THE NEW CONSTITION SAVED AGAIN President Kibaki’s decision to withdraw the controversial list of nominees to State offices was timely owing to the fact that his decision earlier on was unconstitutional. Sources at the PM’s office opened the lid on the statement that Mr Odinga never read following the decision by the President to recall the list of nominations minutes before the scheduled press conference. The PM was to argue that the business of making unilateral decisions on national matters was no longer agreeable under the new Constitution. “No one can do as anyone wishes anymore,” he was to say in apparent reference to the President. The spirit of cooperation between the Grand Coalition partners, he was to say, had been broken by the President’s actions. The PM said that he had to recast his statement following the developments that took place in the course of that day. He was referring to the step by the President to withdraw his list of nominees for the positions of the Chief Justice (CJ), Attorney General (AG), Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Controller of Budget for fresh head hunting. President Kibaki said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) would recruit the CJ, the Public Service Commission (PSC) to shortlist the nominees for the DPP and the Controller of Budget, leaving him and the PM to consult over the AG’s position. It was a major change of heart from his earlier position that his list was proper and that only the law courts, not the Speaker of the National assembly, could have the final say. Mr Odinga had insisted that he was not consulted on the nominations. The details of the statement that was never read were sought and found that it was a firm declaration that the coalition partners were under obligation to consult over the nominations. In the statement, Mr Odinga argued that one part of the government could not make decisions that were binding to the whole country. He said neither leaders, MPs nor a group of people could lay claim to the nominations without the participation of the public. The move by some leaders of the coalition government to push for a one-sided list of nominees, he declared, had broken the spirit of cooperation in the Grand Coalition. “Sovereignty is vested in the people of Kenya. Not in the leaders, not in the members of Parliament, not in a section of the population, not in any part of the government. “It is that spirit which has so far ensured a productive relationship between the parties in government. That spirit was recently broken,” he was to state. Mr Odinga was to state that the impasse could be solved by the two principals if they decided to meet and work the way forward. “I have repeatedly stated that there is no reason for me not to sit with the President to resolve this matter,” he was to say. The PM was to remind some MPS that the new Constitution and the National Accord had given the country’s institutions the independence to make decisions and that was why they had rejected the list of nominees. He was referring to the ruling by National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, Attorney General Amos Wako’s opinion, the JSC’s view and the pronouncement by the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) that the nominations were unconstitutional. CWID is telling the two principles and other MPs that the constitution was passed by the people and for the people, so we have to protect it as a nation. Power is with the voices of the people under the constitution and now that vetting is about to take place these leaders should know that the eyes of Kenyans are on them and that they shall not rest until satisfied that the new constitution is being fully implemented. May Odhiambo Coast Women in Development