Kajwang' receives 5 Bills

Written By:Judith Akolo,    Posted: Fri, Jul 15, 2011

Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang' received the 5 Bills on citizenship and related provision Five bills on citizenship and related provision are now ready and awaiting a nod by the Cabinet to be tabled in Parliament. Immigrations Minister Otieno Kajwang' received the bills Friday from a Taskforce on Citizenship and Related Provisions of the Constitution. The Bills that deal with issues ranging from citizenship to the rights of refugees are to operationalize Chapter 3 of the Constitution and should be in place by 27th of August this year. The five Bills received are a) The Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service Bill, 2011, b) The Identification and Registration of Kenya Citizens Bill, 2011, c) The Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Bill, 2011, d) The Births and Deaths Registration Bill, 2011 and e) The Kenya Refugee Bill, 2011. And as the Immigration Minister received the Bills, it is not lost on Kenyans that the squabbling by the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) over unpaid salaries not withstanding they will have to guide the implementation. Another quagmire is the bickering by legislators who do not want to pay taxes and seem bent on ensuring that they are left off the hook before allowing transaction of any crucial business in the House. But Kajwang' will be banking on the CIC, the Attorney General, the Kenya Law Reform Commission and Parliament to expedite the Bills in order to fulfill the one year time frame provided under the implementation schedule. Kajwang' said Chapter 3 of the Constitution now provides answers to long standing issues including what to do with stateless people who have lived in Kenya for generations including the Nubian community and Indians. He added that the Bill on Refugees will resolve matters of security that have seen refugees flock into the country and take too long to inform the authorities thus compromising the security situation.