Marende: Review of new House rules on course

House Speaker Kenneth Marende and the Clerk of the National Assembly Patrick Gichohi said Friday that the ongoing review of House rules due to its expanded mandate under the Constitution will be concluded in September.

The two bosses at the helm of the National Assembly spoke at a meeting with the civil society on the new House rules held at Sopa Lodge, Naivasha to review a draft of the new rules for the National Assembly and the Senate.

They said the new House rules to govern the 418-member, two-chamber Parliament have to be ready in September, after review and approval by the current House.

“The National Assembly is not lying down waiting to be run down by the train of the future,” said Mr Marende.

The Speaker said the new rules will cater for the additional constitutional roles of the House, including vetting of nominees, impeachment of the President, removal of public appointees, approval of declaration of war, and the budget-making process.

The National Assembly has been dealing with the traditional roles of representation, oversight and legislation, but with the shift from a hybrid system where the Executive was merged with the Legislature,  to a system that is strictly presidential –with a distinct Legislature and distinct Executive—the House has to “make a radical shift”.

“In my acceptance speech after my election as the Speaker in January 15, 2008, I said that I will take Parliament to the people no matter what the cost. As we near the sunset of the 10th Parliament, I can say that the mystery around Parliament has been disabused. It has been demystified. It’s been put out there for you to dissect, understand and examine,” said Mr Marende.

Dr Ekuru Aukot, the former director of the former Committee of Experts –the team that drafted the new Constitution—said the new rules ought to capture the aspirations of Kenyans as enshrined in the mother law.

“Kenya has been re-ordered, and all institutions are expected to have taken a shift in the way they operate,” said Dr Aukot.

“Kenyans have expectations, so Parliament must give Kenyans the confidence that it is one they can resonate with.”

Prof Migai Akech, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said the rules will also check the lobbying.

The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, the Federation of Women Lawyers (Kenya), the International Commission of Jurists, Article 19, TISA Kenya, are among the organisations that have been invited to engage the House bureaucrats in the drafting of the new House rules.

“You will have your say and give your input, an exercise which is very very important, but at the end of the day, Parliament will have its way,” said Mr Marende.

The Speakers Panel and the powerful Procedure and House rules committee have already gone through the draft rules, and will have a second look after the input of the civil society, which has traditionally made a meal of the failings of the House.