{"id":424464,"date":"2011-05-16T02:02:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-16T02:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/16\/kenya-resist-temptation-to-split-human-rights-body\/"},"modified":"2011-05-16T02:02:01","modified_gmt":"2011-05-16T02:02:01","slug":"kenya-resist-temptation-to-split-human-rights-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/16\/kenya-resist-temptation-to-split-human-rights-body\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya: Resist Temptation to Split Human Rights Body"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
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\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawrence Mute<\/p>\n

14 May 2011<\/p>\n

\n

opinion<\/p>\n

Nairobi \u2014 Article 59 of the Constitution of Kenya establishes the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission to facilitate the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.<\/p>\n

It has become increasingly clear that the ministry of Justice desires to split the commission into at least three institutions: one to deal with human rights, the second to deal with gender and another to deal with maladministration.<\/p>\n

Three bills to that effect have been prepared. In fact, more suggestions have been made for the establishment of even more Article 59 commissions, including one on cohesion and integration and another on police oversight.<\/p>\n

Our proposal is that the commission should be made operational as one institution; we have prepared draft legislation to this end.<\/p>\n

Law-making under the Constitution involves all of us Kenyans: the line institution or ministry, the Commission for Implementation of the Constitution, the Executive, the Legislature, but most importantly, the Kenyan public.<\/p>\n

All these players should understand the reasons we are taking the view we have on Article 59.<\/p>\n

Article 59 legislation should ensure effective service delivery to members of the public when they seek redress against human rights violations.<\/p>\n

An individual – say someone with a disability – should know there is a one-stop shop where one will find a remedy against violation.<\/p>\n

Being turned away<\/strong><\/p>\n

One should not have to hobble from one office to another, being turned away at each front office just because one may not understand the distinction between maladministration and human rights.<\/p>\n

Second, is the question of how to manage recommendations and advice on human rights issues without engendering contradiction or fragmentation.<\/p>\n

Human rights are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. The law must not be crafted in a way that will leave agencies with the option to “shop for jurisdiction” – that if they do not get the advice they would rather hear from one institution then they can go to the next one; or that they may plead with one institution to provide advice contrary to that of the first one.<\/p>\n

Third, is the question of comprehensive dispersal of services within Kenya’s devolved structures. Article 6(3) of the Constitution requires national State organs to ensure reasonable access to their services in all parts of the country.<\/p>\n

A unified human rights institution will have the credibility and clout to leverage resources to speedily establish itself in Kenya’s counties.<\/p>\n

Then there is the question of intersectionality of human rights. Article 27 of the Constitution lists 17 grounds on which discrimination is prohibited.<\/p>\n

It is untenable that each of these grounds should be enabled by an independent institution.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, persons with disabilities will demand their own disability rights commission; children will demand their own children’s rights commission; and so too will older persons.<\/p>\n

It is also necessary to address the accountability of constitutional commissions and independent offices.<\/p>\n

Yet, independence and autonomy must be linked clearly into accountability mechanisms. Kenya’s Constitution already establishes 12 constitutional commissions and independent offices.<\/p>\n

Parliament will have its work cut out ensuring that all these institutions are accountable. New institutions, therefore, should not be established without good cause.<\/p>\n

Value for money<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then, is the question of value for money. Our view is that it is value for money if Kenya’s human rights needs are serviced by a unified commission.<\/p>\n

This will entail five commissioners (and their accompanying logistics of remuneration, vehicle and assistant) instead of 25 commissioners.<\/p>\n

Finally, there is the whole question of time. Parliament is hard-pressed to proceed with legislation to implement the Constitution.<\/p>\n

It would be far more practical to legislate once on Article 59 commissions instead of seeking to pass multiple laws.<\/p>\n

Mr Mute a KNCHR commissioner.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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See the original article here:
\nKenya: Resist Temptation to Split Human Rights Body<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawrence Mute 14 May 2011 opinion Nairobi \u2014 Article 59 of the Constitution of Kenya establishes the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission to facilitate the protection and promotion of human rights in the country. It has become increasingly clear that the ministry of Justice desires to split the commission into at least three institutions: one to deal with human rights, the second to deal with gender and another to deal with maladministration. Three bills to that effect have been prepared<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nKenya: Resist Temptation to Split Human Rights Body - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/16\/kenya-resist-temptation-to-split-human-rights-body\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Kenya: Resist Temptation to Split Human Rights Body - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Lawrence Mute 14 May 2011 opinion Nairobi \u2014 Article 59 of the Constitution of Kenya establishes the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission to facilitate the protection and promotion of human rights in the country. 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