House ‘all set’ for new operations

In Summary

Changes in the House

128 new MPs
67-member Senate
New Standing Orders
New offices
Recall clause
House Sittings not restricted to Nairobi
Committees open to public in the Constitution, previously provided for in Standing Orders
Ministers will not sit in Parliament
Quorum raised to 50 MPs, 15 Senators

The Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Patrick Gichohi, says his team is ready to work with the lawmakers to ensure the new constitution is rolled out without any glitches.

The face of Parliament is set to change from its current 224 members to 418 members. Parliament will also be divided into two chambers — the National Assembly and the Senate.

Mr Gichohi told the Nation that, come 2012, the new-look House will be ready to accommodate all the MPs and all the changes in the proposed law to help the country realise a new-look governance regime. “Come 2012, we’ll be home and dry,” he said.

The on-going billion-shilling refurbishment of the debating chamber to increase capacity from 224 to 350 seats, he added, was “on track” and should be completed by April 2011.

New offices

“We are also talking to the government to help us with the compulsory acquisition of a piece of land for new offices and the Senate. So far they’ve been very positive,” Mr Gichohi said. After the current works are complete, the next phase will be on a new office block (for staff, senators and MPs).

Committee rooms will also be constructed, given that it will now be a constitutional right for Kenyans to attend committee hearings. At the moment, committee proceedings are open to a select few.

And, as if on cue, Parliament has, for the past six months, been quietly preparing MPs and the staff for the new law regime. Dozens of staff and MPs have been sent to Spain, USA, Japan and Malaysia to learn how a two-chamber Parliament operates.

“We have an offer for training of staff from Bundestaag, Germany’s Parliament. Malaysia has also booked to train our staff in September,” Mr Gichohi said.

Parliament’s administrative wing, the Parliamentary Service Commission, has also been dispatching MPs to different countries to study how the system of government provided in the new Constitution will work.

The legislation process will also change, because amendments to the Constitution and the allocation of funds to the counties will have to be endorsed by both Houses for them to fly.

Party leaders — the one with the majority MPs and the next largest — will also be formally recognised. Currently, such recognition is for the Leader of the Official Opposition.