State seeks to retain DCs under new laws

The government has drafted laws that seek to retain the Provincial Administration running parallel to the structures established under county governments.A draft of The National Administration and Coordination Bill is at the Attorney-General’s chambers, ready to be taken to the cabinet for consideration.Curiously, neither the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) nor the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) — two key organs in the drafting and refining of Bills — was involved in writing or evaluating the proposed law.Contacted by the Nation on Tuesday, CIC chairman Charles Nyachae said he had not seen the Bill: “As a commission, we have not seen the draft Bill. We have not even heard of it. Maybe it is yet to reach us from the office of the Attorney-General.”Three Law Reform Commission officials said they were not involved in preparing the Bill.“As a law reform commission and as a constitutionally recognised organ in drafting of laws, we were not involved but we are aware of such a Bill,” said one of the officials, who cannot be quoted because he is not allowed to speak on behalf of the Commission.The Nation obtained a copy of the Bill, which is said to have been crafted by officials from the Office of the President who have been insisting that the provincial administrators will be retained under the new constitution.A source at the OP said that the Bill was an outcome of a committee which went around the country to collect views of stakeholders on how the Provincial Administration should be restructured.Law and security experts were then brought in to draft the Bill which “ was to be distributed to the Nyachae team and others after our work is over.More info click here