CIC in court bid over signing of revenue bill
The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution will go to court to challenge the signing of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill into law.
The commission said there were provisions in the new law that went against the Constitution and thus the need to repeal it or amend the contentious sections.
CIC chairman Charles Nyachae said President Kenyatta, who signed the Bill into law on Friday, failed to consider the commission’s advice that pointed out the “unconstitutional sections” hence their legal action.
“We wrote to the President asking him not to assent to the Bill because we noted a number of issues that needed to be addressed first but our input was not considered at all,” the chairman said on Monday when he launched a 100-day Rapid Results Initiative on the implementation of the Constitution at the University of Nairobi.
Following Mr Kenyatta’s action, the commission tasked with ensuring full implementation of the Law, said it would seek legal redress in court.
“We are saying the law as is violates the Constitution. We will be forced to seek redress in court to resolve this. At the end of the day a solution has to be found,” he said, also revealing they would also talk to MPs to see if they can amend the Act.
A day before the President signed the Bill into law, Mr Nyachae wrote to him, Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro and his National Assembly counterpart Justin Muturi asking that the Bill be returned to the National Assembly to clear it of the unconstitutional provisions.
The commission was concerned about a clause in the Bill that required the national government to top up from its share of revenue the cost of devolved functions in situations where the allocation to a county was not commensurate with the cost of devolved functions.
