Raila urges Kibaki to reject Bill
Prime Minister Raila Odinga has urged his coalition partner President Kibaki to reject a Bill that allows for party hopping and nomination of presidential losers to Parliament.
Mr Odinga asked President Kibaki to send the controversial Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2012 back to Parliament for more deliberation.
The controversial amendments, passed last week by Parliament, are contained in an omnibus legislation containing amendments to both the Political Parties Act and the Election Act 2012.
The Bill, if assented by the President, will allow sitting MPs to change parties ahead of the next general election. It will also allow political parties to nominate their presidential losers to the Senate and Parliament.
The Bill also gives sitting MPs and Councillors a grace period of five years within which they must acquire the mandatory university degree. Their rivals however are not exempted from this requirement.
Prime Minister Odinga made the remarks in Nairobi on Monday after returning from a visit to Russia.
Earlier in the day, a lobby group allied to him had filed a petition in the Constitutional court to challenge the constitutionality of the amendments.
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