Houses seek more time on Bills

Parliament leaders were on Sunday racing against time to convince MPs to agree to extend the deadline to pass key constitutional Bills in a bid to save the two Houses from being disbanded.

The leaders need to find at least 233 MPs to vote for a motion to extend the deadline by 12 months so that the lawmakers have enough time to pass the essential laws.

The motion will be moved by Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee chairman Njoroge Baiya on Monday afternoon, and for it to succeed, it must be voted for by at least two-thirds of the 349 MPs.

The Constitution had given them five years from the promulgation of the supreme law on August 27, 2010. The period ends this Thursday. However, the supreme law allows them to extend it by at most 12 months.

On Sunday, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale and his Senate counterpart Kithure Kindiki said they needed the 12 months to enable them to come up with standard laws.

They said the extra time was needed to fine-tune 26 proposed laws to ensure they capture the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

NOT ENTIRELY TO BLAME

Mr Duale exuded confidence that they would raise the requisite numbers to ensure the success of the motion though the Opposition last week threatened to vote against it.

“We will raise the numbers. We have no choice. Members have realised that they are the ones who will lose. The House leaders met on Thursday and we agreed to hold a kamukunji on Tuesday morning to rally members to turn up in large numbers,” Mr Duale told the Nation.

Prof Kindiki said Parliament was not entirely to blame considering that the procedure of making laws had been widened to include the public, in addition to making it compulsory for consensus between the two Houses.

“You cannot attribute the problem to either House. The problem is the protracted procedure in the making of the laws. There has to be consensus between the two Houses, and also public participation. All these require adequate time,” he said.

The meeting on Thursday brought together House leaders from both sides of the political divide and it was agreed that they marshal their members.

Although ODM members had indicated they would veto the plan, they have since changed their position and are expected to vote in favour of the motion.

“The Opposition has also realised that its MPs and senators will be the biggest losers if the deadline is not met. That is why they have changed tune,” said Mr Duale.

CANNOT RUSH

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr absolved the Senate over the failure to meet the deadline, saying the Bills were supposed to originate from the National Assembly.

“Most of the laws are being originated by the National Assembly and we have a (limited) role to play until they are forwarded to the Senate. We are still waiting for the proposed laws,” he said on Sunday.

The draft laws that need to be passed include the Community Land Bill, the Agreements on Natural Resources Bill, the National Culture Bill, and the Minimum and Maximum Holding Land Acreage Bill. Other Bills that must be developed and passed are those touching on the gender rule, the family and marginalised groups.

“You cannot rush the procedures unless you want to make poor laws. We need an extension of one year as provided in the Constitution. There should be no drama about it because the drafters of the Constitution envisaged such a scenario,” said Prof Kindiki.