Dear Kictanet Members, Tomorrow is Day 6 and I welcome you to continue the debate that started on Friday (Day 5) as outlined in the original email below. Here is a summary from the contributions so far. Grace Githaiga gave a very lengthy contribution on various sections, in Section 7 (6) she said it is not clear whether Commissioners will be in full employment but added that there has to be some security of tenure to guard against political influence. In Section 8(b) and (e) –on which involve gross misconduct and incompetence – she suggests it should be dealt with through a 2/3 vote by the Commissioners. And in Section 10 on Remuneration she suggests it should not be left solely to the Minister (aka Cabinet Secretary) but to be pegged to existing Commissions. Muriuki’s concern with Section 11 is the need for a clause to enable interested parties to access Minutes of Commission meetings. However, Matunda wonders whether this be covered under "access to information" 'principle' in the new constitution. Muriuki further emphasized that Section 11(3) should be clear that a quorum should constitute at least 5 Commissioners and meetings must be held on Kenyan soil. In addition, the Bill should be clear on the minimum number of meetings per annum. He also commented on Section 12 (1) (b) basically arguing that a Commissioner does not have control over what his/her family members do. He further emphasized that it is contradictory especially considering Section 6(1) where are person cannot be a Commissioner if: e) a family member has a direct or indirect financial interest in the sector; f) business partner or associate holds an office in or with, or is employed by, any person or bosy, whether corporate or unincorporated, which has an interest contemplated in paragraph (f) Muriuki, I SO AGREE with you that Section 12(1)b and Section 6(1) e and f….especially f need serious rethinking and rewriting to communicate effectively. The key here is ...”less can mean more”. May the debate on from Day 5 (Friday) continue tomorrow Day 6....…. Best Wishes, Nyaki From:Kicatnet Sent: 18 February 2011 05:10 Dear Listers, DAY 5-6: The discussion today will flow over to Monday 21 Feb. evening. Feel free to write over the weekend as well. It is drawn from p. 7-8 of the Draft Bill: SECTION 7: TERMS OF OFFICE SECTION 8: REMOVAL FROM OFFICE SECTION 10: REMUNERATION SECTION 12: CONFLICT OF INTEREST [Kindly show which Section you are discussing, it will help with feedback and input to the main Report] SECTION 7: This includes standard issues like length of term for the Chair which is 5 years and 4 years for the Commissioners. 7(4) and (5): The point here is that a Commissioner can remain in Office at the expiry of his/her term until a successor appointed but this should not exceed 45 days. The same Commissioner can be re-appointed for one more term. (6) The point in this sub-section is that a Commissioner serves in full-time capacity and not allowed to have any other employment Question: What do you think particularly of Section 7 (6) above? Your response to this has implications for 8 (1) g on removal from the office you break this clause. SECTION 8: There are 9 reasons for removal from Office and most are standard but I would like you to discuss the following: 8. (1) (e). Incompetence; Question: Do you think this should be qualified further as it can be subject to abuse when so general? Or is it self-explanatory? What about 8. (1)(h): A commissioner may be removed from office on account of failure to disclose an interest in terms of section 12(2)(a) or voting or attendance at, or participation in, proceedings of the Commission while having an interest contemplated in section 12 (1); Question: Does this make perfect sense? Do you think SECTION 12 on CONFLICT OF INTEREST should come earlier eg. after No. 7 TERMS OF OFFICE and before NO. 8 REMOVAL FROM OFFICE? or should it be before No. 8.? or is it in the right place? SECTION 10: REMUNERATION: Basically this has been left to the Minister with concurrence of the Minister of Finance. Question: Your thoughts on this? SECTION 12: While I am in this section, can I comment that the Table of Contents MUST synchronize with the main titles in the main body. For example the TOC reads ‘Conflicting Interests’ and the main body is ‘Conflict of Interest’….those can debatably be two different issues. So we will discuss ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’: This includes the standard issues but section needs some editing; however there are two issues that may be open in discussion: 12(1)(a) A Commissioner may not vote at, attend or in any the manner participate in, any meeting or hearing of the Commission, nor be present at the place were the meeting is held if -- (b) in relation to an application relating to a licence, he or she or his or her family member is a director, member or business partner or associate of or has an interest in the business of the applicant or of any person who made representation in relation to the application; or……etc Question: Imagine that this was a determining question in an Exam, asking you to simplify this by first explaining what it means? Would you get the pass mark? Please try. Sincerely, Nyaki