Senate differs with National Assembly, wants CIC’s term extended
The Senate in session. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
What you need to know:
- The commission’s five-year term runs out at the end of this December, as per the Constitution, although there is a provision for an extension.
Mr Wako moved the Motion to adopt the report, saying the commission had informed them of pending work that still required their attention.
Although some of the senators were against the extension, they were not able to marshal enough numbers to defeat the motion.
Senators want the term of the Commission of the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) extended by two years to enable the body to monitor Bills that are pending before the National Assembly.
The lawmakers have differed with a recommendation by the National Assembly’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee that wants the commission to be disbanded end of this month.
The commission’s five-year term runs out at the end of this December, as per the Constitution, although there is a provision for an extension.
However, the Senate on Thursday passed a report by the House’s Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee that recommended the extension of the lifespan of the constitutional body, putting the House at loggerheads with their counterparts in the assembly.
The House team, chaired by Busia Senator Amos Wako (ODM), said the body led by Mr Charles Nyachae deserved more time in order to ensure the Bills that remain are passed in accordance with the Constitution.
“The mandate of CIC should be extended by a term not less than two years to ensure that he Constitution is fully implemented,” said the committee.
The Constitution gives the National Assembly the sole prerogative to extend its term but upon the determination by both houses of Parliament whether the supreme law has been fully implemented.
The team said senators had to be involved in deciding whether the supreme law had been fully implemented before a decision to extend its term or not is made by MPs.
FULLY IMPLEMENTED
“Both Houses have to make a determination of whether the Constitution has been fully implemented, which should be done based on a report by both Houses,” said the team.
Mr Wako moved the Motion to adopt the report, saying the commission had informed them of pending work that still required their attention.
“There are several Bills that are yet to be passed. The National Assembly extended the time to pass those Bill. It is only right to also extend CIC’s time so that it is able to supervise the passage of the Bills,” said the senator.
Although some of the senators were against the extension, they were not able to marshal enough numbers to defeat the motion.
Nominated Senator Martha Wangari (UDF) said it was wrong to keep extending terms of commissions that had failed to finish their work within their time.
“We should develop the habit of efficiency as a country. It is not correct to keep encouraging the commissions to overlook their timelines with believe that they will get more time,” she said.
MPs have strongly opposed the extension of the commission’s term, saying the independent body had been often adversarial to the decisions passed by them.
However, senators said it was wrong to accuse the commission for performing their constitutionally-protected role.
“For us not to extend the time of the commission amounts to killing the implementation of the Constitution,” said Nominated Senator Godliver Omondi (ODM).
