The National Council of Churches Kenya (NCCK) has denounced the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report and called on the members of parliament not to implement its recommendations, terming it as a selfish report by the political bigwigs.
The say that the NADCO committee was established as a platform to negotiate political compromise to a crisis the politicians had conjured up in their perpetual struggle for power and money.
The clergies’ major concern for Kenyans that the National Assembly is seeking to effect the recommendations of the Committee, especially a massive review of the Constitution, without a recourse to the people of Kenya.
“We wish to remind all Kenyans that between 1963 and 2010, the Constitution of Kenya was amended 39 times. The result of those amendments was the injustice and political space suppression that Kenyans fought bitterly to reverse, leading to the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010,” the stated in a press conference in Nairobi.
They add that this is a major red flag for Kenyans that The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2023 drafted as part of the NADCO report is seeking to amend 25 articles and add 6 new ones in the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
“Kenyans shed their blood to demand that review of the 1963 must be people driven. The same was emphasized by the Supreme Court of Kenya when the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill was declared unconstitutional. Why is the Parliament choosing to follow the same route once again? It is our firm position that any debate about amending the Constitution in Parliament must be preceded by robust discourse by the citizens of Kenya,” they further noted.