Members of Parliament to be Sworn-in on March 21

BY WANJOHI GITHAE
TUESDAY, 12 MARCH, 2013

Members of the eleventh parliament are expected to be sworn in on March 21, The People has reliably established. The date will be announced officially after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) gazettes names of members of National Assembly and the Senate.

The 290 members of National Assembly and 47 Women Representatives will first elect a speaker before they are sworn in. The 47 senators will also also elect a speaker.

The old chambers which will act as the new Senate chambers is yet to be completed and the senators will use KICC for the time being. The first business of the newly sworn in parliament will be to elect the leader of majority and leader of minority, who are yet to be identified to select members to parliamentary committees.

One of the first major businesses of the Justice legal committee will be to interview the Deputy Chief Justice candidate Kalpana Rawal. If she passes Justice Rawal may see her appointment validated by the President. Justice Rawal was nominated by the judicial service commission and is yet to be vetted by parliament.

The new parliament will have 290 members with Jubilee coalition commanding a lion’s share with 135 members while cord has 117 MPs. Musalia Midavadi’s Amani coalition will have 18 MPs. Alliance Party of Kenya of Kiraitu Murungi with its seven members is expected to closely work with Jubilee.

The numbers will be further be boosted by nomination expected to be made this week. Unlike the previous parliament, the 11th parliament has full control of the house and the president will not be in the chambers. President-elect will address the parliament as per the Constitution to lay his agenda for the nation after he is sworn in.