Former AG now roots for an expanded Executive
Former Attorney General Githu Muigai has said that an expanded Executive will help address the vexing issue of inclusivity in government where every part of the country will feel represented.
Acknowledging that time is ripe for the country to take stock of the 2010 Constitution, Githu said the only way to tackle the “animal called non-inclusivity is to increase the numbers in the Executive”.
“Inclusivity is fundamental . . . in a situation where any part of the country feels left out in the running of the government, the clamour for the same will not end,” said the former AG when he appeared before the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) chaired by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni.
The lawyer, who had been invited to shed light on areas he felt need to be amended in the Constitution, said whenever the country seeks to address the inclusivity issue, the talk of an expanded Executive arises.
He said the Coalition government under retired President Kibaki and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga after the disputed 2007 elections attempted to address the inclusivity issue then.
Bring cohesiveness
Githu also proposed that ministers be picked from Parliament so as to bring more cohesiveness between the Executive and the Legislature.
He also wants the position of the official leader of Ppposition strengthened to give it more “teeth” as the government in waiting.
“The situation as it is currently has rendered the office of the Opposition leader powerless, leaving the country at the mercy of the Executive,” Githu noted.
On the issue of the independent commissions, the former AG said the drafters of the 2010 Constitution erred by allocating the institutions more powers than even the ministries under them.
“The commissions have been glorified to the extent of making them autonomous. We should instead strengthen the Executive but not creating small powerful entities,” he said.
