Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Mutula rules out extending new law deadline



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Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo and the chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Abdikadir Mohammed have ruled out a possible extension to Friday’s deadline to enact at least 12 Bills August 23, 2011. FILe
Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo and the chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Abdikadir Mohammed have ruled out a possible extension to Friday’s deadline to enact at least 12 Bills August 23, 2011. FILe 
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, August 23  2011 at  17:58
IN SUMMARY
How MPs plan to beat the deadline
  •  Extending sitting hours beyond 6.30pm until all matters on the Order Paper are completed
  • Getting extra sitting days –Wednesday morning sitting to be dedicated to Government Business there will be no private members motions
  • MPs also want special sittings on Thursday morning and Friday
  • Seeking time to shorten publication time for Bills
  • Restricting Question time to 30 minutes
  • Only taking one ministerial statement per session
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Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo and the chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Abdikadir Mohammed have ruled out a possible extension to Friday’s deadline to enact at least 12 Bills.
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They spoke just moments before they rallied Parliament to sit for longer hours.
Speaking Tuesday at a news conference in Parliament, the two, together with the chairman of Parliament’s Committee on Administration and National Security Fred Kapondi (Mt Elgon, ODM) revealed that they had knocked off three Bills from the implementation schedule because they were not urgent.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority Bill and the National Police Service Commission Bill have been dropped together with the Kenyan Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service Bill as MPs seek to limit the pressure on them to meet the August 26 deadline.
They said that if Parliament goes for the extension, it will be an admission of failure on its part as a key cog in the implementation process.
“We will definitely meet resistance in the House,” said Mr Mohammed, just moments before he met hostile backbenchers, who said Parliament will not be used to rubberstamp Bills.
“It might not be the National Assembly’s fault that the Bills arrived late; but it will be the National Assembly’s fault if they Bills are not passed within the deadlines. An extension of the deadline will be an admission of failure on the part of Parliament,” added the CIOC chairman.
The frontbench together with the members of the CIOC defeated attempts by the backbenchers to stop the longer sitting hours after a heated debate in the House, in which the Executive was admonished for working “like a wheelbarrow, which only operates when it is pushed”.
At the news conference, the Justice minister said that for MPs to allow deadlines to be altered, it will be “a serious weakness that the House cannot afford to entertain”. He reminded MPs that it is not easy for MPs to push through an extension of the one-year ultimatum, because it’s not an easy job.
“To seek an extension will require two-thirds majority in Parliament and a certificate from the Speaker of the National Assembly declaring exceptional circumstances,” said Mr Kilonzo. “Even if you extend the time for an hour and do not enact laws for elections, which everyone is asking for next year, it will be akin to cutting your nose so that your face can feel pain.”
Under article 261 of the Constitution, Parliament is obligated to enact any legislation required “to govern a particular matter within the period specified in the Fifth Schedule” since the Constitution came into place on August 27, last year.  
However, MPs, with the acquiescence of the Speaker of the National Assembly, reserve the right to extend the period to make laws by up to one year, in respect to each law but then this will require the approval of two-thirds of the MPs –148 MPs.
This means that if push comes to shove, the MPs can shift the deadlines to ease the pressure and come up with quality Bills. They don’t want to do that, unless, there’s no other option.
Mr Kilonzo, Mr Mohammed and Mr Kapondi said that the squeamish doubts about the quality of the Bills that have to be passed within the next three days were “completely unfounded” because most of them have been in the works “for a long time”.
“Substantive work has gone into these Bills; it’s not that they’re being picked from the oven and rushed through,” said Mr Mohammed. “The Bills have been in the works for years”.
MPs will get dinner and snacks to keep them going with the legislation late into the night, said Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who’s the Leader of Government Business in the House.
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He cited the Elections Bill as having been in the works since January 2008 and thereafter when the Kriegler commission began its investigations. He added that the Bills on devolution have also been adequately handled by the National Taskforce on Devolved Governments.
The Public Finance Management Bill, especially the portions dealing with the loan guarantees and the contingency fund, the trio said, will be expedited before the expiry of the deadline.
The CIOC chairman asked the players involved in different sector to propose amendments to the Bill and send it to the committee for approval and consequent submission to the House for the consideration of the amendments.
According to the proposed schedule of approving the Bills from the CIOC, Parliament has to sit longer on Tuesday for the debate on Ethics and Anti-Corruption Bill and the National Police Service Bill. The House was then expected to amend the Political Parties Bill and the Commission on Administrative Justice Bill.
Then, on Wednesday morning, the House will do away with the discussion of private members’ motions in favour of the debate to the Elections Bill, the Urban and Cities Bill and the Public Financial Management Bill.
In the afternoon, the House is expected to deal with the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Bill, the Employment and Labour Relations Bill, the Power of Mercy Bill and the Environment and Land Court Bill. The debate on these Bills plus the necessary amendments will have to be approved on Thursday afternoon.
The House also expects to sit on Friday morning to finalise the amendments to the Urban Areas and Cities Bill and the Employment and Labour Relations Bill.

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