Proposed Government Structure by a Kenyan With Development at Heart

By Kelvin Ondiba, Midland, Texas USA.

It is a shame that about 40 to 50 years ago, Kenya was in the same league of nations as some of the world most developed countries such as Singapore. While those countries took a development approach that centered around structured governance and policing, we took a path that has seen us fear for our lives every election cycle.

Over the years, we as Kenyans have witnessed what poor leadership can do to a country. From high taxation to the death of government parastatals which have left members of the public with rumbling stomachs.

We have seen billions of shillings misappropriated by leadership, and not accounted for. We have seen leaders bypass important priority bills for their own selfish interests.

To make it worse, the back and forth mind-games in the form of blame game among leaders as every election draws near. While Kenya may not be lacking in terms of resources of the will of the people to achieve greatness, we sure are lacking in governance.

As a Kenyan who loves my country, I took up the liberty to draft a proposal on the government structure I feel will yield fruits for my felow beloved citizens and patriots of the Republic of Kenya.

President

1. Protects the country from all enemies foreign or domestic.
2. Appoints ambassadors and sets agenda for foreign relations.
3. Appoints ministers for Foreign affairs, Interior, and Defense and Head of Public Service.
4. Is the chief campaigner of peace and patriotism and symbol of national unity.
5. Chairs cabinet.

Deputy President

1. Is the link between devolved units and the central government.
2. Sits in the senate during significant sessions such as impeachment and their vote is the tie
   breaker in case of a tie.
3. Answers to the senate questions touching on the national government in relation to the
   devolved units.
4. Sits in the council of governors as an ex-officio member.
5. Performs any other duty assigned by the president.

Prime Minister

1. Head of government and secretary to the cabinet.
2. Appoints ministers except for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Interior.
3. Is the link between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.
4. Oversees government programs.
5. Answers to Parliament.

Deputy Prime Minister 1

1. Head of all parastatals.
2. Appoints parastatal heads on two year terms, that are to be approved by parliament and
   eligible to renew their terms up to three times.
3. Answers to parliament on matters to do with parastatals.
4. Streamlines all parastatals for efficient operation.
5. Performs other duties assigned by PM.

Deputy Prime Minister 2

1. Is also the Attorney General. Obviously a lawyer and member of the bar. Answers to
   Parliament. Shall represent government in any legal proceedings.
2. Signs off all government projects, programs and transactions’ legal aspects.
3. In charge of all government commissions such as Teachers’ Service Commission and is the
   link between the government and the independent commissions such as IEBC.
4. Answers to parliament.
5. Is the link between Executive and Judiciary.

~The above shall form the ‘Pentagon’.
~They will be elected on one ticket as one package.
~Neither gender shall have more than three.
~ At least two shall come from the minority/marginalized communities.
~ None of the individuals shall sit in the Pentagon for more than 15 years

Cabinet

1. Shall be comprised of up to 22 Ministers and 22 Deputy Ministers, in addition to the
   Pentagon.
2. The ministers and their deputies may be picked from parliament or outside parliament.
3. Each member shall be appointed by the Prime Minister to serve for a one and a half year
   term, renewable by fresh vetting in Parliament.
4. Will take two thirds of the Parliament to lock out a member from the cabinet.
5. Vetting shall be focused on any corruption allegations, abuse of office and poor
   cooperation with Parliament.
6. Deputy Ministers will be responsible for linking their ministries to the devolved units. For
   example, Minister for Education shall direct national government agenda nationally and the
   Assistant Minister shall link with the County Executive for Education of a given county to
   ensure the program is effective in the county.
7. All members of the Cabinet shall present themselves to the public once a year to answer
   questions about what they shall have done or not done, and declare their wealth. All the
   information given shall be under oath and in public.
8. Any Minister or Deputy Minister that is found guilty of corruption shall not only lose their
   seat in the Cabinet, but also their seat in Parliament.

Succession

1. The Deputy President shall assume office of the President in an event of impeachment,
   resignation, or death.
2. If the seat of Prime Minister falls vacant, DPM 1 takes over as PM, and DPM 2 has to move
   up to be DPM 1. MCAs shall then elect the next DPM 2.
3. If more than three of the popularly elected pentagon members leave office before their term
   expires, either by resignation, impeachment or death, the country goes into a fresh election.
   ~ Members of the Cabinet shall be entitled to a total remuneration not exceeding 100 times the
   lowest paid civil servant and MPs shall earn not more than 70 time the lowest paid civil servant.
   To increase their pay, they shall have to increase everyone’s pay because they all live in the
   same economy!
   ~ All projects worth more than 30% of the revenues collected the preceding fiscal year shall
   only be funded through Private Public Partnership. This aims to curb the bribes which end up
   inflating project costs, and the projects still end up stalling thereby not benefiting the people.

Opposition

1. The second most popular ticket forms Official Government Opposition.
2. The members of the opposition Pentagon shadow their counterparts, i.e the Opposition PM
   keeps the PM in check in government.
3. The official opposition appoints members to the Parliamentary Committees that keep the
   executive cabinet in check. For example, a member of opposition chairs the Education
   Committee who is an equivalent of the Education Minister that vets the Minister and grills
   them during their tenure.
4. The Opposition chairs all the Parliamentary Committees.
5. The Opposition DP sits in the Senate, and is the official leader of opposition in the Senate.
6. The Opposition President sits in both the Senate and National Assembly Security and
   Foreign Affairs Committees.
7. The Opposition shall be entitled to half the ruling Pentagon security detail and 70% of the
   ruling Pentagon renumeration.
8. The Opposition President gives the countering State of the Nation address.

The current government structure is defective for these reasons:

1. No clear roles of the DP. Therefore their working relationship relies entirely on personal
   relationship.
2. The president has a monopoly of executive powers.
3. The parastatals have little to no accountability, thus leaving loopholes for corruption.
4. Failure of the president means complete failure of government.
5. Limited transparency of government transactions.
6. Gives limited chances to the minority and the women in reality, to be in the executive.
7. No opposition to keep government in check.
8. The second most popular candidate with a possibly 49.9% following has no say.
9. More prone to post election violence because only two tribes get government and the
   stakes are too high.
10. Executive has limited accountability to parliament and to the people.
    .

This proposal seeks to fix the defects by coming up with a broader elected executive that brings on board a more diverse group thereby promoting a more inclusive administration both in government and in opposition.

The parastatals which are government funded, will now be streamlined and closely monitored.

For example, do you know who heads KEBS? How about KURRA or KeNHA and KCC? Chances are that if it’s not you, you don’t know. But you and I, pay them yet they aren’t held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.

The documents and agreements that the government signs on our behalf will be public.

For example, have you seen the loan documents for the SGR? Most likely, no. But you and I pay for the loan, whose terms we don’t know. Must have been signed off by an appointed AG who is only accountable to the President under a very weak Opposition.