The gender commission and the Office of the Ombudsman should not panic as the proposed merger with the KNCHR will not blur their mandates.
Kagwiria Mbogori, chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said this on Wednesday following sharp differences over the Senate’s fresh bid to collapse them into a single commission.
Top officials of the National Gender and Equality Commission and the Office of Ombudsman are opposed to the merger.
NGEC officials opposed the proposal before Senators on Wednesday, citing "the
real risk of losing strategic clarity and focus on mainstreaming issues of SIGs in case of a merger."
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But Kagwiria Mbogori, chair of the KNCHR said:
"The clarity
of their purposes will be sharpened under one strong commission. In fact, the committee that looked into the formation of the commissions was concerned
about overlap of mandates. This is what the sessions at the Senate should address."
In a phone interview on Wednesday, Mbogori noted that the formation of Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission (KNHREC) will save money and see the delivery of better services.
She added that the move will eliminate contradictions around the level of coordination and overlapping responsibilities.
The chair further said that some of their tasks will be carried out better by the government.
Should the merge take place, KNCHR wants the number of commissioners should be reduced from the current 13 to five, and for the entire team
to work on full-time basis.
"This will not
only enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness but also address value for money considerations for instance remuneration costs," Mbogori said.
The official added:
"There have been concerns of massive job loss but issues of survival must be secondary to what would be best for Kenyans. Global trends support our proposal and there will be value for money."
When she faced the
Senate Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee on Tuesday, Mbogori said the recruitment of commissioners should be suspended until the merger deliberations are concluded.
She noted they want a
carefully crafted and properly resourced institution that will ensure a common approach against inequality and discrimination as well as the protection, promotion and fulfillment of human rights in Kenya.
Among KNCHR's reasons for a merger is keeping complainants from
bouncing from one office to another as the remedies they seek are often covered in
technical terms such as maladministration, human rights, equality and anti-discrimination.
"Women's rights are human rights as much as are the rights of people with disabilities, minorities, the poor, the marginalised [so why] should the country establish commissions for each of the groups?" Mbogori posed.
She added: "Kenyans are dying of hunger in a country facing a depressed economy and high costs of living. While constitutional bodies play vital roles in sustaining Kenya’s democracy, the availability of resources and the best use of taxpayer money must be put into consideration."
Of the proposal, she added: "We are persuaded that it is in the best interest of equity, equality and non-discrimination that gender issues be treated within an inclusive, holistic horizontal framework which also takes account of multiple identities and other intersecting grounds of inequity, inequality and discrimination such as disability, age and ethnicity," she added.
The lobby wants KNHREC to have four divisions: the Human Rights Division; the Equality Division (with units covering gender issues, disability issues, children’s issues, minority groups, and marginalised communities); The Administrative Justice Division; and The Finance and Human Resource Division.
The commission will face the committee once again on Thursday.