Set poll date now, National Assembly Clerk says

What you need to know:

  • Official tells leaders they would need to work together to amend the Constitution and change the election date from August.
  • A Bill to amend the Constitution and change the election date from August to December is yet to go through the second reading.

National Assembly Clerk Justin Bundi has asked the House to take a firm position on the date of the next General Election.

Mr Bundi told the leaders at the annual retreat in Mombasa that they would need to work together to amend the Constitution and change the election date from August.

Proposals for the election date were among the topics to be dealt with at the retreat for the Speaker, Majority and Minority Leaders and all Committee chairmen.

“We need sufficient consultation and sustained cohesiveness even on the most obvious items like the date of the election,” Mr Bundi said at the meeting held at the Serena Beach Hotel.

He said of the four Bills published to amend the Constitution, one lapsed at the end of the last session while the rest are in limbo.

A Bill to amend the Constitution and change the election date from August to December is yet to go through the second reading despite having been adopted by the House Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.

It was sponsored by Ugenya MP David Ochieng.

MPs are likely to support it as the shift of the date would lengthen their term and enable them pass the Budget for that financial year.

The Budget would also include the financing of the election.

Other topics on the agenda are the management of committees, digital migration and decorum in the House.

Speaker Justin Muturi asked the leaders to come up with solutions to manage committees, many of which are beset by constant wrangling.

He said delayed release of reports, fights and claims of impropriety gave the House a bad image, especially because the allegations were made by Members of Parliament and not the public.