This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
Published on June 27, 2020, by Walter Menya
The Building Bridges Initiative Committee, tasked with implementing the recommendations of the Building Bridges to a United Kenya Task Force, is facing a major hurdle in its work. Despite a retreat two weeks ago, the committee and its team of experts have been unable to agree on several contentious issues.
At the heart of the debate are the restructuring of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the place of other constitutional commissions, granting Nairobi County a special status, and the economic model for the country. The team had hoped to have a final report ready after the retreat, but that was not possible.
The committee, led by Senator Yusuf Haji, is currently in Machakos County for a second retreat, hoping to iron out the issues and hand over its report and reform proposals by June 30. The team of experts was appointed following the BBI task force's recommendation for the appointment of effective technical committees to turn the report's recommendations into legal, policy, and administrative measures.
One of the contentious issues is the restructuring of the JSC. A source within the team told the Saturday Nation that the debate revolves around two schools of thought: making the JSC more independent or ensuring that it is not dominated by judicial officers. Lawyer Nzamba Kitonga, who chaired the Committee of Experts that midwifed the 2010 Constitution, supports the argument that the JSC should not be dominated by the Judiciary.
“I think it was a mistake to recommend that JSC should be dominated by the judiciary. This (nomination of Court of Appeal judges) is one such reason it should not be dominated by the judiciary,” said Mr. Kitonga.
On the other side, the argument is that the JSC as it is currently constituted has more than enough members representing the Executive, which puts at risk the independence of JSC and the Judiciary in general.
