Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Intense lobbying as Kenyan parliament resumes

Written By:Catherine Achienga , Posted: Tue, Aug 10, 2010


Parliament resumed sittings Tuesday afternoon after a two week recess that saw Kenyans approve the proposed constitution in a referendum held last week.

House business kicked off on a low key with little business slated on the order paper amid high expectations of a busy agenda over the next few weeks to legislate crucial bills that will pave way for the implementation of the new constitution.

And even on the first day there was intense lobbying with MPs seeking to be included in the 9-member Parliamentary Oversight Implementation Committee which will monitor, facilitate, and oversee the development of legislation and administrative procedures required to implement the new constitution as part of the transitional provisions once the new constitution takes effect.

A section of legislators led by Mosop MP David Koech allied to the No camp during the referendum campaigns called for the inclusion of MPs who had opposed the proposed document in the committee to accommodate divergent views as part of democracy.

This comes amid calls by a section of legislators allied to the Orange Democratic Movement to lock out from the committee MPs who had been vocal in campaigning against the proposed constitution.

Once formed the Parliamentary Oversight Implementation Committee will be tasked with vetting commissioners nominated to the Constitutional Implementation Commission that will jointly work in ensuring the operationalization of the new constitution by putting into place the necessary legislation.

Of priority are four key areas to be dealt with namely the electoral laws, the judicial service commission the police and the supreme court.

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