CONSTITUTION: If the laws are not passed by the end of Friday, lawmakers could be sent home. Photo/FILE
By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.com AND ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 22:30
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 22:30
Parliamentarians worked until midnight on Tuesday. On Wednesday they did not leave for home until 10pm.
Last night a tired lot of MPs were expecting to again burn the midnight oil, and then come in early for a rare Friday session.
But as Members of Parliament worked overtime to beat the deadline for laws critical to the new Constitution, another threat loomed in the form of a lawsuit seeking to block debate and passage of key legislation. (Read: Extension of Bills deadline ruled out)
The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) chaired by Mr Charles Nyachae want to stop Parliament from debating and passing Bills in which it was not involved.
The legal challenge came as MPs burnt the midnight oil to pass a record six Bills in two days in the rush to meet the deadline for laws that must be enacted within one year of promulgation of the Constitution.
The unusual rush by MPs may be grounded on fear that their terms could be cut short prematurely if the Bills are not passed.
The new Constitution provides that should some legislation not be passed within the time limit, any citizen can petition the Courts to have the House dissolved.
CIC, through lawyer Njoroge Regeru, wants the National Government Loans Guarantee Bill and the Contingencies Fund and County Emergency Funds Bill halted on grounds that the commission was not involved.
The CIC has named Attorney General Amos Wako as the first respondent and National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende as the second respondent.
It says of the AG: (He) has prepared two Bills, namely, the Contingencies Fund and County Emergency Funds Bill, 2011 and the National Government Loans Guarantee Bill, 2011 without due consultation with the Petitioner as required under the Constitution.”
Parliament had chosen to ignore the CIC protests and introduced two Bills in the House in preparation for debate on Friday.
Treasury and Local Government failed to strike a common ground on the Public Finance Management Bill which has now been shelved.
On Thursday, sources disclosed that the Ministry of Local Government was accusing Treasury of extracting sections from the controversial Bill to create the National Government Loans Guarantee Bill which guides borrowing both at the national and county levels.
MPs worked almost overnight to pass the National Police Service Bill, the Commission on Administrative Justice Bill, the Power of Mercy Bill, the Environment and Land Court Bill, the Urban Areas and Cities Bill, and the Citizenship and Immigration Bill, in that order.
The Bills join the Political Parties Bill which was approved on Tuesday.
wo more Bills –the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Bill together with the Employment and Labour Relations Bill—were scheduled for approval last evening.
The CRA Bill together with the two Bills that the CIC has issues with, plus the Elections Bill and the Kenya Citizen and Foreign Nationals Management Service Bill, are set to be voted on this morning (Friday) and sent to the President for assent.The Commission on Revenue Allocation Bill was also introduced into the House and quickly debated.
The MPs on Thursday took some 150 minutes to amend and approve the six Bills, which they had discussed up to the previous midnight.
The approval of the Bills is an indication of a promises by Speaker Kenneth Marende; chairman of Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Abdikadir Mohammed and the Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo, that the August 26, 2011 deadline will be met.
The Constitution set out a criteria for Parliament on the Bills to be passed within a year after Promulgation Day (August 27, 2010).
“It looks like the tenth Parliament works well under pressure,” said Dr Boni Khalwale, who presided over the approval of the Bills as Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Deputy Leader of Government Business Amos Kimunya was all smiles at the MPs commitment to ensure that the Bills are enacted before Saturday and thanked them for their support in saving the coalition government the embarrassment of failing to meet constitutional deadlines.
He lauded the MPs for sitting up to midnight to pass the key laws and also thanked the House staff for facilitating the compilation of amendments.
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