Several Diaspora organizations today presented a petition to the Government of Kenya through the Minister for Foreign Affairs seeking their rightful inclusion in all matters of national importance. The petition, signed by 5 Diaspora and Diaspora-centred groups including Diaspora Movement of Kenya (DMK), Kenya Community Abroad (KCA), Kenyans for Change (K4C), Kenya Global Unity (KGU) and New Vision Kenya (NVK-Mageuzi), together among them representing more than 90% of Kenyans belonging to recognized, registered global associations was received on the behalf of the Acting Minister Prof. George Saitoti by the Substantive Assistant Minister, Hon. Richard Moima Onyonka, among other senior Ministry and government officials, including an officer from the Government Communications Office in the Presidency. The open petition, addressed to the entire leadership of the Republic beginning with H.E. the President, Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, H.E. the Vice President, Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Justice Minister, the Chief Justice, etc, is also copied to All Hon. Members of Parliament and Media Houses. It stipulates the growing importance of Diaspora contribution to our socio-economic, technological and cultural development as a people, noting that more than 3 million Kenyans are presently domiciled beyond our borders, remitting into the country in excess of KShs 150 billion (US$ 1.8 billion) into the economy every year according to official figures, way above what any donors or sector of the economy (agriculture or tourism included) brings in terms of foreign exchange, yet the place of Diaspora is yet to be appropriately recognized and anchored. The group, led by NVK-M’s Convenor, Dr Shem Ochuodho, KCA’s Outgoing President, Mr Gichane Muraguri, and K4C’s Global Treasurer, Mr Peter Arasa and including representatives from nearly all the world’s 5 continents – North America, Europe, Asia (including the Pacific), Middle East and Africa – highlighted five major issues requiring urgent government intervention, namely:- 1. Immediate arrangements by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya (IIECK) to seek ways of registering Kenyan Diaspora in next year’s general elections either by declaring embassies and consulates as polling centres, or even better by introducing electronic and online voting (e-voting). The group recognized that in a court ruling during the recent constitutional referendum, the IIECK and other relevant arms of government were actually directed to do this; 2. Involvement of eligible Diaspora in strategic national commissions and committees, including the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Constitutional and Legal Reforms Implementation and Monitoring Committees, and other existing and future trade, economic, scientific, cultural and professional committees and commissions. In so doing, they reiterated that merit should prevail over any other considerations and that Diaspora should not be favoured in such appointments, but equally they should not be excluded or discriminated against being treated as second-rate citizens; 3. Based on the principle of ‘No Taxation without Representation’, they urged the Government and in particular the successor to the Ligale Commission (the anticipate Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission) and Parliament in creating the 80 additional constituencies to reserve 5 (for the 5 continents) for Diaspora Representatives. Indeed, recognizing that numerically they are more than any single constituency or County, within the context of the new constitutional dispensation they should be considered as Kenya’s 48th county. They enumerated several countries where such provisions already exist world over; 4. They called for mindset-change among all Kenyans – whether Diaspora or home-based – in the way each group perceives and treats the other. They committed to continue with engagement among their members who might look down upon in any way some of their home-based counterparts to forthwith see all Kenyans as one integral people, and in the same vein appealed to the Government and home-based counterparts, relatives and colleagues to also inculcate positive attitude about their countrymen and women domiciled beyond Kenya’s jurisdiction; and 5. To improve engagement with the Government and home-based counterparts, they called for the establishment of Diaspora Liaison Offices in all sections of the world where there are significant numbers of Kenyans, and the consideration of Honorary Consuls where qualified and meriting Kenyans have become ‘senior citizens’ of countries of domicile. In his response, Minister Onyonka, himself a former Diaspora appreciated the delegation, welcomed the petition and promised to bring it to the attention of the relevant government authorities. He indicated that some of the matters raised are already within the purview of the Ministry, including the plan to appoint a few Honorary Consuls in deserving areas once the legal and administrative instruments are complete. He further indicated that in recognition of the importance of Diaspora not only in numerical and socio-economic terms, but also