Via nation.co.ke By AHMEDNASIR ABDULLAHI
When Lewis Hamilton, the British Formula 1
driver, suffered a series of misfortunes in this season’s races starting with
the Monaco one, he said his misfortunes were more than just mere bad luck.
He subtly made the point that none of the
accidents were attributable to his personal slip-ups. He didn’t say it but
everyone knew that his finger pointed towards the higher echelons of Team
Mercedes.
The misfortunes, the bad press and poor
performance of the Jubilee government is not just because of bad luck and the
push by a re-energised opposition.
The Uhuru Administration is not firing in all
the cylinders as was projected. It is not as visionary as prayed. It is not
focused and disciplined.
In the past 12 months, it has fought
unnecessary wars. It has made unnecessary political enemies. It squandered many
golden opportunities. And it chose the wrong priorities. All these are the
least of the problems it faces.
Many Kenyans want to give the government more
time. They appreciate that the learning curve for the Uhuru Administration has
fairly been steep.
Uhuru’s biggest and most potent enemy is not
the Opposition, the Judiciary, the civil society or Western embassies and their
governments. The biggest and most lethal enemy that faces Uhuru and his
government comes from Parliament under the pitiful leadership of Speaker Justin
Muturi.
The government’s misfortunes are the sole
creation of the new face of impunity, the Speaker of Parliament. His tenure as
Speaker has been a calamitous and sacrilegious defilement of the Constitution.
He has, in a mere 12 months, reduced the august House into a smouldering rubble
of parliamentary tomfoolery. In a single year, he has made Parliament a rogue
institution unaccountable to anyone.
He tried to destroy the Judiciary and
routinely passes legislation that flouts the Constitution, all with a view to
destroying devolution. He allows just a few pre-selected and pre-screened MPs
on the government’s side to contribute to debate. He has silenced the
Opposition.
Never has a Kenyan parliament been led by a
more inept, incompetent, dull, unknowledgeable and ignorant Speaker. This is
the result you get when greatness is forced on a political dwarf.
OUT OF HIS DEPTH
The burden on his shoulders makes his knees
crack and give in and, as he tumbles and sinks, he will take many with him.
Muturi has all the shortcomings of a man out of his depth clowning on a
national stage with the Kenyan population watching in utter bewilderment.
It is not his dismissal of court orders as
nonsense and idiotic that will cause the country lasting damage. It is not his
dismissal of the Supreme Court’s advisory opinion as worthless that should
concern Kenyans.
The Judiciary can be trusted to look after
its turf and the interests of Kenyans. What should frighten Kenyans are two
virulent shortcomings of the Speaker. Whether it is due to political
haughtiness or deficiencies in his training as a lawyer, Muturi has a penchant
for breaching the Constitution.
The House has passed countless statutes and
amendments that are blatantly unconstitutional. Most of these unconstitutional
amendments are designed to undermine devolution and county governments.
Playing the role of a partisan Speaker,
Muturi is a hired gun in the hands of those who seek to undermine governors and
county governments. He bestows -- through unconstitutional amendments --
powers, privileges and honours on Members of Parliament, Senators and the
national government all with the sole intention of undermining devolution.
The second lethal shortcoming is that he is a
political activist passing off as a neutral Speaker of Parliament. Even his
demeanour in the Chair is repulsive.
He shrieks, shrills and hisses when giving
orders. His rulings on matters of law and politics from the Chair are
superficial and pedestrian. His grasp of law and parliamentary procedure are at
best laughable.
But it is his partisan and small-minded
moderation of parliamentary debates that should alarm Kenyans. Parliament will
either shut or suffer mass boycott if Muturi is not replaced as a matter of
national priority. He stifles debate.
He defines and delimits the tenor and
contours of debates. He ignores the Opposition. Parliament is an empty shell!
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