Bunge la Kenya laamua kua kila mgombeaji ni sharti awe na digrii...tupo?

Leonard Robert said:

Nzuri sana hii
lakini peleka habari hii jukwaa la kenya

Click to expand...

Ushauri mzuri lakini nilitaka watu wajadili kuona kama na suala hili linaweza kuwa replicated Tanzania.

By NJERI RUGENE nrugene@ke.nationmedia.com And EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, June 23 2012 at 23:30

Members of Parliament who could be blocked from running in the next General Election have put up a spirited fight to secure their political careers ahead of the polls.

They intend to meet President Kibaki and prevail upon him to reject the amendment demanding that MPs and senators be university graduates.

If the President signs the Statute Law (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill into law, at least 80 current MPs will be blocked from defending their seats or vying for Senate in the next election.

Inquiries by Sunday Nation revealed that the MPs asked Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka to plead with the President not to sign the Bill through which Parliament changed the Elections Act 2011. (READ: Pressure grows on Kibaki to reject Bill)

The group has also declared that it will move to the Supreme Court "to seek a constitutional interpretation on the relationship between academic qualification and leadership".

"We want the President to intervene by declining to assent to the Bill because this is about Kenya, not individuals," said Joint Government chief Johnstone Muthama, one of the MPs who risks being locked out of the next Parliament due to the amendment.

On Friday, the MPs met with Attorney-General Githu Muigai to seek legal advice on the way out of the situation which threatens their political future.

They also met with House Speaker Kenneth Marende through whom they intend to petition the President.

During the meeting, the dissatisfied MPs handed the petition which Mr Muthama said was signed by more than 80 colleagues.

The MPs also intend to have a face-to-face meeting with the President over the contentious amendment.

"We want to meet the President to express our reservations with those specific changes which we feel were done in bad faith. We are awaiting his return (from Rio, Brazil)," the Kangundo MP said on Saturday.

But still Mr Muthama has gone to court over the issue. His lawyer Dr John Khaminwa said he had filed a case in court in which his client argues that it would be discriminatory to bar aspirants who do not have degrees.

"We have filed a case in court and argued strongly that human beings have done great things without having earned any degree at all," Dr Khaminwa said.

The High Court will deliver its ruling on June 29 and Kenyans should wait for that decision, Dr Khaminwa added.

Meanwhile, if the President assents to the Bill, the MPs plan to seek an amendment to the controversial clause. Parliamentary rules allow MPs to introduce private members Bills.

Moreover, the group accuses their colleagues of passing the amendment in bad faith with the intention of locking opponents out of the next elections.

Last Thursday MPs amended Section 22 of the Elections Act to make it mandatory for seekers of parliamentary seats to possess a minimum of a university degree. (READ: MPs fight to block varsity degrees law)

Initially, aspirants for National Assemby and County Assembly and councillors were required to have a minimum of a post-Form Four certification. The degree threshold was for president, deputy president and governor.

The MPs were reversing an earlier amendment by Bura MP Dr Abdi Nuh exempting serving MPs and councillors from the post-secondary training rule until 2017.

If signed into law, the most notable casualties will be Mr Muthama, Maison Leshoomo, Clement Waibara, Gidion Mbuvi "Sonko," Najib Balala, Sheikh Mohammed Dor, Masoud Mwahima, Joseph Kiuna, Gideon Mung'aro, Shakila Abdallah and Raphael Letimalo.

Others are assistant ministers Beatrice Kones, Jebii Kilimo, Calist Mwatela, Wakoli Bifwoli, Ramadhan Kajembe and Gonzi Rai.

And, according to the Parliament website Tourism minister Dan Mwazo, a holder of a diploma from Riverstate University and a certificate from Rafriver College.

The Office of Public Communications indicates that Public Health minister Beth Mugo has numerous diplomas and certificates.

Water minister Charity Ngilu and Medical Services assistant minister Kambi Kazungu are currently pursuing their bachelors degrees and expect to graduate before the end of the year.

Eldoret North MP William Ruto, a presidential hopeful who is a doctoral student at the University of Nairobi, is among a few MPs pursuing higher education.

Information on the website shows that ODM Nominated MP Rachel Shebesh trained as a fashion designer at a college in England. Mr Wakoli, a retired primary school teacher, once served as Knut executive secretary in Bungoma.

Diamond grading

After completing his studies at Kyamulendu Primary School in Kangundo, Mr Muthama who wants to the Machakos County senator attended the Geomological Institute of America where he graduated with a certificate in geomological and diamond grading system.

And Mr Kiuna, the Molo MP, attained a diploma in aircraft engineering at Kenya Armed Forces Technical Engineering College.

The amendment to Section 22 of the Elections Act moved by Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo has split Parliament with MPs who are university graduates and are opposed to the changes signing the petition in "solidarity" with their colleagues.