as Kenya’s unofficial ambassadors, the Ministry has already created a Diaspora Desk with a senior officer as its head, and that the Government is already working on a Diaspora Bill which will look into most of the issues raised. He further confirmed that the Ministry is holding preliminary consultations with the IIECK in how best realistically to have Kenyans abroad participate in future in the governance of the country, including in elections and referenda. Further engagement is expected in the future, even as the Diaspora organizations themselves explore more effective, efficient and inclusive ways of engagement, with the possibility of an Umbrella Diaspora Alliance emerging. They thanked the Ministry for the warm reception, looking forward to deserving attention and speed in tackling the matters raised. Attached is a copy of the Official Petition. ---- Begin Attachment --- Inclusion of Kenya’s Diaspora Representatives in the new Judicial Service Commission (JSC), other constitution implementation committees, and generally in Kenya’s socio-economic and cultural development PETITIONERS REQUIREMENT:Inclusion of Kenyan Diaspora Representatives in strategic committees, commissions and other national duties of paramount importance. To: 1. H.E. THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA HARAMBEE HOUSE, HARAMBEE AVENUE P.O. BOX 62345 – 00200 NAIROBI, KENYA 2. THE RT. HON. PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA SHELL HOUSE, HARAMBEE AVENUE P.O. BOX 74434 NAIROBI, KENYA 3. H.E. THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA JOGOO HOUSE ‘A’, TAIFA ROAD P.O. BOX 30478 – 00100 NAIROBI, KENYA 4. HON. SPEAKER OF THE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS P.O BOX 41842 – 00100 NAIROBI, KENYA clerk@parliament.go.ke (254-2) 2221291 or 2848000 (254-2) 2243694 5. HON. MINISTER OF JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS COOPERATIVE BANK HOUSE, HAILE SELASSIE AVENUE P.O. BOX 56057 - 00200 NAIROBI, KENYA 6. HON. MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OLD TREASURYBUILDING, HARAMBEE AVENUE P.O. BOX 30551 - 00100 NAIROBI, KENYA 7. HON. ATTORNEY GENERAL SHERIA HOUSE, 2ND FLOOR P.O. BOX 40112 - 00100 NAIROBI, KENYA TEL. 227461 EXT 37419 8. THE HON. CHIEF JUSTICE HIGH COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA LAW COURTS, TAIFA ROAD P.O. BOX 30041 NAIROBI, KENYA 9. HON. CHAIRPERSON PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE & LEGAL AFFAIRS PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS P.O BOX 41842 – 00100 NAIROBI, KENYA 10. HON. CHAIRPERSON PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSTITUTION PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS P.O BOX 41842 – 00100 NAIROBI, KENYA PETITION BACKGROUND Importance of the Judiciary, the Legal Sector and the Place of the Diaspora: The passage and promulgation of the New Constitution lends Kenya a unique and rare opportunity to correct the wrongs of the past, including inequality and injustice, to become once again a leading light among nations of the world. As is widely acknowledged, whereas a nation can thrive with an under-performing executive or legislature, it can hardly survive with a below-expectation judiciary. It is with this importance that we view the ongoing legal and constitutional reforms with great keenness. With over 3 million Kenyans believed to be in foreign lands, remitting on average over US$ 1 billion (KShs 80 billion) a year, their importance to our present and future needs no gainsaying. Hitherto, the Government of Kenya has largely turned a blind eye on them. Yet this is in spite of being a signatory to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (among others), whose Article 25 holds that:- Every citizen shall have the right and opportunity … without unreasonable restrictions: (a) to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; etc. Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights avers that:- Each State Party …. undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, and especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the Covenant by all appropriate means…. We are deeply perturbed not only at the apparent throwing merit out of the window in the ongoing appointments of Committees and Commissions, instead replacing it with deal-making between the two major partners in the Coalition, patronage, dynasty and other known ills that have over the years denied Kenya the opportunity to excel, but also the total exclusion of Diaspora representation in all this. JSC role and importance of Diaspora inclusion in the decision making process: In the recently promulgated constitution of Kenya Articles 171 to 172, the Establishment of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), its functions and the mechanisms of appointments of the commissioners are well explained. Briefly, the Commission should consist of the Chief Justice, who shall be the chairperson, one Supreme Court judge elected by the judges of the Supreme Court; one Court of Appeal judge elected by the judges of the Court of Appeal, one High Court judge and one magistrate, one a woman and one a man, elected by the members of the association of judges and