Scheme hatched to give some muscle to Senate

Fears over renewed plans to convince Kenyans to do away with the Senate have prompted senators to jointly push for a more powerful House, their party positions notwithstanding.

The lawmakers agreed to adopt a bipartisan approach to change the Constitution to enhance the powers of the Senate. They want a strong House. The current is widely viewed by Kenyans as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The senators also agreed during the Thursday meeting to refrain from politicising the matter during party rallies. This would guard against dividing them on party lines and watering down the idea.

The chairman of the Senate select committee to look into amending the Constitution, Mr Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo-Marakwet, URP), said a report would be tabled in the Senate.

“The committee was consulting senators on what they want captured in the report,” Mr Murkomen said.

OKOA KENYA

But some senators, particularly those affiliated to the ruling coalition, called for caution, lest their intentions be viewed as support for the opposition’s Okoa Kenya referendum calls.

The meeting followed a spate of complaints from senators that the law does not safeguard the Senate as custodian of county interests.

Even as the senators closed the doors behind them at Sarova Stanley Hotel, Nairobi, Suba MP John Mbadi (ODM) said it was better to change the Constitution to upgrade their mandate instead of lamenting they had been short-changed by MPs.

“The Constitution should be changed to make the Senate the Upper House,” Mr Mbadi, who is the ODM chairman, said.

The National Assembly can only refer to the Senate Bills that deal with county functions such as agriculture and health.

“They seem to think that all Bills should pass through the Senate, yet the Constitution has reservations on that,” he said.

The senators’ seats have become less attractive, with some no longer interested in defending their posts in the 2017 General Election.

Some argue that it does not make sense for an MP elected in a constituency to exercise excessive powers compared with a senator who traverses a whole county to win votes.

ORIGINAL INTENTIONS

Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar Hassan (Wiper) blames MPs for the persistent differences between the two Houses. He said the MPs have ignored the original intentions that crafters of the Constitution had in mind.

“I doubt they will support the Senate. But if the Executive is sincere about devolution, they will support the amendments,” Mr Omar, who is the Wiper party secretary-general, said.

The senators have tactfully roped in the county assemblies, and are banking on them to rally their supporters to back the constitutional amendments in a referendum.