They argue that the amendment is discriminatory and university degree should not be the yardstick for political leadership.

The MPs say that long-serving MPs – including Cabinet ministers – without degrees cannot suddenly be declared unfit for Parliament and Senate.

They also argue that Kenyans with strong credentials in the military service, provincial administration, accountancy and engineering without degrees are as qualified as university graduates.

They cite Kajiado Central MP Joseph Nkaissery, the assistant minister for Defence, who rose through the ranks to become a general in the Kenya Defence Forces.

Mr Kiuna on Saturday claimed that the amendment was passed by a "handful" of MPs who did not understand what it was about and hopes President Kibaki will reject it.

"He is also a politician and he knows the capabilities of the leaders he has been working with." But Mr Charles Kilonzo yesterday maintained that times have changed.

"A degree today is ordinary. Even to become a primary school principal you must have a degree," he said. Parliament is probably one of the most powerful creatures of the Constitution passed more than a year ago.

Besides oversight, MPs are entrusted with the responsibility of vetting the suitability of key constitutional offices whose academic qualifications are considerably high.

The argument is that the MPs should be as highly qualified. But East Africa Cooperation assistant minister Peter Munya, a lawyer, warns against emphasis on university education.

"We have seen people who have no formal education and who have been great leaders in the world. Winston Churchill, who was one of the greatest ministers of Britain, did not attend formal school."

The chairman of Maasai Education Trust, Andrew Leteipa Ole Sunkuli, who has declared an interest in the Narok senate seat, warns that unless proper mechanisms are put in place, the degree rule would be the next big scandal.

Like fast foods

"Backstreet colleges could be turned into paper-minting machines churning out degrees like fast foods," Mr Sunkuli said.

The law says that the certificates must be from an institution recognised by the government. He called for a thorough vetting by an independent authentication board comprising the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Ministry of Education as well as the Kenya National Examination Council.

He added the board should also hold oral interviews for the holders of the certificates to proof that they actually read for them.

Additional reporting by Billy Muiruri

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politi.../1064/1434504/-/item/0/-/lxip4iz/-/index.html

Nduka said:

And yet CDM+Catholic church couldn't stop him from land mass winning his second term. SHAME

Click to expand...

Seems like you are kind SORE Looser when it comes to Catholic church! One thing that I can Guarantee you is "U are being ruled by RCC and it will stay so till the end of your misserable life" and gues what this will continue to be so No matter who is you Presoo! Ha ha ha

Bravo to RAO and Mwai Kibaki for ur wisdom less than 2% of Kenyans r university degree holders and yet the baboons want that to be a criteria too be an MP...! That is protecting their seats from other aspirants! In the UK no such stupidity exists and they are 100% literate and people like John Major were PMs without a university degree!

Mkuu Kido tulotokordwak,

Hii point nilishampatia marehemu Regia Mtema tafuta kwenye bandiko lake la mwisho hapa JF.

Kidotulotokordwak said:

Taarifa ya habari ya Kbc imesema hoja binafsi imewasilishwa bungen ikitaka sifa za mtu kuwa mbunge awe ni degree holder na hoja hii itajadiliwa wiki ijayo,kama ikipita wabunge wenye sec certificate hawataruhusiwa kugombea kwenye uchaguz ujao.WA TZ KATIBA INAKUJA HII NI POINT YA MCNG

Click to expand...

President Kibaki has rejected a controversial Bill that would have allowed MPs to change parties without losing their seats.
The President also gave politicians without university education, including at least 80 MPs, a reprieve when he rejected the Bill requiring that those seeking elective positions in the Senate and Parliament must have degrees.

President Kibaki explained that he could not sign the Statue Law Miscellaneous (Amendment) Bill because of pending court cases.



Earlier, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka supported MPs in their fight to drop the degree requirement in the Elections Act which, they said, would marginalise a majority of Kenyans without university education.

However, the two opposed changes to the Political Parties Act that allowed party-hopping.

The President, who received the Bill on Monday morning after arriving from Brazil, held a quick meeting with Attorney General Githu Muigai and acting Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia.


More than 80 MPs who could have been locked out by the degree requirement petitioned the President not to assent to the law. Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama, one of those to have been affected, filed a case in court seeking to stop the President from signing the Bill.

university degrees are meaning less to leadership and also dont gurantee gud leadership luk for example in Nyanza the have the most educated people bt still lag behind in development or management of CDF compared to areas like Central where they dont luk for academic qualifications kudos MR President for nt signing it to bill

Nduka said:

Wananiita SUGU.

Click to expand...

Siyo ARFI?

hii habari imfikie Livingstone Peter Lusinde muuza Nyama ya utumbo wa Mtoni