Commentary (by Nation Editorial team) - Our MPs must not let the country down

Ref:http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=24&newsid=118128



Publication Date: 3/3/2008
We join those who have spoken out in the past few days and millions of other Kenyans in appealing to members of the 10th Parliament to secure our nationhood by passing the necessary amendments in the shortest time possible.

Attorney-general Amos Wako is leading a team of five senior lawyers in drafting the necessary amendments that will turn the deal into law. There is a difficult task ahead, which must be carried out meticulously to ensure the Bills do not stall in Parliament.

But more importantly, we appeal to MPs to realise that this country has just stepped back from the brink of destruction.

Last Thursday, the world watched as President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga agreed on a power-sharing formula, which, we hope, was acceptable to both. The leadership that the President and Mr Odinga demonstrated on that day needs to be emulated by parliamentarians.

Some of the amendments will only require a simple majority to pass, while others — the constitutional lot — will require a two-thirds majority to enact.

MPs from both sides of the divide must see to it that these amendments sail right through. They must not use them as bargaining chips for things that were never on the negotiating table before President Kibaki and Mr Odinga put pen to paper.

The MPs must also demonstrate confidence that their party representatives at the drafting of the Bills — Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo and Ugenya MP James Orengo — will do a good job in capturing the letter and spirit of the documents signed by their principals.

Let the MPs keep in mind that the livelihood of millions of Kenyans hangs in the balance due to the economic downturn touched off by the crisis. And that is beside the lives already lost and the livelihoods destroyed.

As chief mediator Kofi Annan said on Thursday, there are people, some of them MPs, who feel that their principals gave away too much. Such feelings must not be allowed to get in the way when national duty calls. They must stand up and be counted.