APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 99. Standing Orders have been revised to guide how the Parliament operates in compliance with the new constitution, including processes that make the body more accountable and effective. Members of both houses have undergone multiple training and educational events on the Constitution, important bills and various matters of national interest. 3.4.1.3 Independent Commissions 100. The principle of separation of powers has been strengthened by the establishment of independent commissions created by Chapter 15 of the Constitution and various acts of Parliament. The function of independent commissions and offices is to protect the sovereignty of the people, secure the observance by all state organs of democratic values and principles, and promote the rule of law. The Commissions are subjected only to the Constitution and the law, although they are required to submit reports annually to the President and to Parliament - reports that are to be published and publicized. 3.4.2 Findings of the Review Mission 3.4.2.1 Progress made since 2006 Review 101. The findings of the CRM broadly agree with those of the CSAR. In certain respect, new boundaries were set by the 2010 Constitution in terms of the principle and practice of separation of powers within and among the executive, legislature and the judiciary at the national level and between the executive and the legislative branch in the newly created County Government system at the local level in Kenya’s constitutional history, with the certainties of old giving way to uncertainties of the new order – no thanks to pressures and lack of clarity as the new boundaries were being worked out. 102. For instance, before the 2010 Constitution, there was overlap between the executive and legislative branches at the national level. Heads of Departments (Ministries) under the executive were drawn from the Parliament while Parliament was often perceived then as being under the Office of the President. With the 2010 Constitution, such dual membership was cancelled. On the other hand, the 2010 Constitution created a bicameral legislature comprising the National assembly and Senate, triggering what a leading member of the National Assembly described as sibling rivalry in terms of jurisdictional partitioning within Parliament. 103. In similar vein, there have been attempts by the National Assembly to dabble into matters of interpretation of the legal order while, at the newly inaugurated County Governments, the executive and the county assemblies also seek to iron out differences in terms of separation of powers. In addition, the system of independent commissions under the new constitution was intended to provide some counterweight to the overbearing powers of the executive branch of government at the national level and to develop a consciousness of limits and shared responsibilities between the executive and the legislature for such powerful bodies. | 84 |