should be created in the constitution to accomodate them.
Women Representatives
These positions should remain until the percentage of women in parliament - including women reps - reaches 40%. There should be a provision in the constitution that, if this happens, then there should be no more women reps positions during the next elections and beyond.
The Change in Constitution That Would Reduce Political Tension Greatly & is Good For Wanjikū Too
An MCA, MP, Senator, Governor, Deputy President, President(all politicians in office):
1. Cannot seek medical attention outside the country. If they go for medical treatment outside the country, they automatically forfeit their positions.
2. Cannot enrol their children in private primary or secondary schools. If they have school-going children, then they must enrol them in public schools, else, they forfeit their positions.
Post-secondary education is not affected.
This will make politicians not to need any prompting to ensure health and education standards in the country are of the highest standard.
It will also reduce the number of corrupt people seeking political positions in the country because such people may not be able to adhere to these conditions.
If corrupt people voluntarily keep off politics, then there will be no tension during elections.
Some have gone ahead to suggest that constitution should be amended so that Kenya will have a President, Prime Minister and 2 Deputy Prime Ministers in order to ”spread out the power”, and thus reduce tensions during and after elections.
Political leaders, mostly governors, have suggested that there should be Regional Governments above the County Governments, and offered reasons why this would be good for Kenya.
Prime Minister
I see 3 possibilities regarding the position of prime minister:
1. Executive Prime Minister elected by MPs, and ceremonial President elected directly by the voters: This would be a disaster for Kenya. It would be possible for a billionaire drug dealer to buy MPs votes to make him Prime Minister.
2. Executive President elected directly by voters as is the case currently, who then appoints non-executive Prime Minister and 2 Deputy Prime Ministers from his party: Apart from creating extra burden on the taxpayer, there is no reason to believe this would reduce political tensions in any way.
If we consider the speaker of the National Assembly to be the no. 3 in the ruling party(Jubilee currently), and the speaker of the Senate to be no. 4, what would change if one was made the PM and the other the deputy PM? How would that reduce political tensions in the country?
Furthermore, in such a scenario where PM and Deputy PMs are above the speakers in terms of seniority, then the speakers’ positions will cease to be as prestigious as before.
3. Executive President elected directly by voters as is the case currently, who then appoints non-executive Prime Minister and 2 Deputy Prime Ministers from the losing political party:
Maybe this would reduce political tension in the country after elections. In that case, Kenya would then be a de facto one party state.
Therefore, people proposing this change to the constitution should go ahead and frame it properly i.e. Do you want Kenya to become a one party state? And the voters would decide.
The Change in Constitution That Would Reduce Political Tension Slightly Without Compromising Democracy or Economy
Currently, there are Minority leaders in Parliament & Senate. Technically, these are leaders of opposition in parliament and senate. The problem is that the presidential candidate for the losing party is left high and dry after the elections.
Let the person who comes no. 2 in the presidential elections be called the leader of opposition, and be provided with a house and paid a salary equal to that paid to the speaker of parliament.
This will has these advantages:
1. It makes the presidential runner-up have some prestige, does not dilute Kenya democracy, and does not create conflict with the elected president.
2. Will help create strong political parties because no serious politician would like to be in a party with no chance of coming no. 2. because there will now be a big difference between no. 2 and the rest.
Regional Governments
Regional governments on top of county governments would bankrupt Kenya. Many governors are for the idea because they can only serve a maximum of 10 years as governors.
However, former governors are free to contest for president, senate or even parliament. It is an insult to Kenyan taxpayers for anyone to suggest they are so important that new political offices should be created in the constitution to accomodate them.
Women Representatives
These positions should remain until the percentage of women in parliament - including women reps - reaches 40%. There should be a provision in the constitution that, if this happens, then there should be no more women reps positions during the next elections and beyond.
The Change in Constitution That Would Reduce Political Tension Greatly & is Good For Wanjikū Too
An MCA, MP, Senator, Governor, Deputy President, President(all politicians in office):
1. Cannot seek medical attention outside the country. If they go for medical treatment outside the country, they automatically forfeit their positions.
2. Cannot enrol their children in private primary or secondary schools. If they have school-going children, then they must enrol them in public schools, else, they forfeit their positions.
Post-secondary education is not affected.
This will make politicians not to need any prompting to ensure health and education standards in the country are of the highest standard.
It will also reduce the number of corrupt people seeking political positions in the country because such people may not be able to adhere to these conditions.
If corrupt people voluntarily keep off politics, then there will be no tension during elections.