Parties set to nominate Revenue team members

Political parties represented in Parliament are from next week expected to start nominating representatives to a crucial commission to be set up under the new Constitution.

Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Abdikadir Mohammed said Thursday the team would, however, need to come up with ways to speed up the nomination and vetting of the members of the Commission on Revenue Allocation.

Under the timelines set in the Constitution, the Commission on Revenue Allocation has to be set up by November 27, only three weeks away.

“We were not comfortable with the pace of the formation of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (and that’s why we called this meeting),” said Mr Mohammed.

"We want to look at the best way and the fastest way to get nominations and vetting done before the 26th and 27th of this month,” he added.

MPs will also be attending a retreat at the Kenya Institute of Administration on Monday and Tuesday next week to strategise on how to meet the constitution implementation deadlines.

Speakers at the two-day meeting include Attorney General Amos Wako, former Justice minister Martha Karua, Mr Mohammed, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo, Mr Kenyatta and Local Government minister Musalia Mudavadi. 

Mr Mohammed made the remarks after a meeting with the Finance and Justice ministries, the State Law Office and the Kenya Law Review Commission at County Hall.

Mr Abdikadir said the committee is happy at the pace at which the Commission on the Implementation of the Commission and the Judicial Service Commission are being set up.

He said the committee was keen to ensure that there are no delays due to funding and had received assurances from Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta that this would not be the case.

Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo, who is the committee’s vice chairman, said a solid plan for the formation of the crucial committee would be arrived at on Monday after the meeting with the whole House.

“We are very keen that timelines are met and we don’t cause a constitutional crisis. Parliament can be dissolved if we are seen to be slow in implementing the new law and we don’t want that to happen,” said Ms Odhiambo.

She said the retreat would involve technical input as well as informal consultations amongst the MPs on the implementation process.

The Commission on Revenue Allocation is an eight-member body charged with ensuring the equitable distribution of revenue raised by the national government between the national and county governments and among the county governments.

It will be headed by a chairman nominated by the president and approved by the National Assembly.

Parties represented in the National Assembly will be required to nominate two people according to their proportion, while the Senate will be required to nominate five people as per their proportion.

The Parliamentary Committee’s headache stems from the fact that the Senate is yet to be established and the MPs would need to agree on the formula to use in the nominations.   

The Cabinet has already okayed the release of Sh3.5 billion over the next eight months to be used in the implementation of the new set of laws.