Kimani Ichung’wah insists NADCO report will be implemented amidst court injunction
Kikuyu MP and Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung'wah has confirmed that the National Dialogue Commission (NADCO) report will be implemented amid doubts over court injunctions.
Ichung'wah, who served as the NADCO co-chair, spoke after Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka expressed doubts about the government's commitment to implement the report.
"The National Dialogue Committee did the report and took it to parliament, where it was passed. The report will be implemented the way it was passed in parliament (without changes)," Ichung'wah said.
"We have already published bills including the IEBC Bill to reconstitute a new commission. Let Kalonzo not be worried. We will deal with the court injunctions in court. If the court has stopped the implementation of any part of the NADCO report, that has nothing to do with the Kenya Kwanza government."
Ichung'wah also faulted Democratic Action Party (DAP-K) Party Leader Eugene Wamalwa over his accusations against the government, despite having not signed the report.
"I saw Eugene Wamalwa, who refused to sign the report, saying we have no goodwill. What greater goodwill did we need other than those of us in Kenya Kwanza signing the report? Eugene refused to sign because flour prices were high. We have all the goodwill to implement the report in the manner it was passed," Ichung'wah added.
Speaking in Kwale County on Saturday, Kalonzo, who was also the NADCO co-chair, termed the orders by Lady Justice Dora Chepkwony to stop the implementation of the report as state-sponsored.
“This is a deliberate scheme to go against what was agreed on at the Bomas of Kenya. The Kenya Kwanza regime has never had goodwill and faith and this is the problem in Kenya; the politics of lies all the time. This state-sponsored court action must stop," Kalonzo said.
According to the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party co-principal, the state was not committed even during the dialogue.
Wamalwa, speaking during the same forum, asked for the audit of the 2022 presidential elections for Kenyans to know the truth.
“This audit is what they wanted to stop. This is state-sponsored. They didn't have good faith before, during, or after the NADCO talks," Wamalwa said.
Wamalwa added that the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) has also been delaying the processing of the NADCO report.
“Choices have consequences. We are ready to return to maadamano (street protests),” Wamalwa noted.
NADCO report
Before the court halted the implementation of the NADCO report, eight bills had been referred to the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs (JLAC) and the Senate Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
The two committees were given 45 days to consider the said bills and table a report in the house for either adoption or rejection.
Among the bills that were set to be introduced in the National Assembly and be considered by the JLAC included The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2024, The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2024, The Leader of Opposition Bill, 2024, and The National Government Coordination (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The Senate on its part was to introduce and consider The Elections Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2024, The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2024, The Statutory Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and The Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
On Friday, a High Court sitting in Kiambu suspended the implementation of the NADCO Report pending a hearing and determination of a case filed by activist Michael Muchemi.
Muchemi told the court that implementation of the NADCO report would plunge the country into an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
"Upon considering the grounds on the face of the application together with the affidavit sworn it is hereby ordered that the application be and is hereby certified as urgent and that the application be and is hereby allowed. This means that the process that began in parliament to implement the report stops forthwith," Lady Justice Chepkwony ruled.
