Kenyan MPs return to face crisis of delayed Bills

Kenyan MPs are considering lumping together reform Bills and passing them at a go as Parliament resumes sittings on Tuesday after a month’s break.

The Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee has called an emergency session of ministries involved in implementation on Tuesday morning to discuss ways of enacting laws faster.

National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende is confident that Parliament will pass the most urgent laws when it meets on Tuesday afternoon.

“This Parliament has always been up to the task. In fact before we went on recess, we passed all the Bills and were even asking for more.

“The delay in the implementation of any Bill has never been Parliament’s. The Executive brings the Bills,” Mr Marende said.

The Speaker’s position differs from that of COIC, which complained that no Bill was ready for tabling in Parliament and warned that it would sideline ministries obstructing the implementation of the new Constitution in order to beat the August 27 deadline for the passage of 11 crucial laws.

“The committee is disappointed that as I speak to you now, we do not have any Bill ready for tabling in Parliament tomorrow (Tuesday),” COIC chairman Abdikadir Mohammed said.

“There is a disconnect somewhere. The committee will not hesitate to take over these Bills and push the process forward wherever it finds obstacles to the process.

“We will leave them to fight political turf wars because tough times call for tough action sometimes,” he said.

Ready for debate

Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo, however, confirmed that four Bills were ready for debate in Parliament.

They include the Political Parties Bill 2011, the Commission on Administrative Justice Bill 2011, the National Gender and Equality Commission Bill 2011 and the Kenya National Human Rights Commission Bill 2011, which the Cabinet approved last week.

“All these are ready; they have been published since Friday. Tell them I will overwhelm them with business when we resume tomorrow (Tuesday),” Mr Kilonzo said.

Mr Abdikadir said his committee had summoned the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), the Attorney General’s Office and the ministries of Justice and Local Government to discuss challenges facing enactment of crucial laws within the strict timelines set out in the Constitution.

“As we went for the recess, we were hoping that we would return with some Bills ready for debate but as we speak, no Bill has been published and that is why we are calling tomorrow’s (Tuesday's) meeting to find out where the problem is,” he added.

On Monday, CIC spokesperson Mildred Ngesa confirmed that the Commission had also processed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Bill 2011, the Commission on Revenue Allocation Bill 2011 and the Ombudsman Commission Bill 2011, which must, however, go through other stakeholders such as the Cabinet before they reach Parliament.

The House has only 36 days to pass up to 11 crucial laws to implement the new law, although it can pass a resolution supported by a two-third majority to seek a one year extension of the time required.

Mr Abdikadir said his team would not push for an extension because there was enough time.

“Most of the work has been done. I’m convinced that Parliament can pass all the Bills requiring to be passed by August 26...The work remaining is surmountable,” he said.

He said his committee had invited the Local Government ministry to today’s meeting because it was the one responsible for all the laws on devolution.

The Ministry of Justice had also been invited because it was the one coordinating the implementation, he added.

The Task Force handling the laws on devolution has already handed over six Bills to implement the devolved system of government to Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi while another task force handed over five laws on citizenship to Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’.

Tuesday’s meeting comes amid buck-passing between the various stakeholders over delays.

Last week, Mr Kilonzo wrote to both the CIC, headed by Mr Charles Nyachae, and the AG’s office asking them to surrender to his office the 11 urgent Bills so that he could forward them to the Cabinet for approval.

But CIC said it would concentrate on the laws that have an August 26 deadline first.

Mr Kilonzo and Mr Wako turned their guns on the Government Printer, accusing him of failing to print the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Act two weeks after the President assented to it.

The Government Printer Andrew Rukaria told Nation on Monday that the IEBC Act had been printed and copies sent to the relevant stakeholders, including the AG.

“I don’t know what they are talking about. The AG has his copy, ask him,” Mr Rukaria said.

With the publication of the Act, the President and the Prime Minister now have 14 days to pick a seven-member panel that will oversee the appointment of commissioners to the new electoral body.

The panel must, however, be approved by Parliament.