One of the most important of the nine issues that were addressed by the BBI report under Inclusivity is THE YOUTH.
As a component, the following bills and their Acts address the youth matters to the core:
1. The Public Finance Laws (Amendment)Bill,2020
a. The Higher Education Loans Board Act, 1995 (No.33 of 1995)
b. The Micro and Small Enterprises (Amendment) Bill, 2020
c. The Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 (No.33 of 2015)
2. The Prompt Payment Bill, 2020
Here's a deep-dive into some of BBI report's key proposals:
Return of the Prime Minister
The national executive needs to be expanded to "promote greater inclusivity, and mitigate the drawbacks of the winner-take-all electoral formula."
This has been done by bringing back the office of the Prime Minister (PM), with two Deputy Prime Ministers to boot.
The PM's duties shall be to:
(a) be the leader of government business in the National Assembly;
(b) oversee the legislative agenda in the National Assembly on behalf of government;
(c) supervise the execution of the functions of ministries and government departments;
(d) chair cabinet committee meetings as assigned by the President;
(e) assign any of the functions of the Office to the Deputy Prime Ministers; and
(f) perform any other duty assigned by the President or conferred by legislation.
The president can hire or fire the PM at will. The PM can also lose their job through a successful motion of no confidence in Parliament.
The President will also pick the Deputy PMs from among the Cabinet Ministers.
So will the post of Deputy President go? No. This post will be retained, making for an expanded, top-heavy executive.
House power structure
The report proposes that the Constitution be changed to introduce a new House power structure that includes the PM, Deputy PMs and the Leader of Official Opposition, the latter being the runner-up in the presidential election.
This will be the new power structure in parliament, in order of precedence:
(a) Speaker of the National Assembly
(b) Prime Minister
(c) Leader of Official Opposition
Cabinet
Cabinet Secretaries to revert to being called “Cabinet Ministers”. The Ministers can also be picked from among members of the National Assembly.
Should a Minister become lucky enough to be named Deputy PM, his/her duties will include deputising the PM in his/her duties and essentially doing whatever the PM asks of them.
Judiciary
The judiciary's accountability to the Kenyan people is not enough. To this end, it proposes the establishment of the office of the Judiciary Ombudsman. This independent officer will be nominated by the president and, when approved by Parliament, sit on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
The job of the Judiciary Ombudsman will be to receive complaints about judges, magistrates, registrars and other judicial officers. The ombudsman will also have the power to conduct inquiries into them, and submit periodic reports to the president and parliament.
"The qualifications for appointment as the Judiciary Ombudsman are the same as for the appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court," the report notes.
"The Judiciary Ombudsman shall hold office for a single term of five years and is not eligible for re-appointment," it adds.
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