AFRICA/KENYA - Kenyan Bishops examine new Constitution draft: “The current Constitution should be amended because it is not serving the common good.”

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “The current Constitution should be amended because it is not serving the common good and thus, a new one urgently needs to be presented,” says a note from the Bishops of Kenya who met in Nairobi on November 10-11, 2009, to examine the text of the new Constitution, which was recently presented in Parliament. The Bishops met with several Constitutional experts, to better understand the details of the draft's contents.
According to the Kenyan Bishops' Conference, the current Constitution impedes honesty and responsibility on the part of politicians.
The text of the new Constitution calls for a President with limited powers, a Prime Minister with ample power, a cabinet with 50% non-Parliamentary Ministers and and a two-house Parliament. It also calls for a strong decentralization, with the establishment of a governmental system on three levels (county, region, and nation), each independent from the other, with their own budgets.
The Constitution draft maintains the Islamic Courts in their present form. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 24/11/2009)