magistrates, the Attorney-General, two advocates, one a woman and one a man, each of whom has at least fifteen years’ experience, elected by the members of the statutory body responsible for the professional regulation of advocates; one person nominated by the Public Service Commission; and one woman and one man to represent the public, not being lawyers, appointed by the President with the approval of the National Assembly. The duties of Commission includes:- promotion and facilitation of the independence and accountability of the judiciary, promotion of transparent administration of justice, recommending persons for appointment as judges, receiving complaints, investigating and removing judicial officers, preparing and implementation of programmes for the continuing education of judges and judicial officers, advising the national government on improving the efficiency of the administration of justice among others. These duties are primary to all Kenyans hence the appointments should net a wide range of talents including the already known reservoir of the highly trained/qualified Kenyans currently fitting the description of a Kenyan Diaspora – or at a minimum, seek their views on the same. The justification of the Kenyan Diaspora consideration is based on the current statistics on the Diaspora constituency and their contribution to running of the economy of our country. With remittances ranking the second highest source of foreign exchange and contributor to growth of our national economy only after tourism we cannot continue to treat them with disdain. Among the Kenyan Diasporas are highly qualified Lawyers, Engineers, Scientists, Medical Doctors and others currently constituting the well documented brain drain phenomenon observed in many African countries. While this constituency has worked very hard in development of the country and has publicly indicated their interest in being contracted/included in the processes that are of high value to Kenya such as JSC committee constitution, it appears the government has some level of lethargy when it comes to their inclusion in the Kenya decision making process. Indeed it saddens many that expatriates who absolutely lack the passion and patriotism for Kenya have been preferred over them. Kenya is losing a battle that every country would love to win if it continues to exclude some of her brightest brains. Many cases abound to learn from in terms of maximizing Diaspora input: India, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, China, UK, just to mention a few. The purpose of this petition therefore is to ask His Excellency the President, the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, the entire Executive Branch of Government, and the Legislature to ensure inclusion of Diaspora Representatives in strategic committees and commissions including JSC for the purposes of (1) Recognizing the Kenyan Diaspora Constituency (2) Utilizing patriotic highly qualified human resources. In so doing, merit and diversity should never be compromised under any circumstance, and replaced instead with mediocrity, political expediency and ethnic bigotry. We seem to forget that we can have no better or worse ‘Ambassadors’ in foreign lands than these Diaspora. PETITION We the undersigned call upon the President of Kenya, Prime Minister of Kenya and the Kenya Legislature to ensure inclusion of Kenyan Diaspora Representatives into the JSC and all other future and existing strategic committees and commissions. We believe this is in the spirit of recognizing the Kenyan Diaspora constituency contributions to Kenya’s development and working towards attracting highly trained patriotic services and investment. LEAD PETITIONERS 1. KENYA GLOBAL UNITY (KGU) 438 EAST 29TH STREET PATERSON NEW JERSEY-USA 07515 2. NEW VISON KENYA (NVK-MAGEUZI) P.O. BOX 333, JUBA, SUDAN OR P.O. BOX 58638-00200, NAIROBI, KENYA 3. KENYANS FOR CHANGE (K4C) 3317 FINLEY RD #257 IRVING, TX 75062 USA OR CORNER HOUSE, NAIROBI, KENYA 1. DIASPORA MOVEMENT OF KENYA (DMK) 33 PILOT HILL DRIVE SAINT PETERS, MISSOURI 63376 USA 5. KENYAN COMMUNITY ABROAD (KCA) P.O. BOX 850431, BRAINTREE, MA 02185, USA SIGNATURES ORGANIZATION AUTHORIZED OFFICER POSITION SIGNATURES 1. Kenya Global Union Mr. Alex P. Momanyi President Attached 2. New Vision Kenya - Mageuzi Dr Shem Ochuodho Co-Convenor Signed 3. New Vision Kenya - Mageuzi Mr. Robert Kimathi Co-Convenor E-Signature 4. Kenyans for Change Mr. Hebron Mosomi Chairperson Attached 5. Diaspora Movement of Kenya Mr. Robinson Gichuhi Global Chair E-Signature 6. Kenya Community Abroad Mr. David Otwoma Member Rep Signed 7. Kenya Community Abroad Ms Margaret Wamuhu Member Rep Signed 8. Kenya Community Abroad Mr. Gichane Muraguri Member Rep Signed 9. Kenyans for Change Mr. Peter Arasa Finance Dir Signed 10 Kenyans for Change Mr. Peter Ndolo Local Rep Signed 11 New Vision Kenya - Mageuzi Mr. Ochieng’ Nyamogo Member Rep In person 12 Kenya Global Union Mr. Evans Machera Member Rep E-Signature 13 New Vision Kenya - Mageuzi Mr. Mike Osio Org Secretary In person COPIES: ALL HON. MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT LAW SOCIETY OF KENYA (LSK) MEDIA HOUSES Dated: 15th December, 2010 ---- end -----