The draft constitution is out; thank Almighty God, at last.
At first glance, I was very impressed with what has been drafted, especially the Bill of rights. It brings forth a lot of rights that are taken for granted in the developed nations. That am grateful to the scribes.
However, when it comes to the issues of devolved government it is too sketchy to be taken serious, The issues of representation has not been addressed, yes it is great we could have the Upper and Lower House of parliament, but without proportional representation the whole chapter of devolved government falls into pieces.
Furthermore, the tenure of the senators should not be the same as the members of the Lower House, in fact it should be longer and the whole Senate tenure should not end at the same time. Otherwise, what is the point of having the Upper house?
Another very concerning issue is the Executive. We need to separate the legislators from the government and both from the Judiciary, the independence and co-relation of the three is vital for effective government, parliament and the Judiciary.
Clear cut separation of responsibility need to prevail. The harmonised draft just pleases the masses and does not address the thorny issues of separation of responsibilities of the ruling classes to protect them from being corrupted by the powers that come with those responsibilities.
The President should be the sole chief executive, given mandate by the people to govern the country.
The Parliament as whole, both the Upper and the Lower house has the responsibility to keep the executive in check and to pass bills for the welfare of our nation.
The Judiciary has the mandate of the people through the constitution to keep the parliament, the President and the population in check.
If we cannot have clear cut separation of responsibilities, we rather stick with the old colonial constitution and do a few tweaks here and there to suit our political ambitions and interests!!
Lets put our minds together and rectify this not so clear directives from the draft constitution.
