OF EAST AFRICAN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (KENYAN CHAPTER) ELECTIONS AND NEPOTISM………
Kennedy Kalonzo and Winnie Odinga. (Courtesy)
By Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor
Worth Noting:
- The Ex-official Membership of EALA consists of those Ministers of each Partner State responsible for regional co-operation. Assistant Ministers may participate in the Assembly when Ministers are not present.
- The Secretary General of the EAC and the Counsel to the Community are also Ex-officio Members. Article 50 (1) provides;
- “The National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that Partner State, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner state may determine”.
By now am damn sure that you are well aware that Kenya has fronted nine folks to represent the country in the East African Legislative Assembly. The nine folks include: Kennedy Kalonzo, Suleiman Shahbal, Winnie Odinga, Kanini Kega, Hassan Omar, Zipporah Kering, David Sankok, Mwangi Geoffrey Maina and Iman Falhada. These nine folks will join other folks from East African Community Partner states. The major problem I had with this round election is the kind of nepotism exhibited by the Azimio fraternity. Mind you this is not the first time that the same is happening. Five years ago, Kenyan representatives to East African Legislative Assembly had to wait longer due to the controversy surrounding some names to be precise two names. The two persons are Kennedy Musyoka and Oburu Odinga who currently serves as the Siaya Senator courtesy of favouritism.
Oburu and Kennedy Musyoka became subject of discussion by virtue that they were related to the respective leaders of the coalition and some members had been left out just for them to be fronted. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did they really deserve the seat or it was favouritism and nepotism at its best? You and I know better. As they say those are past tidings and lets focus on the current situation on the ground on once again candidacy of Kennedy Musyoka and Winnie Odinga who is the daughter of Opposition leader Raila Amollo Odinga. Before I venture on the same it might be well with my soul to highlight key insights on East African Legislative Assembly. I proceed in the following paragraphs.
Generally, The East African Legislative Assembly (Assembly) is an organ of the East African Community; established under Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. The Treaty establishing the East African Community was signed on 30th November 1999 and entered into force on 7th July 2000 by the Partner States of The Republic of Uganda, The Republic of Kenya; and the United Republic of Tanzania. The Republic of Burundi and the Republic of Rwanda acceded to the Treaty on 18th June 2007 and became full members on 1st July 2007 while Republic of South Sudan joined on 16th April 2016 and became a full member on the 5th September 2016 thus expanding the number of the Community Partner States to six
Article 48 and 50 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC provides for the membership and election of members of the East African Legislative Assembly. The membership of EALA currently stands at 62, with nine Elected Members from each of the six EAC Partner States and eight Ex-officio Members. Members are indirectly elected, being voted into their positions by their respective National Assemblies, though not from the ranks of those Assemblies. The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community requires that the Members should represent the diversity of views present in their own National Assemblies, and also that their selection meets certain criteria for gender balance.
The Ex-official Membership of EALA consists of those Ministers of each Partner State responsible for regional co-operation. Assistant Ministers may participate in the Assembly when Ministers are not present. The Secretary General of the EAC and the Counsel to the Community are also Ex-officio Members. Article 50 (1) provides; “The National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that Partner State, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner state may determine”.
The Assembly has a cardinal function in the furtherance of Community objectives; this function encompasses the legislative, representative and oversight mandate. Article 49 of the Treaty stipulates that the Assembly shall: be the legislative organ of the Community; liaise with the National Assemblies of the Partner States on matters relating to the Community; debate and approve the budget of the Community; consider annual reports on the activities of the Community, annual audit reports of the Audit Commission and any other reports referred to it by the Council; discuss all matters pertaining to the Community and make recommendations to the Council as it may deem necessary for the implementation of the Treaty; may for purposes of carrying out its functions, establish any committee or committees for such purposes as it deems necessary; recommend to the Council the appointment of the Clerk and other officers of the Assembly; and make its rules of procedure and those of its committees.
Now let’s get back to the crux of the paper. After each election it is common knowledge (if it isn’t known to thee sit down and listen) Parliament has to vote for members to represent the interest of the country in EALA. Thus the events of this year did not come as a surprise. As well it seems nepotism in getting candidates to the EALA was going to repeat itself with one usual suspect two times now and a new entrant to the game.
Before the elections were held, the two had a sit down with the members of the fourth state and they stated categorically that they should be viewed as Kenyans and based on their suitability to represent their country in East African Legislative Assembly as opposed to being members of the country’s prominent families. Winnie Odinga specifically said that her interest in East African Legislative Assembly had nothing to do with her father, saying that she is busy campaigning just like the other nominees who were cleared and their names forwarded to parliament. On his part Mr Kalonzo said his first five year experience in the House makes him more suitable for the position.
Let it go on record from my desk unapologetically that Kennedy and Winnie got their way based on nepotism and their folks who preach on good governance and then drink wine shame on them. There are other politicians who missed out for their seats in National Assembly and could get a seat at EALA but those dreams had to be sacrificed ask Jeremiah Kioni. Raila and Kalonzo by virtue that they have their puppets at the National Assembly and Senate respectively they knew that their decision to front their kids would sail through. That tells you the kind of parliamentarians we have. Oh my!!! The election of the two wasn’t merit based but it was more political and morally wrong. To quote Miguna Miguna, ‘Winnie Odinga is not qualified to be a member of East African Legislative Assembly. Using the last name Odinga as an ornament is not a qualification for public office. The Odinga family has abused their privileges for sixty years and it is high time we stopped their abuse.’
Nepotism and favouritism in all its forms are types of corrupt behaviour that have the potential to undermine the proper functioning of the state and compromise the ability of public authorities to serve the public good. At local and regional level, they hinder the effectiveness and efficiency of local public service delivery, diminish public trust and damage the perception that local and regional public authorities are serving the interests of their constituents.
Nepotism undermines the principles of the legitimacy of the government and public representation, and causes serious economic damage to society through inefficient use of the material and financial resources of the state. It damages civil society by encouraging mistrust in public authorities thereby entrenching chronic suspicion.
Nepotism causes the misappropriation of public resources, and reduces the efficiency of the public sector, causing a threat to public trust. It weakens the foundations of state security and defense, and reduces the resilience of society to modern threats. It widens the inequality gap and exacerbates poverty as well as contributes to the increase of crime rate. Nepotism creates inconsistency in the application of standards, policies, rules, and evaluation processes such as performance appraisal, and this generally negates appropriate checks and balances related to workplace practices.
It impacts the employees’ productivity, job satisfaction, morale, motivation, harmony and retention with the organization. Nepotism erodes organizational activities and processes such as goal setting, leadership, and building of team spirit. It affects organizational commitment, loyalty and trust, and the performance of the public service. Organizations can suffer legal ramification as a result of some cases of nepotism. Nepotism violates the standards of professional ethics in institutions, increasing psychological tension and mistrust in management and causing conflict situations within the organization.
All in all, nepotism is deeply embedded in our culture as Kenyans. What those two national leaders exhibited is what normally happens in the country. Unluckily, what they did was in the national galore thus they had to receive good blows for the same. Good governance demands better from us. The earlier we realize the same, the better. Anyway those two folks don’t deserve to represent us regardless they have their way.
Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus. He is an ardent commentator on socio-legal and political issues
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Kindiki: Common African standards are the key to Africa’s $3.4 trillion market
- Nkabune residents renew protests over alleged poor management at technical institute
- The generation of fatherless children: How a group of men are manufacturing single mothers
- Adama Traoré set to join Deportivo de La Coruña as deal nears completion
- Premier League season stalls as court battle drags on
About the Author
