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Recently, Kenya has experienced a resurgence of a vicious battle of supremacy between the National Assembly and the Senate.
Senates are widely held as controls against the potentially excessive powers of a lower house popularly elected. As such, it is a salient feature of the recent global wave of democratization, which political scientist Samuel Huntington has described as the "Third Wave."
However, over the last 50 years, Senats' fortune has somewhat weakened. Of the 195 countries in the world today, only 59 have national senates.
Only 15 of the 55 African states have national senates. Nevertheless, the idea of a senate has undergone seismic changes of its ancient Roman prototype.
Today, he combines the idea of Plato's "king philosopher" and the modern concept of "market of ideas." This is the room of the "sober second thought" where the advisory or decision-making powers are reserved for the eldest – and supposedly the wisest.
The architects of the Senate of Kenya are inspired by the United States Senate, itself designed by the American Foundation. Fathers as a brake on Congress
Notably, the Senate in the post-2010 constitutional order of Kenya is hoisted on two democratic principles: (1) That leaders should govern with the consent of the governed; and (2) that checks and balances are necessary to guard against the concentration of power in an institution, giving rise to tyranny or absolutism.
If Kenya had followed the American model, the wars of supremacy Be there.
The law would be clearly clear on a senate sharing with the National Assembly the responsibility for all legislation in Kenya.
For an Act of the National Assembly to be valid, both Houses must approve an identical document. The Kenyan Senate would have the power to ratify treaties.
The Senate, not the lower house, would be responsible for overseeing important public appointments such as cabinet members, ambbadadors and Supreme Court justices.
And the Senate would rule on the impeachment proceedings initiated in the National Assembly.
However, Kenya is a clbadic case of countries where the Senate was caught between two infighting for supremacy for half a century.
Although the 1963 Constitution of Kenya established a Senate composed of 41 senators elected for six years, it was abolished in 1966 and its composition combined with that of the House of Representatives to form a unicameral legislature, the Assembly national. His disappearance ushered in the dark age of one-party authoritarianism.
Section 98 of Kenya's Constitution of 2010 restored the Senate as the upper house of the Kenyan Parliament which came into effect after the elections of March 4, 2013. [TheSenateisstruckbythedelicatebalancebetweentheprincipleofDemocraticElectionsandtheruleoflawHoweverthibadperienceofinclusivedemocracystandsawkwardlyonhisheadunabletocontroltheexcesses
Tragically, the framework by which the 2010 Constitution was negotiated and pbaded gave disproportionately high powers to the 10th Parliament (2008-2013) to determine the fate of a renovated Senate
. 10th legislature to create a solid control against itself! Instead, it has adopted a weak, empty and ineffective institution that does not deserve the name of Senate.
The post-2010 Senate remains the weak link in Kenya's new constitution, bound by law to a decentralized system rather than a national and international mandate.
His powers are reduced to representing the interests of counties and their governments; participate in the drafting of laws and approve bills for counties and determine the distribution of national revenues among counties.
The exception is his impeachment power over the president, the vice president, the county governor and the deputy governors. The efforts of the Senate to play a greater role have met with intense resistance.
In December 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta approved the National Government Development Fund (CDF) bill, triggering a new war of supremacy. the law was signed without their participation and against the instructions of the High Court, which annulled the old law.
A few days earlier, the Committee on the Budget and Supply of the National Assembly rejected five bills. Senators accuse MPs of frustrating the Senate with the intent to kill him and threaten to take legal action.
In July 2018, a new battle of supremacy resurfaced with the National Assembly accusing senators of conducting parallel investigations into the saga of Ruaraka lands. Solai Dam tragedy, Kenya Airways investigation and several others
Lawmakers fear two committees may present two reports with entirely different recommendations
Abolishing the Senate is not an option. The solution is to boldly reorganize the Constitution to make the Senate a pillar of democracy
Mr. Kagwanja is a former government adviser and director general of the Institute of African Policy. Email [email protected]
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