Extension of Bills deadline ruled out

PHOEBE OKALL | NATION
Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo (left) and Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee chairman Abdikadir Mohammed at a news conference in Nairobi on August 23, 2011.

What you need to know:

  • Minister and CIOC maintain that seeking more time will be an admission of failure by the House

The extension of this Friday’s deadline by which at least 12 Bills must be passed has been ruled out by two of the key people in the roll-out of the Constitution.

Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo and the chairman of Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC), Mr Abdikadir Mohammed spoke on Tuesday moments before they rallied Parliament to sit for longer hours.

The two, together with the chairman of the House Committee on Administration and National Security, Mr Fred Kapondi, disclosed that they had removed three Bills from the implementation schedule because they were not urgent.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority Bill and the National Police Service Commission Bill have been dropped together with the Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service Bill as MPs seek to limit the pressure on them to finish debate by August 26.

The three were addressing journalists at Parliament’s Media Centre.

The top guns in the roll-out of Kenya’s year-old Constitution said that if Parliament went for the extension, it would be an admission of failure on its part as a key cog in the implementation.

“We will definitely meet resistance in the House,” said Mr Mohammed, moments before he met hostile backbenchers, who said Parliament would not be used to rubber-stamp Bills.

“It might not be the National Assembly’s fault that the Bills arrived late; but it will be the National Assembly’s fault if the Bills are not passed within the deadlines. An extension of the deadline will be an admission of failure on the part of Parliament,” added the CIOC chairman.

Mr Kilonzo said that for MPs to allow deadlines to be altered, it would be “a serious weakness that the House cannot afford to entertain”.

He reminded MPs that it was not easy for them to push through an extension of the one-year ultimatum.

“To seek an extension will require two thirds majority in Parliament and a certificate from the Speaker of the National Assembly declaring exceptional circumstances,” said Mr Kilonzo.

“Even if you extend the time for an hour and do not enact laws for elections, which everyone is asking for next year, it will be akin to cutting your nose so that your face can feel pain.”

Under article 261 of the Constitution, Parliament is obliged to enact any legislation required “to govern a particular matter within the period specified in the Fifth Schedule” since the Constitution came into place on August 27, last year.