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A withering attack on President Kibaki's handling of the Constitution review has come from the Law Society of Kenya.
The Head of State had lost his grip and failed to give the country direction, said its chairman, Mr Ahmednasir Abdullahi.
The Government lacked a vision for the country and ruled on the basis of what would happen in the next two weeks or less.
"The greatest weakness of the Kibaki administration, as shown by his silence on the review, is that the President and his advisers don't have a strategic and tactical roadmap for the country," explained Mr Abdullahi.
And he went on: "The average Kenyan gets the sad and sinking feeling that he is ruled on ad hoc plans that have a projected application or lifespan of probably a fortnight or less."
The LSK chief asked the President to rise and give the Constitution review the leadership it critically needed.
"This means that for any country to realise a Constitution either during peace or war time, the country must have a leader who in the eyes of the masses appears as the symbolic representative of the people's yearning for constitutional redefinition of the country," he said.
Mr Abdullahi's harsh criticism came during a meeting called to discuss the review, by the Centre for International Centre for Constitutional Research and Governance.
He told President Kibaki frankly that he should take a more active role in the review and other state duties.
"President Kibaki, due to his legendary laid back style of governance, has a 'lack of grip' problem.
"This is shown by a crippling inability to shepherd his Cabinet and Government in his direction so that he can lead the country authoritatively on issues like the constitutional review," he said in a speech entitled A Call to National Duty.
Mr Abdullahi accused the President of failing to theorise and explain his vision of the Constitution to Kenyans, as his opponents had done.
As LSK boss, he joined the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee, Mr William Ruto, and the Katiba Watch lobby group in calling for the dissolution of of the review commission.
Their views were shared by Dr Gibson Kamau Kuria and lawyer Peter Onalo.
However, Kabete MP Paul Muite asked for restraint, saying the commission's role was critical.
Mr Muite and Mr Abdullahi, however, agreed that Parliament had no role in making a Constitution for Kenya.
But Mr Muite defended the President, saying he could not deliver a Constitution alone.
"We are being unfair to him. We cannot cede the right to make a Constitution to the President however competent he is," he added.
The LSK boss described some of the commissioners as a group of people "who believed in nothing" and were "mercenaries for hire".
The three institutions of the presidency, Parliament and the commission, according to Mr Abdullahi, were responsible for the review stalemate.
Mr Abdullahi also said ministers who disagreed with their boss should either toe his line or quit. The failure to insist on either action was a sign of weakness.
"Their refusal to resign and the inability of the President to dismiss them underscores a fundamental weakness of the governance structures in the country," he said.
He reminded the President that the review could not be addressed through "platitude and general promises".
Neither could his "stoic silence" help quell the growing noise on the review.
"It needs leaders who have reflective influence on issues and who can take decisive steps to address them to the satisfaction of the subject," Mr Abdullahi added.
Paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill who unwaveringly declared his role during war, the LSK boss told the President: "Mr President, your subjects have a lion's heart; you have the luck to be their President � give the nation the roar."
Mr Abdullahi said despite views from opponents within Mr Kibaki's Government and the Opposition, the President had remained silent.
"Until the public hears his views on the way forward the country will continue to be engulfed in the current constitutional whirlpool," Mr Abdullahi added.
And he said: "The President ought to know that history is the biography of great men who addressed great issues and rose to challenging occasions."
He said the best leaders prepared a Constitution concept that was attractive and revolutionary which they could sell to the people through "a combination of charisma and vision".
He listed such leaders as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Charles de Gaulle and George Washington.
"If a leader doesn't have this constitutional plan or fails to articulate to his people his constitutional vision for the country, then it is very difficult for that country to realise a new Constitution," he commented.
Then he continued: "The country must have a leader who in the eyes of the masses appears as the symbolic representative of the people's yearning for constitutional redefinition of the country."
The President, said the LSK boss and Mr Muite, should not assent to the controversial Constitutional of Kenya Review Amendment Bill because it was itself unconstitutional.
Instead, Mr Abdullahi asked him to appoint a five-man task force to work on the commission's first draft, and not the Bomas draft.
He said a group of commissioners who were sabotaging the review during Kanu days had now rented their services to Narc and were attempting the same feat.
They could not even "deliver a miracle baby in the form of a Constitution."
"CKRC commissioners no longer have the credibility or the public confidence to undertake any more facet of the review . . . they lack the legitimacy," Mr Abdullahi claimed.
Mr Ruto said the commission had outlived its usefulness and was wasting public funds.
Mr Abdullahi who is also the chairman of Kenya Anti-Corruption Advisory Commission said Parliament had no respect for court decisions and therefore could not abrogate to itself the role of writing the Constitution.
It was illegal for the House to try to amend the review Act as it had demonstrated that it loved lawlessness and was split on party and tribal lines.
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