File | Nation Parliament in session. Members will have to be recalled before the traditional mid-March date to finish pending business before the February deadline.
By JOHN NGIRACHU jngirachu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 22:00
Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 22:00
IN SUMMARY
According to the law, four important pieces of legislation have to be enacted to meet the 18-month deadline
Parliament will have to be recalled earlier than usual if it is to meet the deadline for laws that should be enacted by February.
There are four pieces of legislation that need to be enacted before the end of the18-month period since the promulgation of the Constitution in August 2010, and Parliament would have to be recalled before the traditional mid-March date.
Mr Abdikadir Mohammed, who chairs the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee, said the government had delayed the process of enacting laws by failing to bring the Bills before the House.
“We have not received any Bill in the six-month period after August (2011). January is the second-to-the-last month, and we have to hurry,” he said in an interview with theSunday Nation.
He said the Bills would have to be published before the end of this month if they are to be ready for debate and possible approval by the February 26 deadline for their enactment.
The Bills deal with devolution, removal of county governors, vacation of office by the members of the county assembly and provision of devolution of funds to the county governments.
Also among them is the Bill that will determine how land issues are dealt with under the new set of laws.
Given the sensitivities surrounding the land question, this Bill would require considerable debate and participation of the public in its preparation and eventual approval.
Delay in the publication of the Bills would result in a rush similar to that in August 2011 when the one-year deadline for the enactment of important laws loomed.
Parliament would, in effect, be forced once again to sit for long hours with the attendant risk of passing laws with errors.
Parliament went into recess deadlocked over the proposed leadership of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. This matter will be top on the to-do list when the MPs resume business.
There is also the tug-of-war between the Finance ministry and MPs Jakoyo Midiwo and Martin Ogindo over amendments to the Finance Bill and the changes to the Banking Act to control the rise in interest rates.
Mr Midiwo’s refusal to withdraw amendments to the Finance Bill caused the Treasury to withdraw the statute from Parliament before it recessed.
Parliament would also be called upon to resolve the dispute between the Finance and Local Government ministries over the Public Finance Management Bill, which would provide for the allocation and management of funds to the county governments.
Mr Mohammed said resolution would determine whether Parliament creates the infrastructure upon which the county governments will be based or their ultimate destruction.
This year will be important for the implementation of the Constitution, and with Parliament as a key institution in that process, there have been signs that the process could be delayed by political squabbles linked to the General Election.
According to Mr Mohammed, political issues are the biggest stumbling block to the implementation of the Constitution and the participation of Parliament in that very important process.
Debate on the creation and delineation of the 80 new constituencies by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is expected to return to the House.
By mid this month, the High Court is expected to quell the anxiety over the date of the next General Election, which would also determine the date on which Parliament would be dissolved.
The effect of this is that Parliament would have only six months to concentrate on the business at hand, with the rest spent on positioning and campaigning for Senate and gubernatorial seats.
The persistent row between the Attorney-General and the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIOC) will need to end and a common position be arrived at.By the end of July, Parliament will also have been informed about the budgets of county governments. The House is also expected to determine the creation of the Equalisation Fund as outlined in the Constitution.
Mr Charles Nyachae, who chairs the CIOC, and the AG Prof Githu Muigai have differed over the publication of the Judicature Act without the involvement of the CIOC.
Parliament will also be expected to discuss, and possibly adopt, changes to the Standing Orders prepared by members of the Speaker’s Panel in line with the Constitution.
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