Bid to table nominees' report fails

Attempts by some MPs to push for the tabling of a report by a House Committee failed after deputy Speaker Farah Maaalim ruled the move out of order.

Mr Maalim said he had received the report minutes before the House sat for its afternoon session and could therefore not allow the report to be tabled.

Citing Standing Orders, Mr Maalim reminded the MPs that as lawmakers, they should not participate in breaking the law. He said, according to the Orders, the Speaker's office should receive documents at least two hours before any House sitting.

“You cannot table the report because the rules say it must be before the Chair at least two hours before it is tabled. I have sat with the Speaker waiting for this report and we only got it one minute ago,” Mr Maalim ruled.

The chairman of the the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Ababu Namwamba rhad risen to table the report on the floor a but was ruled out of order by Mr Maalim who said the committee had failed to comply with the rules of the House.

The chairman was supposed to present the report to the Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende for signing, at least two hours before he tabled it in the House.

The deputy speaker said he had been sitting with the Speaker in the latter’s office waiting for the committee to bring its report for signing but this was never done until the afternoon session commenced.

Nominated MP Ms Amina Abdalla, who is a member of the committee, also rose to table a separate report but was also ruled out of order.

Later, she sought direction from the Chair on how the House should handle dissenting views in a committee representing the voice of the minority.

She sought to know how a minority opinion can be represented, whether through a separate report or otherwise.

“We have a lot of dissent in committees and we need guidance on how we should proceed,” the MP said.

“We need to deal with them because we are going to have many reports with dissenting voices,” she stated.

Assistant minister Mwangi Kiunjuri expressed concern at the failure by the committee to table its report inspite of the Speaker’s direction.

“When the Speaker ruled yesterday, he was very clear that this report  be tabled in any form, and that is what we are seeking to clarify whether it could also mean he could even receive the report in his office.

"We are wondering whether there is an intention to derail this debate,” he asked citing the committee’s failure to comply and reports that it was incomplete and the House was planning to adjourn this afternoon.

Mr Maalim, however, maintained that the committee did not conform to the rules of Parliament.

“The chair is very categorical, the precedence is there and the rules are there. The Hon members of the committee did not conform to the requirements of the rule, under the circumstances rules of the house…,” he said.

Lugari MP Mr Cyrus Jirongo was thrown out of the House after he asked in a low voice without rising on his feet what the Speaker was doing about the situation.

Belgut MP Mr Charles Keter argued that reports are to be tabled in the House and not taken to the Speaker and was ruled out of order with the deputy Speaker stating that he has served in Parliament long enough to understand the rules.

“You are thoroughly out of order Hon Keter, you have failed to understand the basic rules of the House even though you are serving your second term and have served in Government,” the Deputy Speaker said.

The committee was charged with looking into the nominations of Mr Justice Alnashir Visram to be Chief Justice, Prof Githu Muigai (Attorney General) and lawyer Kioko Kilukumi (Director of Public Prosecutions).

Mr Marende had on Tuesday ordered the committee to submit its report to the House before 12.30 pm Wednesday whether it was complete or not.

“You have to table the report one way or the other, without fail, even if its one sentence; even if it’s a minority or a majority report or both; or even an interim report. We cannot keep the whole country, indeed the whole House waiting eternally,” Mr Marende had ordered the committee led by Budalang'i MP Ababu Namwamba on Tuesday.