Opposition MPs on Thursday protested the slow progress of the review by the joint House team, which is to recommend the way forward for the talks endorsed by President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga.
After 24 days of no substantive progress, a section of members of the parliamentary team now suspect there is more than meets the eye in the delay.
Nadco – which ended weeks of deadly street protests – was committed to the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and Senate’s Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee on March 6.
The joint team was given 45 days to deliberate and issue recommendations on how to handle the National Dialogue Committee report
Effectively, the committee should submit a report by April 20 to both Houses of Parliament.
But what is worrying some members is that nothing has been achieved despite the deadline fast approaching.
“I am a member of JLAC of the National Assembly. Three meetings have been called and I attended all but we are yet to take off substantively," Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo told the Star.
"In our first meeting at KICC, which was for climate setting, I emphasised that time was of the essence,” the MP said.
“I thought there was a general appreciation that time was of the essence. I still maintain the position that time is of the essence. I am not sure that I am getting that sense of urgency from the co-chairs of the meeting.”
The joint committee is co-chaired by Tharaka MP George Murugara and Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei.
Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo told the Star of growing concern in the opposition camp over the slow pace of the joint committee.
He said they were alarmed that the country was staring at a constitutional crisis over the boundaries review.
“The important thing we must agree on before time goes is the IEBC and therefore it is important that the Nadco is implemented as soon as possible, otherwise Kenyans are becoming impatient and are likely to get back to the streets,” Maanzo said.
“It is a big concern and we hope that the government is not sabotaging for its purposes. It is a matter of interest for every Kenyan for now.”
Contacted, Sigei denied sabotage claims, stating instead that Kenya Kwanza is committed to having the deliberations concluded within the 45 days.
"There is no deliberate intention to derail the process. As a matter of fact, I met my counterpart chair Hon Murugara and agreed that we lobby our members to make sure that we meet immediately on conclusion of recess," Sigei told the Star.
"We are very keen as Kenya Kwanza to work within the 45 days."
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei also downplayed claims of sabotage, saying the committee is within time and should be allowed to execute the matter.
“They are still within time; they need even two days to the deadline to come up with a report. I don’t think there is a problem,” Cherargei said on the phone.
“Maybe they want to use the remaining days to come up with the report.”
Nadco produced nine key bills through which the Raila and Ruto troops want to implement the report.
Among the bills pending before the committee is the IEBC bill, which is a time bomb given that the delimitation deadline lapses on Sunday.
The review has stalled due to the dysfunctional electoral commission, and MPs are considering amending the law to put off the emotive exercise until after the 2027 general election.
Experts have already warned that the country is cruising towards a serious constitutional crisis in the coming days.
“The long and short of it is that we are staring at a constitutional crisis because the law is clear. The timelines for delimitation have been given. We know what was required to have been done by March,” Elections Observation Group national coordinator Mulle Musau said last month.
“If nothing happens by March there will be a constitutional crisis. I expect that somebody is going to go to the court and we will now deal with the implications based on the court decision.”
To further demonstrate things are falling apart in the joint team, the Rarieda lawmaker disagreed with his chairman George Murugara on the interpretation of the 45 days given to the committee.
Murugara was quoted in a section of the press explaining that the 45 days include only the days Parliament sits.
Parliament normally sits three days a week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – and during special sittings the Houses can convene on any day.
According to Otiende, the interpretation is "dangerous" and would mean the team will conclude its work earliest August.
He also disclosed the joint team has never met to agree on the interpretation being advanced by Murugara.
“We have not met to discuss that. My position would be that it would be a dangerous interpretation because if you interpret it as sitting days then in a week it includes three days. It would mean in a month 12 days."
"Essentially, therefore, in three months you would be counting 36 days and the 45 days therefore you would essentially be talking of four months,” Otiende said.
“An interpretation that allows the committee up to four months in a matter that is urgent like this is an interpretation that is dangerous,” he added.
Nadco meetings have been hit by a worrying trail of botched sessions since inception on March 6.
The team was to among other issues deal with various bills emanating from the Nadco document.
A meeting scheduled for March 13 was aborted after the committee failed to raise a quorum. Only members of the National Assembly turned up.
Their Senate counterparts were holed up in the impeachment of Kisii Deputy Governor Robert Monda.
Another meeting scheduled one week later, March 20, also ended in a huff lasting a record five minutes.
Speaking to the Star, Senator Sigei who co-chairs the committee, explained the last meeting failed to take off because of quorum hitches.
"We have had two sessions, one was our inaugural meeting as the joint committee and the second meeting was last Wednesday," he said.
"I was present as well as my counterpart in the National Assembly. I had two members and the chair of the National Assembly had two members, hence we couldn't raise a quorum."
The committee is yet to agree on a work plan and there is no scheduled meeting for the joint team.
Murugara did not respond to our inquiries.
In the second meeting, which failed to take off because of a quorum hitch, the Tharaka MP hinted at seeking an extension of time to conclude the work.
“We still have the time. What we can do is that when we see we are running out of time, we can do marathon meetings or, if need be – we have not reached there - we can seek an extension of time,” he said.
The bills the joint team is supposed to consider include the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Statutory Instruments Bill, 2023, the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the NGCA (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Others are the Leader of Opposition Bill, 2023, Elections Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which all seek to implement the Nadco report.
Azimio has maintained that the proposed legislation must be passed without any amendments because Nadco is a negotiated document.
The opposition has promised another clash with a section of pro-government legislators who have vowed to amend the bills.
