Kenya's Parliament Dissolved In Readiness For Elections

October 28, 2002

NAIROBI – Kenya's eighth parliament was dissolved by President Daniel Arap Moi last Friday.

In a terse press statement, the president said the Kenyan parliament stands dissolved to pave way for the members to seek new mandate from the electorate. The president vacates office early next year to pave way for a new and third president of Kenya.

Earlier, the president had hinted that the elections would be held under the current constitution, thus scuttling an on-going constitutional review process. Some 640 delegates were streaming into Nairobi to attend a National Constitutional Conference planned for October 28. The constitutional conference was expected to produce finally agreed constitution for parliamentary legislation.

The dissolution of parliament now means that Kenyans will go to the polls on the old constitution despite popularity of the new draft constitution.

Meanwhile, hundreds of women took to the streets here last Monday (October 21) in a peaceful demonstration to lobby for fair and peaceful elections.

The women from across the country observed that previous general elections had been marred by violence and that it was time to sensitise politicians, voters and society on ways of carrying out polls without violence.

Speaking to AANA during the procession, the coordinator for the Women's Peace Forum, Tecla Wanjala said majority of election violence victims were women. "In most cases, we bear the brunt of clashes. The only picture you can see during that time is one of tearful women, their children and their luggage," she said.

Wanjala pointed out that time had come for women to move away from being victims to participants at negotiating tables to deliberate with those in authority about peaceful solutions to the country's problems.

The Coordinator of African Community Education Network (ACEN), Ms Berewa Jommo was in favour of the draft constitution and said when effected, women would penetrate into key decision-making posts.

"We cannot have a participatory democracy unless women are effectively represented in all structures of governance," she stressed. She was referring to a draft constitution published recently by Constitution of Kenya Review Commission, which had been appointed by the government to review Kenya's current constitution.

The theme of the demonstration was "Listen to the Women, Build the Peace." Jommo said women had powerful visions and constructive ideas for the country, but no one was keen to listen to them.

The women, most of them peace workers, proceeded to the Police headquarters in Nairobi, to present a petition to the Police Commissioner (Mr. Philemon Abongo) but were locked out, forcing them to stick the petition at the gate.

This raised concern among the public as to whether the police were serious about just causes such as spreading messages of peace, especially during the forthcoming elections.

The petition noted inter-alia "As community based peace workers, we have seen the damage to life and property, that can result from police neglecting their calling or misinterpreting their role or misusing their powers."

The trip was to express solidarity with women peace workers in North Eastern Province, an area famous for ethnic clashes and banditry. "In most cases it is the women here who intervene to bring peace among warring communities," said Jommo.

The event was organised by the Women's Peace Forum, operating under the Peace and Development Network of the NGO Council.

All Africa News Agency
Reported By Herman Kasili and Joyce Mulama